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Nike+ Human Race: Doctor’s tips for running in heat

November 2009

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By Pamela LeBlanc | Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 11:03 AM

Just a few more days until the Nike+ Human Race! Yippie!

Packet pickup for the 10K is from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Saturday at 24 Hour Fitness, 1000 E. 41st St. Bring your confirmation email. When you get to the check-in location, you’ll get to pick a T-shirt size. (Get there early to make sure you get the size you want.) Everyone will be asked to wear the race T-shirt on race day; it’s your ticket to enter the race venue. If you haven’t registered for the race, you can do that at packet pickup also.

Once you’ve picked your stuff up, relax! Take a day off from your training program. You want to be well rested for the run, which starts at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue.

The weather forecast calls for a high of 95 degrees on Sunday, so hydration will be critical. Don’t wait until the last minute. I checked in with Dr. Pierre Filardi, a local anesthesiologist and medical director of the AT&T Austin Marathon who is also a runner. Here are his tips:

Drink about half a liter of sports drink one to three hours before the race and continue to sip as the race start approaches. “The runners will be having sweat losses just while standing waiting to start,” he says. “Having to urinate in the last hour prior to race time is a good sign.”
Go light on caffeine and food in the three or four hours before the race. “If the stomach is full of food, it delays the absorption of the fluids, which are a big priority over fuel.”
Drinking sports drink is better than drinking just plain water when it’s this hot. “You do not sweat water, you sweat salty water. Put in what you put out,” he says.
Anticipate a high sweat loss. It will vary by individual, but can range from a half liter to more than a liter per hour. Remember that it’s difficult to absorb more than a liter an hour of liquid. If you feel bloated and liquid is sloshing in your belly, your stomach is not processing the fluid.
Hydrate at frequent intervals during the race with smaller amounts of sport drink. Six or eight big gulps every 15-20 minutes should do it.
Tune into how your body is feeling. No amount of hydrating will prevent overheating in high heat and high humidity conditions. If you feel “bonky” or weak, exhausted, fall significantly off your pace, flush bright red, feel dizzy or experience an overblown heart race for your pace, drink cold fluids and rest in the shade to cool down.
It’s too late this time, but remember next time to train in the same conditions of the race. If you only run at 6 a.m., you’ll experience radically different conditions at 6:30 p.m. on race day. That’s why the Olympic marathoners moved to a hot and humid climate to train for their race in Beijing.
Do this self test to weigh yourself before and post run and calculate an hourly need: http://www.usatf.org/groups/Coaches/library/hydration/USATFSelfTestingProgramForOptimalHydration.pdf
Hydrating late in the race after you have gotten behind will not help. The fluids won’t be absorbed until after you have finished. That’s good for re-hydration, but won’t help your race performance.
It may sounds gross, but check the color of your urine after your training runs. Small amounts of concentrated (darker) urine after training runs means you underhydrated.
It’s OK to finish just a little dry.

The final tip? Enjoy the race. Be sure to look for Olympic swimmers (and former Longhorns) Brendan Hansen and Aaron Peirsol, who plan to be at the race along with seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and former Houston Comets basketball player Cynthia Cooper. Afterward, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals will give a free concert in front of the Capitol.

CRTXMAPSCHEM.pdf

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