WEBVTT - How to Make Summer a Runner's Secret Weapon 0:00:00.510 --> 0:00:04.290 If you're feeling bad, it's only going to get worse. You 0:00:04.290 --> 0:00:08.550 can hydrate, slow down, and feel better that way, but 0:00:08.610 --> 0:00:11.789 it's not going to feel better just by continuing at 0:00:11.789 --> 0:00:15.540 this same pace because your body is telling you, " Hey, I can't 0:00:15.540 --> 0:00:18.690 tolerate this for long periods of time." 0:00:22.739 --> 0:00:25.799 Welcome to Set the Pace, the official New York Road 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:31.080 Runners podcast presented by Peloton. I am one of your 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:35.220 hosts, Becs Gentry, and our wonderful host and CEO of 0:00:35.220 --> 0:00:37.409 New York Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer, will be joining us 0:00:37.409 --> 0:00:41.340 for the conversation today. I'm kicking us off here as 0:00:41.340 --> 0:00:44.550 we are here to talk about the weather. And being 0:00:44.550 --> 0:00:49.170 English, we love it. We love talking about the weather. But particularly 0:00:49.170 --> 0:00:51.750 right now, the summer heat that we are experiencing here 0:00:51.750 --> 0:00:53.430 in New York and I think for the vast majority 0:00:53.430 --> 0:00:57.300 of the East Coast, a lot of us heading out 0:00:57.300 --> 0:01:01.500 for our runs as early as physically possible with our 0:01:01.500 --> 0:01:05.819 personal schedules to get the miles in before the outdoor 0:01:05.819 --> 0:01:10.470 air is just unbearable. It is literally historically hot here, 0:01:10.740 --> 0:01:14.490 a heat dome parked over the eastern half of the 0:01:14.490 --> 0:01:18.750 country right through the 4th of July. Here in Manhattan, Central 0:01:18.750 --> 0:01:26.610 Park hit 100 degrees. Newark touched 104. And Philadelphia ran 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:32.399 three straight days over 101 degrees. It has been steamy. 0:01:32.700 --> 0:01:35.160 And I can tell you from personal experience, it did 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:36.900 feel like I was running on the face of the 0:01:36.900 --> 0:01:39.959 sun where I was running for most of those days. 0:01:40.110 --> 0:01:42.480 I was worried the foam in my trainers was going 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:46.770 to melt. It was unreal. I have never sweated so 0:01:46.770 --> 0:01:50.190 much. I have never made that many adaptations to my 0:01:50.190 --> 0:01:55.680 pace. I have really, really learned to ignore my wearable 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.190 devices on days like we've had recently and just go 0:01:59.190 --> 0:02:02.790 out there with my own brain leading the way, listening 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.730 to my body. All things that we are going to 0:02:05.730 --> 0:02:10.169 have fantastic conversations with three great people who have a 0:02:10.169 --> 0:02:14.970 lot of personal and shared experience in this. Many of 0:02:14.970 --> 0:02:17.160 our runners and the reason why we're doing it is because 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.110 the hardest training of the year is literally going to be 0:02:19.110 --> 0:02:21.690 happening in these worst conditions. We always think of winter 0:02:21.930 --> 0:02:24.900 being the worst conditions for those spring marathons because you 0:02:24.900 --> 0:02:27.389 potentially have to run through snow and ice and just 0:02:27.389 --> 0:02:32.220 really cold, miserable temperatures in short, dark days. But it's 0:02:32.220 --> 0:02:36.418 flipping on its head because now these hot, humid temperatures 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:41.549 are almost beating those cold winter days. We've got Sydney 0:02:41.550 --> 0:02:45.810 Marathon on August the 30th, Berlin on September the 27th, 0:02:45.810 --> 0:02:49.889 and Chicago on October 11th. And then we have the 0:02:49.889 --> 0:02:52.320 TCS New York City Marathon coming in on November 1st, 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.020 and that is not in a safe zone. It could 0:02:55.020 --> 0:02:58.800 still be a very warm day. So every one of 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:03.810 you runners choosing those start lines is getting yourself to 0:03:03.810 --> 0:03:09.000 those start lines, building yourselves up through this incredible heat 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.330 and intensity. So whether you are chasing one of those 0:03:12.330 --> 0:03:16.290 full marathons or you are just somebody who loves running, you 0:03:16.290 --> 0:03:19.710 still get it. You still are trying to get yourself out 0:03:19.710 --> 0:03:22.168 of the door to beat the heat before it overwhelms 0:03:22.169 --> 0:03:24.090 you and potentially sidelines you for the rest of your 0:03:24.090 --> 0:03:27.030 day because we all know that can happen. It definitely 0:03:27.030 --> 0:03:29.970 can be a season that will make you stronger and 0:03:29.970 --> 0:03:32.639 faster, but there are ways to do it sensibly and 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.790 that's what we're here to talk about today. We are 0:03:35.790 --> 0:03:39.030 going to discuss how every runner can turn the heat 0:03:39.030 --> 0:03:44.700 from this brutal summer into a potential secret weapon. So 0:03:44.700 --> 0:03:45.360 stay tuned. 0:03:45.810 --> 0:03:48.060 History takes the track this summer in New York City. 0:03:48.180 --> 0:03:52.290 Join us for the USATF Outdoor and Para National Championships, 0:03:52.350 --> 0:03:56.190 July 23rd to 26th at Icahn Stadium in New York City as 0:03:56.190 --> 0:03:59.910 the sport celebrates 150 years of outdoor championships. Watch America's 0:03:59.910 --> 0:04:02.790 best athletes compete for national titles and records at one 0:04:02.790 --> 0:04:05.820 of track and field's most iconic venues. Secure your tickets 0:04:05.820 --> 0:04:09.210 today at usatf. org/ tickets. Again, that's usatf.org/tickets. 0:04:09.210 --> 0:04:14.220 Becs, of course I follow you on Instagram so I 0:04:14.220 --> 0:04:17.370 know you've been out there all summer putting in some 0:04:17.670 --> 0:04:20.880 serious work in brutal conditions a lot more than I 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.450 have, so way to go. If anyone's qualified to talk 0:04:24.450 --> 0:04:27.810 about making summer a runner's secret weapon, it is you. 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:32.279 But smart summer running is complex. It's part endurance, part 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.029 science, part discipline. So to make sure we cover all 0:04:36.029 --> 0:04:39.659 the angles, we've brought in a superstar lineup of experts 0:04:39.660 --> 0:04:41.039 today to help us talk about this. 0:04:42.089 --> 0:04:45.300 We absolutely have, and I am thrilled to listen to 0:04:45.300 --> 0:04:48.990 them all and learn from them myself. So first and foremost, we 0:04:48.990 --> 0:04:52.529 have Dr. Eamon Duffy who is a sports cardiologist at 0:04:52.529 --> 0:04:56.190 Columbia and NewYork- Presbyterian. Eamon is not only a distance 0:04:56.190 --> 0:05:00.180 runner himself though, he founded Columbia Runners Heart Clinic, which 0:05:00.180 --> 0:05:03.690 is a practice built entirely around the hearts of runners 0:05:03.690 --> 0:05:07.410 and endurance athletes from first timers to ultra marathons, everybody, 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.870 which is just so fabulous. Eamon spends his days helping 0:05:12.870 --> 0:05:15.839 runners train hard, chase PRs whilst keeping their hearts healthy 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.150 and safe. So yes, lots of high- fives to that. 0:05:18.540 --> 0:05:21.900 We are also excited to mention today though that Dr. Duffy 0:05:21.900 --> 0:05:26.130 is about to join the New York Road Runners Medical 0:05:26.130 --> 0:05:29.940 Advisory Council. So huge congratulations from the get- go today, 0:05:29.940 --> 0:05:30.241 Dr. Duffy. 0:05:30.241 --> 0:05:31.680 Thank you. Thank you. 0:05:32.550 --> 0:05:36.089 Welcome to that panel. The Medical Advisory Group helps us 0:05:36.089 --> 0:05:38.339 on all things medical. So excited to have you join 0:05:38.339 --> 0:05:42.839 that, Dr. Duffy. Also joining us now, water obviously is 0:05:42.870 --> 0:05:46.560 a key part of running in general, especially in warm 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.760 weather. Hydration is everything. And so we have Dr. Eric 0:05:50.790 --> 0:05:55.200 Roy joining us today. He is a water specialist, scientist 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.860 I should say, who founded the water filtration company, Hydroviv. 0:05:58.860 --> 0:06:02.700 Did I pronounce that correctly? Okay. He did that out 0:06:02.700 --> 0:06:05.339 of his Washington DC apartment by the way, in the 0:06:05.339 --> 0:06:09.060 wake of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, which we all 0:06:09.060 --> 0:06:13.380 remember. And they build filters custom- tuned to a city's 0:06:13.380 --> 0:06:18.120 specific contaminants. He pitched it on Shark Tank in 2019, 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:23.520 caught Mark Cuban's eye. And in 2021, Hydroviv was acquired by Culligan, 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:27.060 our official water partner, where Eric is now the head 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.989 of science for consumer products. Dr. Roy is here to 0:06:30.990 --> 0:06:33.930 give us the science of hydration, not just how much 0:06:33.930 --> 0:06:37.080 to drink but what actually should be in your bottle. 0:06:37.470 --> 0:06:39.000 Dr. Roy, thanks for joining us. 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:39.630 Thanks for having me. 0:06:39.630 --> 0:06:42.330 I have so many questions for you. So many questions, 0:06:43.230 --> 0:06:48.089 but I'm not going to delay in our third wonderful guest 0:06:48.089 --> 0:06:52.260 today. Rounding out our round table is someone we all 0:06:52.260 --> 0:06:55.830 know very well, our New York Road Runners' very own coach 0:06:55.830 --> 0:06:59.460 Ben Delaney. Ben is New York Road Runners' director of 0:06:59.460 --> 0:07:04.050 training programs, and he basically runs our entire coaching operation. 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.070 He's there for the group training all over the city, 0:07:08.070 --> 0:07:12.000 Team for Kids, and that huge army of paces you 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.910 see in the blue and white jerseys, getting tens of 0:07:15.030 --> 0:07:19.200 thousands of you listeners to your goal times at New 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.620 York Road Runners races. Ben is the perfect guest for 0:07:22.620 --> 0:07:26.040 someone like this one because he coaches by effort, not 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.640 pace. And he's going to tell us all about how it really 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.850 feels out there on the day- to- day. 0:07:33.210 --> 0:07:35.820 Yeah, it can feel so tough, but thank you so much, Becs. I 0:07:35.820 --> 0:07:38.070 am so excited to be on this panel. Summer running 0:07:38.070 --> 0:07:39.900 is maybe not my favorite. I've talked to Rob in 0:07:39.900 --> 0:07:42.090 the past about this. I'm a winter guy, but summer 0:07:42.090 --> 0:07:43.740 running is part of what we deal because hey, the 0:07:43.740 --> 0:07:47.040 TCS New York State Marathon is in November. If you're running it, this 0:07:47.100 --> 0:07:49.650 is the reality, but we have so much information. I just can't 0:07:49.650 --> 0:07:52.320 wait to dive into this and talk to everybody because we could 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:53.130 all learn something. 0:07:53.460 --> 0:07:53.671 We will. 0:07:53.671 --> 0:07:53.881 Absolutely. 0:07:54.270 --> 0:07:58.560 We will. Dr. Roy, Dr. Duffy, Coach Ben, welcome. Let's 0:07:58.560 --> 0:07:59.370 get this rolling. 0:07:59.370 --> 0:07:59.611 Thank you. 0:07:59.611 --> 0:08:05.310 Absolutely. So all right, we've all had bad summer runs and I wanted 0:08:05.310 --> 0:08:07.200 to ask each of you, I know you're all runners, 0:08:07.620 --> 0:08:12.210 to tell us about your worst summer run or workout, 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.460 one where it says in our notes here, it's funny, 0:08:14.460 --> 0:08:18.270 one where you genuinely thought about stopping. In my case 0:08:18.270 --> 0:08:22.350 it's, or where you actually did stop, because I have 0:08:22.350 --> 0:08:25.770 definitely had those. I remember last summer I just was 0:08:25.770 --> 0:08:28.440 supposed to do, I don't know, an eight or a nine 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:32.400 mile, not a crazy long- ish run during my taper, 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:35.849 I think. And I just stopped. I just couldn't keep 0:08:35.850 --> 0:08:39.420 going. The heat, the humidity was just brutal. So Coach 0:08:39.420 --> 0:08:41.640 Ben, since you've already told us how much you love 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.179 running in hot weather, tell us about your worst summer run. 0:08:45.690 --> 0:08:48.059 Wow, just coming out swinging for the fences, Rob, coming 0:08:48.059 --> 0:08:52.770 right at me. Yeah, Becs mentioned it before we got on the air, 0:08:52.770 --> 0:08:55.530 there's so many summer runs that you'd rather just forget, 0:08:55.530 --> 0:08:58.110 never remember. You want to put them out of your memory as 0:08:58.110 --> 0:09:00.780 quick as you can. And the odd is, the one 0:09:00.780 --> 0:09:02.880 that came to mind to me was also a taper 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.070 run. I think sometimes you get to that mode where 0:09:05.070 --> 0:09:07.140 you're just kind of tired, your body's in this weird 0:09:07.140 --> 0:09:09.809 space. And I think I was doing the final six or 0:09:09.809 --> 0:09:12.360 10 miles of the TCS New York City Marathon course with 0:09:12.450 --> 0:09:14.790 some friends of mine. And I got to the Bronx 0:09:14.820 --> 0:09:18.630 and I was like, " No, I'm out. I'm done." And 0:09:18.630 --> 0:09:20.880 it was hard and it's a mental check and it's 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:22.740 kind of a gut check and an ego bruise, but 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:24.689 you learn from it, you move on. And that's the 0:09:24.690 --> 0:09:27.059 biggest thing I can take away is even on the 0:09:27.059 --> 0:09:29.100 tough days, you learn something. What was going on? What 0:09:29.100 --> 0:09:33.390 was happening? Bad days happen. There are no bad runs. 0:09:33.390 --> 0:09:35.010 You just got to learn from where you are. So 0:09:35.250 --> 0:09:37.319 you know what? I had a bad day. My marathon 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.420 went great. That was the saving grace. 0:09:40.710 --> 0:09:40.831 Love that. 0:09:40.831 --> 0:09:42.750 How about you, Dr. Duffy? 0:09:44.190 --> 0:09:47.520 Yeah, I would say I'm taken back to a run 0:09:47.940 --> 0:09:53.130 last June. I was preparing for a marathon late June, 0:09:53.610 --> 0:09:56.520 and this was my last real workout, maybe three weeks 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.300 out. I was doing, I think it was 12, like 0:10:00.300 --> 0:10:03.480 a three- mile warmup and then 12 at marathon pace and then a three- 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.570 mile cool down. And I went outside and it was 6: 0:10:07.230 --> 0:10:10.380 00 AM, but it was already hot and humid. And 0:10:10.380 --> 0:10:11.699 I could tell it was going to be a rough 0:10:11.700 --> 0:10:15.900 morning, and it was brutal. I couldn't hold the marathon 0:10:15.900 --> 0:10:18.750 pace for more than six or seven miles once I 0:10:18.750 --> 0:10:23.099 started in that hard workout portion. And you're stressing the 0:10:23.100 --> 0:10:24.839 whole time because you feel like you should be able 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:29.460 to do marathon pace three weeks out. And you're deep 0:10:29.460 --> 0:10:33.570 in your head thinking you're already disappointed and the marathon's 0:10:33.570 --> 0:10:37.679 going to be a challenge, but couldn't hold it through 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.670 the full 12, 13 miles. Kind of held up, slowed down, 0:10:42.420 --> 0:10:45.209 limped home the last three and was super bummed about 0:10:45.210 --> 0:10:49.679 it. But in that setting, you have to remind yourself 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.920 that when it's hot out there, your marathon pace, if 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:55.050 that's what you're aiming for, your goal pace is going 0:10:55.050 --> 0:10:59.189 to be different. You cannot run the same paces at 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.610 80 degrees or even 70 degrees that you can run 0:11:02.610 --> 0:11:05.760 at 50 degrees. It's not comparable and you have to 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:10.199 change your expectations and change your paces, honestly. When it 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.160 gets warm, when it gets humid, my main takeaway for 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.200 all of this is you have to slow down and you 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.800 have to adjust what your expectations are and what your 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.800 paces are. So I think about that one a lot 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.020 last June and it taught me a lot about how 0:11:25.020 --> 0:11:27.719 to approach running in hot temperatures. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.480 Yeah. I want to get into more of the why, why 0:11:30.809 --> 0:11:33.540 the warm temperatures affect us the way they do, but 0:11:33.540 --> 0:11:35.340 we'll come back to that. What about you, Dr. Roy? 0:11:36.030 --> 0:11:39.030 As the others were going through their stories, I was 0:11:39.059 --> 0:11:42.000 kind of having some flashbacks. It was a few years 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.970 ago I was just stacking up hours in prep for a 24- 0:11:44.970 --> 0:11:49.050 hour event, and I had just moved from the Northeast 0:11:49.110 --> 0:11:53.010 to Washington DC. This event was a 24- hour mountain 0:11:53.010 --> 0:11:57.120 bike race, but my shoes arrived before my bike did 0:11:57.809 --> 0:12:00.090 and I needed the hours. So I just laced up the 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:04.110 shoes and took off out the door. And I think 0:12:04.110 --> 0:12:08.250 everyone knows there's a pretty big difference between the Boston 0:12:08.250 --> 0:12:12.960 suburbs and Washington DC. And about four hours into that, 0:12:14.250 --> 0:12:16.559 when you're in that final stack and hours phase, you're 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:21.570 building as much mental resiliency as fitness. So it's like, okay, 0:12:21.570 --> 0:12:23.189 not going to quit, not going to quit, not going 0:12:23.190 --> 0:12:26.219 to quit. And that was obviously the wrong thing to 0:12:26.220 --> 0:12:29.010 do in this case. And honestly, it set back my 0:12:29.010 --> 0:12:32.309 training about 11 days quantitatively. So that's one of those 0:12:32.309 --> 0:12:36.510 where sometimes you just have to pull the parachute and 0:12:36.510 --> 0:12:40.140 turn back and be humbled a little bit. So that 0:12:40.140 --> 0:12:42.720 was my big takeaway from that. I'll never forget it. 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:46.050 I cracked, had to take an Uber home. It was tough. 0:12:46.470 --> 0:12:49.800 I literally, as you're all talking, I'm like, why have 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:50.700 I had so many? 0:12:52.110 --> 0:12:53.640 Because you run so much. Yeah. 0:12:55.530 --> 0:12:55.530 True. 0:12:55.530 --> 0:12:55.531 The more you run, the more bad days. 0:12:55.531 --> 0:13:00.870 ... pick one. There was so many from being so dehydrated. 0:13:00.870 --> 0:13:06.300 I hallucinated when I was running a relay race from 0:13:06.300 --> 0:13:10.319 LA to Vegas many, many, many years ago. But I 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:12.660 thought the RV that I had gotten onto was a 0:13:12.660 --> 0:13:16.949 boat, and I thought the boat was spinning. Semi- cool, 0:13:16.950 --> 0:13:18.959 but also scary when you know what it's doing to 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:22.800 your body. But most recently, and this comes from being 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:29.250 half a scatterbrain, half a tired working professional mom who was 0:13:29.250 --> 0:13:32.190 training for one of the toughest mountain races in the 0:13:32.190 --> 0:13:35.610 world. I was too busy getting my daughter to school 0:13:35.610 --> 0:13:38.460 and making sure she had her sunscreen, her water, her 0:13:38.460 --> 0:13:42.929 everything for school. And I was going to be driving 0:13:43.530 --> 0:13:45.630 T to school and then from New York, I was 0:13:45.630 --> 0:13:47.850 driving up to Beacon, New York. I got there, it 0:13:47.850 --> 0:13:50.250 was one of the first super hot days we had. 0:13:50.250 --> 0:13:52.469 Maybe a month or so ago it was going to 0:13:52.470 --> 0:13:55.470 be over a hundred. So I'm trying, but battling against 0:13:55.470 --> 0:13:57.719 traffic to get up there before midday. And I think I got there 10:30, 11: 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:03.630 00. Got my pack all ready to go, reached in 0:14:03.630 --> 0:14:07.439 to grab my electrolytes to put into my water. Hadn't 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.890 brought my electrolytes, had I? I packed everything for my daughter. 0:14:11.670 --> 0:14:15.000 And gels, they have electrolytes in these days, which was 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.550 my only saving grace. And I had plenty of plain water, 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.210 but I'm such a heavy sweater and I'm not anywhere 0:14:21.210 --> 0:14:23.790 near as qualified as you guys. But from the years 0:14:23.790 --> 0:14:26.190 I've run, I know that I need electrolytes when I 0:14:26.190 --> 0:14:28.380 run, especially on a day like that. And guys, I tell 0:14:28.380 --> 0:14:30.690 you, I was halfway up the first hill and I 0:14:30.690 --> 0:14:34.110 think I stopped. I looked like I jumped in the 0:14:34.110 --> 0:14:38.580 reservoir that had just passed because I was drenched, my cheeks were 0:14:38.580 --> 0:14:41.400 red, and I was just panicking that I didn't have 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.390 electrolytes because that's all I could think about. And I 0:14:45.390 --> 0:14:47.790 went up once, I think I did two laps when I was 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:51.390 supposed to do five. And every time I would look 0:14:51.390 --> 0:14:55.560 around, I could feel my reactions were getting slower and 0:14:55.830 --> 0:14:58.500 tree branches were starting to look like what I thought 0:14:58.500 --> 0:15:01.800 were bears or deer or just something that was scaring 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:06.390 me and rocks on the floor that weren't there. And so I 0:15:06.390 --> 0:15:09.510 called it. I walked my way down for the second 0:15:09.510 --> 0:15:11.010 half of it because I didn't want to break my 0:15:11.010 --> 0:15:15.990 ankle. And I have never wrung my clothes out so 0:15:15.990 --> 0:15:19.830 heavily when I got down and went straight to buy 0:15:19.830 --> 0:15:22.109 some electrolytes knowing I had to drive home. But just 0:15:22.110 --> 0:15:26.400 thinking of what I'd lost and just putting that sports 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.730 physiology and psychology together in the moment, I was like, 0:15:29.790 --> 0:15:31.920 oh God, this is a really bad place to be 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:36.690 in, on a mountain by myself as a female, very 0:15:36.690 --> 0:15:39.510 dehydrated in a hundred and something degrees. I was like, let's go. Let's go. 0:15:40.770 --> 0:15:44.340 Not a fun day. Not a good one. But again, 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:50.010 you take on these crazy challenges so often that you're 0:15:50.010 --> 0:15:52.320 just bound to have days like that. But I'm glad 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.960 you came out for that mountain okay, Becs. That's good. 0:15:54.990 --> 0:15:56.100 Oh, yeah. 0:15:56.610 --> 0:16:00.090 We've got you here to chat with everybody. Absolutely. That's 0:16:00.300 --> 0:16:04.440 most important. Let's go to a little bit of talk 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.290 about what people are going through right now. So for 0:16:07.290 --> 0:16:12.090 everyone who is looking at a fall marathon, Dr. Duffy, 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.150 this is now the period where they are ramping or 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.820 maybe already have ramped up, especially if they're doing one 0:16:17.820 --> 0:16:21.600 of the earlier ones like Sydney or Berlin. Why is 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:26.190 the race really kind of won or lost in these 0:16:26.370 --> 0:16:31.500 weeks and months, July, August, September, if you're running that 0:16:31.500 --> 0:16:33.840 late, not so much on race day? 0:16:34.770 --> 0:16:40.320 Yeah. I would say because heat is a form of 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:42.930 stress for the body and one of the most effective 0:16:42.930 --> 0:16:48.150 forms of stress, and it's through enduring that stress that 0:16:48.150 --> 0:16:52.140 you build endurance. And it's that endurance that will carry 0:16:52.140 --> 0:16:58.020 you through on race day many months from now. What 0:16:58.020 --> 0:17:03.690 heat does to the body is essentially your body has 0:17:03.750 --> 0:17:08.850 two competing priorities while you're running in heat. One, you're 0:17:08.850 --> 0:17:11.700 trying to run and two, you're trying to stay cool. 0:17:12.570 --> 0:17:17.820 And you run by pumping as much blood as you 0:17:17.820 --> 0:17:21.570 can and oxygen and nutrients to your muscles, your legs 0:17:21.570 --> 0:17:24.930 in particular, but also your diaphragm, which controls the lungs 0:17:24.930 --> 0:17:28.680 and your brain. And when it's cool out, your body's 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.830 shunting all that blood towards the muscles and you feel 0:17:31.830 --> 0:17:38.280 great. When it gets hot, there's this competing priority to 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.949 cool down. And the way that the body cools down 0:17:40.950 --> 0:17:44.250 is through the skin and through sweating. And so the 0:17:44.250 --> 0:17:48.960 body shunts blood to the skin and you only have 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:54.300 a finite amount of blood, plasma, et cetera. And so 0:17:54.300 --> 0:17:56.790 blood is shunted to the skin to cool down, and 0:17:56.790 --> 0:17:59.159 the blood therefore is not going to the legs to the 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:04.080 same degree. So these competing mechanisms, and we prioritize cooling 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:09.419 down. The systems in your body don't know you have 0:18:09.420 --> 0:18:12.540 a marathon six months from now. They're just trying to 0:18:12.540 --> 0:18:16.109 stay cool. And so the blood's going to the skin 0:18:16.109 --> 0:18:19.440 to cool down. There's not as much in the legs 0:18:19.470 --> 0:18:23.790 to bring oxygen or to clear those waste products from 0:18:23.790 --> 0:18:28.710 exercise. We all know about lactate, et cetera. And so 0:18:29.490 --> 0:18:32.820 the way that your body compensates is by essentially working 0:18:32.820 --> 0:18:36.840 harder. Your heart rate starts to go up and that's 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.660 how you feel it most of all. But that's sort 0:18:39.660 --> 0:18:42.990 of the competing mechanisms that's going on. And through the 0:18:42.990 --> 0:18:47.340 summer months, you train those mechanisms. Heat is something that 0:18:47.340 --> 0:18:53.310 you can acclimate with time over days and weeks of 0:18:53.310 --> 0:18:55.890 running in the heat and your body gets better at 0:18:55.890 --> 0:18:59.910 it. And that is building strength, building endurance. And so 0:18:59.910 --> 0:19:03.090 the summer months are key for those big fall races. 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.470 And as demoralizing as it can be, as long as 0:19:07.470 --> 0:19:10.770 you do it safely, running in the warm temperatures is 0:19:10.770 --> 0:19:12.660 a great stress to build endurance. 0:19:12.660 --> 0:19:16.440 So it's interesting. I mean that really tells me that 0:19:16.859 --> 0:19:18.930 as we go through these summers, and we all have 0:19:18.930 --> 0:19:21.899 our programs that our coaches have given us or our 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:25.290 app is giving us, and maybe you're running five days 0:19:25.290 --> 0:19:28.200 a week and you get that one day that's just 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.409 crazy hot, crazy humid. The temptation for so many of 0:19:31.410 --> 0:19:34.800 us is to go indoors, get on a treadmill. Now there 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:36.689 are days where you just have to do that, right? 0:19:36.990 --> 0:19:40.320 But it sounds like if you can, what you're really 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:44.340 saying is go out in those days and get some 0:19:44.340 --> 0:19:47.040 miles in because that's going to help your body get 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.170 ready for whatever may come on marathon day. 0:19:49.890 --> 0:19:53.520 Yeah. I think every runner is different, and a lot 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.850 of it is your experience and knowing your body. I 0:19:56.850 --> 0:19:59.310 would say if you're more of a novice runner just 0:19:59.310 --> 0:20:03.359 getting into marathoning, just getting into longer distance running, you 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:05.939 don't want to jump out on a 90- degree day 0:20:05.940 --> 0:20:10.410 and go do a hard workout necessarily. That's a day 0:20:10.410 --> 0:20:12.270 to be on the treadmill or to run early in 0:20:12.270 --> 0:20:16.080 the morning, late at night, find the shadier paths in 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:18.480 Central Park. A lot of people do their workouts on 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.640 the bridal path. There's just a little bit more shade. But 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:25.859 in general, Central Park is so well- shaded. For the more experienced 0:20:25.859 --> 0:20:30.119 runners, you've done a number of marathons, you are doing 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:37.740 higher mileage. I think it's reasonable. It's all relative. 70, 80 0:20:37.740 --> 0:20:41.250 degree day is fine. 90, 100, no matter what, you've 0:20:41.250 --> 0:20:45.780 got to be careful. And people talk about the dew 0:20:45.780 --> 0:20:47.820 point a little bit. I think we'll get into that. 0:20:47.820 --> 0:20:51.810 That's sort of a combination of temperature plus humidity, and 0:20:51.810 --> 0:20:54.720 that can be helpful. It also depends on what marathon 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:58.320 you're training for. If you're going for one of the 0:20:58.350 --> 0:21:03.240 warmer marathons, I haven't run Sydney, then you want to 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:07.109 do more of that heat acclimation training. If you have 0:21:07.109 --> 0:21:10.139 a late fall winter marathon, maybe that's less of a 0:21:10.140 --> 0:21:13.440 priority. So it's all about who the individual runner is. 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:20.190 But for more novice runners, masters runners, then you want 0:21:20.190 --> 0:21:24.119 to be more careful. Yesterday I saw a 24- year- 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.270 old guy just sprint by me up the hill. I 0:21:27.270 --> 0:21:30.869 was like, man, it'd be great to be 24 again and just be able to take off on 0:21:30.869 --> 0:21:34.500 a hot day. And he was really booking it, had 0:21:34.500 --> 0:21:37.740 his gels. We all wish we could still be there 0:21:37.740 --> 0:21:40.170 and that's just how it goes. And I'm happy for 0:21:40.170 --> 0:21:43.290 him as he sprints by, but that's not for everyone 0:21:43.290 --> 0:21:43.531 all the time. 0:21:43.531 --> 0:21:50.670 No. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, rewind sometimes. You touched on it there, but 0:21:50.670 --> 0:21:57.030 let's talk about that difference between hot, dry heat, not just 0:21:57.030 --> 0:21:59.250 hot, dry heat, but there's so many different types of 0:21:59.250 --> 0:22:05.400 hot heat. And obviously New York Road Runners, we are talking to 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:10.200 predominantly a New York/ East Coast based audience who run 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:15.060 with us. However, our listeners may be based everywhere. So 0:22:15.330 --> 0:22:21.150 I think one of the most dangerous and un- talked about-- 0:22:21.150 --> 0:22:26.340 that's really good English, Rebecca-- under- discussed conversations here is 0:22:26.340 --> 0:22:30.090 about humidity and dew points because it's great to see 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:35.340 numbers, but what do they mean? Dr. Duffy, why is 0:22:35.340 --> 0:22:39.090 humidity so much more dangerous than just that hot temperature alone? 0:22:39.690 --> 0:22:44.700 Yeah. Basically, humidity makes it so that way sweating is 0:22:44.700 --> 0:22:50.220 not as effective at cooling down your body is how 0:22:50.220 --> 0:22:53.010 I would sum it up. People think like, " Oh, I 0:22:53.010 --> 0:22:57.149 have so much sweat on me," that doesn't necessarily mean 0:22:57.150 --> 0:23:01.200 that you've effectively cooled down. The cooling takes place when 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:04.500 the water that's on your skin evaporates off into the 0:23:04.500 --> 0:23:08.790 air. That is the process that you want to occur 0:23:08.850 --> 0:23:12.750 at all times while you're exercising. When it becomes humid, 0:23:12.750 --> 0:23:15.810 the amount of water in the air is so great 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:19.140 that it's not pulling the water off of your body 0:23:19.140 --> 0:23:25.199