Trying to beat the heat
I have been reading up on the effects of heat on athletic performance given that it is supposed to reach up to the high 80s this Saturday for the marathon. One of the techniques I came across was wearing an ice-filled bandanna (IB) around your neck. When you are running there is a lot of blood flow across the back of the neck, so it is a particularly effective and easily accessible area to apply some cooling.
I tried out the IB technique this afternoon when I went running with Nate at the Carlisle Barracks. The temperature was about 87/88 degrees. When I put on the IB, it initially felt very cold on my neck, but after a few minutes into the run it felt wonderful. I ran for 4 miles/39 minutes and despite the heat was able to keep my average HR under 130. I was pleasantly surprised there was still some ice left in the bandanna when I finished, hopefully it will last an hour or longer during the race.
While it is pretty hard to do a one-person control experiment, but I felt sure it was helpful in keeping down my temperature. I’m definitely going to use this technique during the marathon; it is quick, cheap, and effective.
It was pretty simple to setup the bandanna, just pour some ice cubes a few inches from the top and then roll the bandanna down over the ice like a burrito. Then place the ice-filled part against the back of your neck and tie the ends in a knot near your wind pipe. If you don’t own any bandannas you can pick up 2 for $1.88 at Walmart. For the 50% of you that think I spelled ‘bandana’ wrong, wiktionary says bandanna and bandana are alternate spellings.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Good luck this weekend. I’m sure it will go great.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Hey Bill,
Did you do the graphics for the cool bandana? (I just got an underline from my spelling of bandana.) Yesterday, for the first time I bought a cloth cooler with gel inside. (Should have waited to read your column.) It cost $6, I’ll try your way also.
Playing tennis on a court that reflects the heat, plus having a body that doesn’t sweat well,
means I can really use whatever cooling possibilities there are. I’m copying this page to bring to the other tennis players. Many thanks for posting this.
Keep cool.
Love,
Mom
June 30th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Hi Mom -
Yes, I took the photos of the bandanna. I used the ice bandanna trick during the final 14 miles of the marathon (replacing the ice once) and it lasted about an hour each time. The only downside seems to be the water dripping down as the ice melts, but if the humidity isn’t too high it should evaporate easily. I’m glad you found it helpful!