For the Run: Cooling Towel
The Pasadena Tri Club, my local club, had about 20 people race IMSG 70.3 this past weekend. The run got very hot. Several of them raced with cooling towels on the marathon, wrapped around their necks and cooled with ice and water from the aid stations. All very positive, nothing but rave reviews.
Any experience with this item by EN members? Should we add this to our growing list of race day tricks?
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Everyone in my club who raced with one all felt it was a very effective cooling tool. I don't know if it's any more/less effective than a dishtowel. I think maybe it retains more water than a cotton towel and thus is more effective for longer? For $14 certainly something I'd consider trying on some training runs and if it doesn't work...it becomes a carwash shammy, I guess?
I haven't tried any "patented" freeze towel, but like a sponge, an ice-water-dipped towel certainly helps. But on a hot day, like a sponge, it doesn't offer relief for long. I'd be interested to see how long they claim it keeps it's "cool."
And if it were more than $14, I'd be wary of its trend factor. Two years ago in Kona, Luke McKenzie wore a ridiculous looking green trucker hat, presumably after losing a terrible bet. Next thing you know, 1/4 of every IM field is wearing one of those silly things. Of course, Coach P made it look good.
Last year, Ben Hoffmann wore a neck towel during his run, which must explain his 2nd place finish. When you're a triathlete, you throw money at trendy things. It's what you do.
There's a general theory at work here, which should be part of EN race execution instructions for hot races ( bet these recs are in the wiki somewhere). It goes like this: the way your body offloads heat is via the blood, which has been warmed by those hard working muscles. The body's primary means of offloading this heat is via the multiple skin capillaries covering our entire body. But we can help ourselves by introducing cooling measures, be it ice or evaporating water, at key points in the circulatory system. Basically where big arteries are near the surface of the skin. #1 spot for consideration is the neck: 25% of the volume of every heart beat goes through the carotid arteries leading into the brain, the ones near the front of your neck where you see folks on cop dramas always checking for a pulse. #2 spot is the femoral arteries in the groin where your inner thigh meets your lower stomach. That's why putting ice in your pants works. Then there are the measures to help the skin, starting again with the head - ice/water on your scalp. Lower back, forearms, are also easily accessible spots.
My point is: don't rely on just one modality to control heat; attack the problem in as many locales as you can. A neck towel, continually re-soaked, is a great idea. But don't neglect ice in the shorts, soaked arm coolers, ice carried in the hands, sponges under shoulder straps (to drip naturally over your torso), ice under the hat, water splashed on your head, etc. etc.
Finally, always remember that all this does is minimize the problem; it does not eliminate it. You WILL go slower when it is hot, either by running slower at a steady pace, or by running at your normal pace, until your body goes into self protective mode ands starts walking.
Al,
Good points. I forgot about this, but when I raced IMWI with arm coolers, I dumped ice into my left arm cooler doing my best to park it against the brachial artery and/or in the crook of my elbow. I'm also a big fan of ice on the junk but not so much of the water then getting my shoes wet and setting me up for painful blister later in the race.
I actually got one off Amazon after someone from Pasadena Tri suggested I get one for IMSG. I'd recommend having it pre-soaked in a zip locked bag. Every aid station I grabbed a cup of ice and poured it between my neck and the towel. It really helped!
On a side note, is that you featured at the end of the IMSG video post-race splashing around in the fountain or another bald guy in red?
Dana
I have used the arm coolers and taking a cup of ice at each aid station and putting them ice down into them felt GREAT and was a nice distraction while I was running. My feet stayed totally dry, unlike previously when they would be soaked.
Al. Thank you for the reminder to eliminate the problem. I will add this to my pre race strategy checklist....kinda like what am I planning to do to (work towards) eliminating overheating in the first place. One place for me to start is with staying hydrated on the bike, and I will write a few more on my list....have about 12 weeks from today.
It's at about the 15 minute mark and I don't think it's you...watched it again, although you're both wearing RED and have a SHAVED head:-)
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/08/consumer-reports-reviews-enduracool-and-chill-its-cooling-towels/index.htm
https://www.facebook.com/jeffreyscottmiller/videos/10206689360659071/
In case you don't want to watch. The guy takes a towel, lays it out flat and then rolls it up with a bunch of ice inside and then ties the towel around his neck. This seems like it could work for big chunks of time on the run if you want to take the time to do it.
Yep. I bet with some practice you could get a similar routine down to a few seconds that you did 3x, at like 6mi, Special Needs, and 18mi, hitting the big buckets of ice they usually have? Take the towel off as you're coming in, get a volunteer to dump several cups of ice in it while you're walking and reapply while you're walking/jogging. Don't even really have to stop.
Dumping some ice water on your head makes you feel better and cooler for a fleeting second but it won't even move the needle when it comes to your core body temp. One would need something with sustained cooling and large surface area covering key areas (like Al mentioned) in order to really cool one down. Race car drivers where suits with cooling systems in them where chilled water is constantly circulating throughout the suit. Something like that would be necessary. Obviously one cannot wear some full body cooling system suit while running. In addition to the obvious cumbersome nature of the suit you would probably need something like a car battery to power it.
The U.S. DoD has done tons of studies over the last couple of decades on this issue trying to find ways to keep troops cool in places like Iraq. I've posted about this before. One of the guys working on those projects used to chime in over at ST. He basically said a body suit or chilled ice vest were things that would work but the size and bulk of the items and need for a power supply were non-starters even for soldiers let alone a bunch of dorks running around in spandex. :-)I just poured water on as I speed walked through the aid station and then "snapped it" per the instructions and it felt nice until the next aid station.
http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Athletecare-Enduracool-Towel-Blue/dp/B007KT0HR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430846127&sr=8-1&keywords=endura+cool+towel
I agree with Bob's findings. One additional piece to the ST notes (and which should be a starting point on the heat management problem, eventually working your way to more detailed stuff like cooling gear): best is less material, and in particular, no material covering the core/torso, and if possible, the upper legs (so this also frowns upon compression gear). For as much flack is they earn, the speedo and unzipped man-bra Kona outfit of old-schoolers, Ken Glah and Faris Al-Sultan are the best practice. Says Science!
fwiw, I have tried the gizmos in the past, and tried a 'belt and suspenders' approach to hot runs using sleeves, various short and long-sleeve cooling jerseys, an ice glove, a cooling hat, ice packs, and other gear. But the above approach, augmented by grabbing as much ice as i can, when I can, on the fly, and dumping it in the front of my shorts*, in a hat, in the pockets of a singlet, or down the front, work for me without a lot of extra gear on the run. Coach P has also progressed in his Kona run approach from cooling gear to "less gear, more flesh" over the years. Maybe he'll chime in with the evolution in his thinking.
Anyhow ... this is offered in the spirit of the question of this being a legit "go faster gear" item or not. In my opinion, it's probably more of a "go less uncomfortably" item that something that makes you go faster. Further, the moment that it costs even a second of race time by being a distraction from the main function - going forward to the finish line - then the gear is a liability.
*the dumping ice in the shorts is awesome until you're running along and need to tug the shorts to adjust the ice, and then the entire outseam of the shorts gives way and splits wide open, leaving you and your exposed ass with 8 miles to run.. Takeaway: do not buy trishorts with "welded seams."
Mission Athletecare Enduracool Towel
All just a ploy to get me to run in the EN Pink Speedo. Nice try, Tallo. I'm onto you.
For the record, here's my strategy in hot races (and I've done a few - say at least 10 IMs with temps above 30C):
I wear a visor, not a cap. I do not shave my head, preferring to have some hair to hold the water and sweat for evaporation. I use sponges under my shoulder straps. I put ice in the back pocket of the tri-bibs in which I race. Despite my comments earlier, I do not wear a neck towel nor do I put ice in my shorts anymore - too much dripping into my shoes. I rely mostly on sweat and water poured onto my back, head, and arms. I've tried arm coolers, once, and found them warmer than nothing while running (bike is a different story). And I do my best in the 2-3 weeks before the race to acclimate to the heat, hopefully changing my sweat rate and content.
I've posted this before, but here's a summary of research (through 1998) on heat acclimation, which outlines things fairly well:
http://www.sportsci.org/encyc/heataccl/heataccl.html#1
$500 to the charity of your choice if you do your IM this year in the EN Pink Speedo!