We call it “our gym,” and we have every reason to because that is where we sweat, train, and have fun: on the street. Sure, the air is good (often) however, it is not air-conditioned and there are days when training is like running, pursued by Cerberus, through the hellish paths of Hades.
I agree: the image is not very encouraging, but if you have tried to put your nose out at noon on this sunny, muggy August, you know what I am talking about.
Going out at those times is neither smart nor healthy because we know very well that by running, our temperature rises and we feel as much as 10°C higher than real, and – an even worse condition – if we train in the sun exposing ourselves to direct light, the situation can have serious repercussions on our health.
“So I stop training?”
You don’t need to go that far, just look for the times of day when the temperature is most pleasant: very early in the morning or in the evening, for example. I personally prefer the morning because at the end of the day the asphalt can still be very hot, to the point of becoming uncomfortable. What is certain is that our bodies are able to adapt to many (though not all) conditions, including changes in temperature. And in this context we can continue on our path of training and pursuit of self-improvement.
As you can imagine, the acclimatization process is neither easy nor instantaneous; to give you some benchmarks: after the first week of exposure to the new temperatures or heights, we will be at about 50 percent, and then up to 80 percent in the second week.
The first few days are the most important; in fact, it is not recommended to start training right away, but you must first acclimatize your body and then start moving. First slowly and abundantly at aerobic threshold and then gradually with more challenging workouts.
The tools that help you
For those, like me, who are hardened nerds, there are sportwatches that accompany you through both the acclimatization process and the subsequent process of analyzing your training. I, for example, use the Garmin Forerunner 945 (but the same features are present in the fēnix 6).
The great thing is that the smartwatch does it all-you just have to worry about outdoor training and having a connection to your smartphone. This will cross-reference the temperature with weather data and altitude. And at the end you will get a very simple screen that will tell you how much you are acclimatizing.
What about performance monitoring?
It works in much the same way but, in this case, we have the ability to monitor our workload (Training Load) and what our condition is (Training Status). These are two complementary and different parameters but they help us to have an accurate measure of what we are doing and, more importantly, how we are doing it.
Both of these parameters are present in almost all new Garmin smartwatches (from the Forerunner 245 on up, to be clear). Let’s look at them in more detail.
Training Load
The Training Load tells us how much we are training on a weekly basis and is estimated on EPOC (Excess Postexercise Oxigen Consumption) values, which is maximum oxygen consumption after training. This figure gives a fairly accurate indication of how our body is adjusting to adaptations, and fortunately, there are no values to interpret because the clock gives us three possible ratings: high, low, optimal. I don’t need to tell you which one is the right one, do I?
I personally find this idea of technology to be perfect: it solves problems, tells you how you are doing, and requires no complexity in use.
Training Status
In the case of Training Status, we go into even more detail about how we are training and what the effect is on our physical condition. In fact, by analyzing data on a weekly basis, the sportwatch is able to tell us whether our workouts are yielding the desired data. And it always does so without the need for any specific data reading but with clear directions. How? With clear indicators:
– Peak: We are in top form and ideal conditions for the race.
– Productive: this is the value we like to see the most because it means that the training is paying off and we are improving.
– Maintenance: I would say that, in this case, the word says it all by itself.
– Recovery: we have reduced the training load, our body is benefiting and is ready to increase the load.
– Non-Productive: in this case, we have an adequate training load but we are not getting the desired benefits. It often depends on high levels of stress, little rest, or a diet that needs more care.
– Detraining: as you can imagine, this message appears when the load is reduced too much and our performance may suffer.
– High intensity: this is your Garmin’s gentle way of telling you that you are overdoing it and need a period of unloading because the workouts are becoming counterproductive.
– No Status: this is the message that appears when there is not enough data to evaluate your Training Status and you will need to train for one to two weeks to get reliable evaluations.
As you can see, we have both the tools and information at our disposal to be able to train constructively even in the summer. And, most importantly, to get more satisfaction from every single drop of sweat we produce. ;)