Sauna Training
Well, just found out today that one of my training races has been cancelled! The Leona Divide 50m, which was supposed to be on April 16, got squashed because of rain damage to roads. In fact, lots of the trails we train on are damaged from this very wet winter. My thinking right now is I may set up a 50m loop on my own and try to pick up some people to run with along the way. I'll let everyone know!
So these past couple of weeks, I started doing some heat training in the sauna. It's the best and the worst kind of training for the same reason: you just sit there. The first time I trained for BW, I was going to the local YMCA. They were the only local gym with a dry sauna, and they kept it HOT. It was typical for them to keep it at 190f. The first time I went in there, I lasted 12 minutes, and my eyes were bloodshot for two days after. I eventually built up to 30-40 minutes at a stretch. Their sauna was in the basement, in a corner, with very little light. Easy to zone out and stay focused.
The second year I trained, the sauna was identified as the cause of a multi-million dollar fire in another local YMCA, so they closed down all the Los Angeles/YMCA saunas around May, which meant I lost a lot heat training. You have to spend time in the heat, and missing that definitely made it harder for me the second time around (which was also a hotter year).
So the sauna in my current gym sits at one end of the pool area. I was happy to find out that they keep it comparably hot to the YMCA saunas...I'd say typically around 190f.
I hit my watch when I walk in and start sweating profusely (dripping from all over) within 2 minutes. I'm already up to about 20-25 minutes on a good day. There are two clocks visible, so it's a lot like waiting for your 7th period Trigonometry class to let out...the clock doesn't seem to move.
There are two big rock heaters at one end, and three rows of slatted wooden seats wrapped around the perimeter of the room. If no one's sitting there, I climb up to the top row, next to the heaters. Heat rises, and next to the heaters, it feels like an extra 10 to 15 degrees hotter. Unlike the sauna at the YMCA, however, there are big glass windows looking over the pool, a jacuzzi, a "cold" pool, a shower, and a drinking fountain. Teasing. Enticing.
Then I sit. I think about the race and different parts of the course (why else would I be in there?). Teaching your body to sweat efficiently is the physical reason for this part of the training, but you also remember other important things that are also true when running BW: don't waste movement, keep upright, pour water on your head to cool off, keep drinking. You learn to dig down when the discomfort starts.
The further you go, the more you want to just "get out," but that's where the training happens...you have to extend that period where you can put aside your discomfort and mentally focus & evaluate. If I don't "need" to get out, I try to push through a little more. You need to be able to evaluate on race day whether you're just uncomfortable or if you really are in trouble.
I hope to build up to 45-60 minutes by July. Even now, I watch people come in and leave. No one who's there when I walk in is there when I leave. Some people go out, cool off in the shower or cold pool, then come back in, but hey, that's cheating! The whole purpose is learning to deal with discomfort for extended periods of time. And it doesn't cool off in the middle of the day in Death Valley in July.
So these past couple of weeks, I started doing some heat training in the sauna. It's the best and the worst kind of training for the same reason: you just sit there. The first time I trained for BW, I was going to the local YMCA. They were the only local gym with a dry sauna, and they kept it HOT. It was typical for them to keep it at 190f. The first time I went in there, I lasted 12 minutes, and my eyes were bloodshot for two days after. I eventually built up to 30-40 minutes at a stretch. Their sauna was in the basement, in a corner, with very little light. Easy to zone out and stay focused.
The second year I trained, the sauna was identified as the cause of a multi-million dollar fire in another local YMCA, so they closed down all the Los Angeles/YMCA saunas around May, which meant I lost a lot heat training. You have to spend time in the heat, and missing that definitely made it harder for me the second time around (which was also a hotter year).
So the sauna in my current gym sits at one end of the pool area. I was happy to find out that they keep it comparably hot to the YMCA saunas...I'd say typically around 190f.
I hit my watch when I walk in and start sweating profusely (dripping from all over) within 2 minutes. I'm already up to about 20-25 minutes on a good day. There are two clocks visible, so it's a lot like waiting for your 7th period Trigonometry class to let out...the clock doesn't seem to move.
There are two big rock heaters at one end, and three rows of slatted wooden seats wrapped around the perimeter of the room. If no one's sitting there, I climb up to the top row, next to the heaters. Heat rises, and next to the heaters, it feels like an extra 10 to 15 degrees hotter. Unlike the sauna at the YMCA, however, there are big glass windows looking over the pool, a jacuzzi, a "cold" pool, a shower, and a drinking fountain. Teasing. Enticing.
Then I sit. I think about the race and different parts of the course (why else would I be in there?). Teaching your body to sweat efficiently is the physical reason for this part of the training, but you also remember other important things that are also true when running BW: don't waste movement, keep upright, pour water on your head to cool off, keep drinking. You learn to dig down when the discomfort starts.
The further you go, the more you want to just "get out," but that's where the training happens...you have to extend that period where you can put aside your discomfort and mentally focus & evaluate. If I don't "need" to get out, I try to push through a little more. You need to be able to evaluate on race day whether you're just uncomfortable or if you really are in trouble.
I hope to build up to 45-60 minutes by July. Even now, I watch people come in and leave. No one who's there when I walk in is there when I leave. Some people go out, cool off in the shower or cold pool, then come back in, but hey, that's cheating! The whole purpose is learning to deal with discomfort for extended periods of time. And it doesn't cool off in the middle of the day in Death Valley in July.
posted by Greg Minter at 2:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home