It is now close enough to my race, that I can look at the weather forecast, and get a reasonable view of race conditions.  I did that today and no surprise, it is going to be very hot on race day.

I have raced in Chattanooga on two previous occasions; Ironman Chattanooga in 2018 and Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga in 2019.  For both races, the day was extremely hot.  Based on that forecast above, it is going to be very similar on Sunday.

Having done very hot races before, I am not concerned about the heat.  The key is to stay very focused on hydration, and do my best to stay cool.  I will drink liquids at the high end of the range, that I gave in an earlier post about this race.  I will also drink a lot in transition and will carry a drink out of T2 onto the run.

In terms of staying cool.  On the bike, I will grab an extra bottle of water at each aid station and pour it over my body.  In particular, I will soak my quads, which will be the muscles doing the most work and generating the most heat.  On the run, I will also pour water over my body, but will also focus on grabbing ice, if it is available.  Holding ice in your hands and letting it melt, is surprisingly good for keeping you a little cooler.

Even with all of the above, I do expect to be very hot, particularly at the end of the run.  Whenever it is hot on race day, you will get hot.  It is just a case of prolonging the build up, until the very end of the race.