Among runners in the local trail running community the term ‘heat training’ is often used and understood to be nothing other than heat acclimatization or quite simply, getting used to the heat. But when I Googled the term, it turned up something completely different and out of context:
“Heat training is the gradual process of changing the texture of your hair with heat styling tools such as a flat iron.”
Because of my freelancing hours, I get out on the trails to run at all odd hours and being in the tropics that usually means most people are cocooned in their air conditioned office the entire time I’m out in the sun. Except on days when it’s raining, typical temperatures range from 33° to 40°C or 91.4 to 104°F.
Truth be told, I’ll take warm to hot over cold any day — I’ve come to accept that my body just isn’t built to handle cold. I’ve lost count the number of my doctor has had to put me on antibiotics to treat my condition (bronchitis) each time I’d been exposed to extreme low temps such as after my Mount Kinabalu climbs (both times in 2013 and 2016) or drinking cold fluids immediately after an intense workout. So, no Base Camps expeditions for me anytime soon or ever — it could very well be a one way ticket for someone with a low cold threshold like me.
