what was i saying about never racing in the heat?????

I would (depending on how much you sweat; I easily lose 6-8% of my body weight in an hour-long run when it's hot, so I salt supplement) eat a little extra salt in the few days leading up to the race. A can of Campbell's soup every day should do it. :-)

When pouring water over your head, be careful and try not to get too much of it down your legs and in your shoes. Wet feet = blisters!

Good luck!

Autumn,

Make sure to bring some gatorade, electrolyte replacement for the loss of salt.  Don't want to cramp up

Hmmm... a little too late to start training in the heat now.

Electrolytes.  I swear by them.  Try them out a couple of times before your race on Sunday.  Hammer makes a nice brand called "Edurolytes"  - also I know that some people buy Thermotabs?  I think?  from Wal-mart?  Haven't had a chance to check that out yet, but you want something with a mix of sodium and potassium as salt is not enough.  Hammer also makes an electrolyte powder that you can mix into your drink, this works pretty well.

As far as gels/sports drink I swear by Crank Sports, E-fuel and E-gel (which have a killer amount of electrolytes already in them), but I don't think you'll have enough time to try this stuff out before your race.

Extra hydration - you'll probably need to drink more.  I'd strongly suggest freezing your water bottles, etc the night before and then having them under a towel or something in transition.  There is NOTHING better than downing cold liquid on a hot day.  Bring a small cooler so you can get yourself some really cold water once you've finished.

When you go through the aid stations on the run, pour one cup of water over your head (take your hat off first), it will feel ice cold.  I bend over a bit when I do this, so I don't get my shoes wet.  If they have ice cubes put some in your hat and put it on your head.  It will help.  Wear a hat on the run (one of the mesh ones that lets heat escape but that will keep the sun off your head.)  Usually the swim and the bike (cause you create your own breeze) are ok, it's the run where you really start feeling it.

If you start feeling really overheated/dizzy then SLOW DOWN!  You can't push too hard in heat, especially if you're not used to it.  If you have a HR monitor use it to make sure that your HR doesn't go too high.  You might feel like you're not working so hard, but your HR will tell you. 

Good luck!

Whine whine whine. What kind of cheese do you want with your whine, autumn?

Just finished my morning 5-1/2-mile run, current conditions, ~7am:

TODAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY	MONDAY
Partly Sunny with Thunder Showers Temp: 83 F Hum: 87% P: 29.94 in Wind: 3mph SSW

I'll swap you for your 70s

Autumn:

I just did a 1/2 IM a few weeks ago in very similar temps.  Plan on drinking a lot more than normal, especially if you are a heavy sweater.  I ended up drinking almost twice as much as I normally do, and it still wasn't enough.  I also was taking Endurolyte tablets.  On the bike, I was taking two every hour, on the run, I was taking one to two at every water stop.  

autumn - 2005-07-14 7:57 AM wouldn't that just cahse bloating and dehydration? 87% perect huh? yucko. i thought texas has dry heat. 

Not in Texas, South Louisiana. Only Cajuns in Texas are the ones we kicked out.

I second the Gatorade (or whatever your personal preference of sports drink might be) and a Polar bottle. Good luck!

It was 81 and almost 100% humidity this morning at 5:30. I am ready for some fall weather, you know, high 60's in the morning?

autumn - 2005-07-14 9:05 AM so where would i get endurolytes? bike shop? running shop? are they hard on the stomach? i'm usually okay with just about everything, but i don't want to toss my cookies on race day either!

You can get them on-line at personalbestnutrition.com (although that probably won't help you now).  Not sure if they are available at retailers.  I din't find them hard on the stomach and I must have taken about 20 of them over a 5 hour period. But I've got a pretty iron stomach.

Chris

Hammer makes a product called Endurolytes, which is electrolytes (salt and potassium, mainly) in a pill form. Your LBS, running store, or tri-store should carry this product.  (My LBS carries it)  Endurolytes should NOT upset your stomach as it isn't the stuff that usually causes problems (sugars, flavors, additives, etc.)   If you take electrolytes and then drink a lot you should still be ok, cause that's what the electrolyte replacement is for.  Replacing at least some of the salt/minerals you are losing through sweat, and therefore allowing you to drink more without having problems with absorption etc.

As far as gels, most of them do not have enough electrolyte replacement for heavy sweaters (don't know which you are) - the only gel/sports drink I've found with enough electrolyte replacement for me is Crank Sports, e-gel and e-fuel.  Crank Sports is harder to find, and you probably don't want to try out a new gel etc. right before race day anyway.  So, find some Endurolytes somewhere and take them with you (as someone suggested) in some sort of pill box.