Apparel Guide for Reverse Training

Paige at the Napa Valley Vintage Half-Iron triathlon.

Standing on the top of the Earth at the North Pole.

By Susan Rich

Here we are, smack in the middle of a cold, dark, rainy Oregon winter… but you have signed up to walk a marathon next summer in hot and humid Hawaii.

Or maybe you’re wilting — not walking — through the dog days of summer here in Portland, and you’ve got plans to walk the North Pole Marathon yes, that’s the North Pole — in March.

You’ve got the time to build up your speed and stamina — but that’s only part of the problem: If you are reverse training — preparing for an event in a climate that’s the opposite of the one you are currently experiencing — what should you wear?

Summer Heat
Paige Sommer, who lives in the always foggy, almost always chilly Bay Area, is a triathlete experienced in reverse training. Most of the events Sommer chooses take place during the summer, where temperatures top 80F or hotter.

She is currently training for the Vineman Ironman, which takes place next August in Napa Valley, CA. Temperatures that day could hit triple-digits: “It’s never warmer than the mid-70s where I live,” she says, so simulating a hot weather training regimen is critical to her success.

Reverse training does work, if done consistently and carefully. “It will be tough to switch,” she says of the upcoming event. “It does get hard, but so far I’ve been successful.”

Her advice is simple: “Overdress now for the climate you’ll be training for — wear a lot of layers.” That’s because acclimatization — getting your body used to a markedly different temperature or altitude — is an important part of training, regardless of the chosen sport. Elite athletes will actually move to the venue up to six weeks before an event takes place, ensuring their best performance.

For those of us on a budget, or with families, jobs, and other commitments that keep us in place until days before the event, our best option is to simulate the weather conditions we’ll be walking in, and that is usually achieved by how much clothing we put on or take off.

But if you’re training in mid-winter for a hot weather event, “You can’t take it off,” no matter how warm you get, Sommer explains. That defeats the whole purpose of acclimatization.

Be prepared to sweat — a lot. Learning how to stay properly hydrated while you’re all bundled up is part of this endurance training, too, she says.

“I sweat a lot, and I have to drink a lot too. You have to get used to that for the event, you have to be able to drink, and wear the heavy clothing, and stay focused on proper nutrition, too,” she explains.

So on the briskest winter day, Sommer will suit up in a jog bra, a base layer with at least one shirt on top, followed by a windbreaker. She prefers to train in long pants, not shorts or Capri-length tights. And a hat is a must-have, she notes, something that covers both the head and ears and has wicking properties. In colder climates than hers, Sommer suggests adding a thermal layer under the leggings and shirts.

On a shivery morning, this might not sound like a lot of gear. But once your body warms up, the temptation to strip down — which is conventional wisdom for an everyday walk — will be great.

Polar Opposite
What if it’s already cold where you are — but even colder where you’re going? That’s the challenge Ginny Turner, who holds a Guinness World Record for racewalking seven marathons on seven continents in a record-breaking 113 days, faced when she signed up for the North Pole Marathon.

The North Pole — located on a mass of shifting sea ice that is between six and 12-feet thick — is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Subject to the pull of tides, the ice mass drifts and the terrain itself can gradually change. During last year’s event, walkers and runners careened 26.2 miles on a carefully constructed course.

“It’s the most extreme weather conditions,” says this Hillsboro, OR, resident. No matter how chilly an Oregon fall or winter might be, nothing you do will completely prepare you for the grueling conditions that exist at the top of the world.

Sub-zero temperatures require careful attention to clothing, water, and nutrition. Turner’s top concern — “Am I going to be warm enough?” led her on a quest for training gear and clothing and on journeys to colder climates, including Antarctica, where she previously completed a marathon.

Having been to Antarctica, “I had an idea as to what to expect” in terms of cold weather. Concern over the terrain at the North Pole led her to invest in a pair of specialized snowshoes, which she in fact wore for the entire event.

Despite the training and a few well-packed bags, it took Turner three laps on the course to figure out what to wear. On the day of the event, she recalls, the temperature was minus 40F. Oddly enough, she was overdressed. When she finished her first lap, she realized that her so-called waterproof and breathable coat wasn’t — it was wet from the inside out, and her underlayer was wet, too.

“I knew I was in trouble,” she said, so she peeled that coat off, along with the damp inner layer. A down jacket took her through the second lap; by then she was warmed up, and needed only her thermal layers, each piece with a wind stopper front, goggles, and a balaclava to protect her head, face, and neck, to finish the marathon. “I ended up walking with my down jacket tied around my waist.”

Training Tips
If you are planning on reverse training for an event, consider the following:

Every layer you wear is equivalent to 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit, explains Warren Finke, a coach with Team Oregon, and more than 27 years experience with the Road Runners Club of America. But, he cautions, you want to start overdressing slowly, so as not to place too much stress on the body. “You do it a little bit at a time, and be sure to give your body time to recover, he says.

Finally, if you are reverse training, it’s important to understand that unless you move to the event venue weeks in advance, your performance still won’t be top-notch.

That’s because performance degrades in extreme hot or cold temperatures, an average of 3% for every 10 degrees over the optimal temperature of 55F, Finke explains. “Don’t expect to go from Oregon to Hawaii and achieve the same time you would in Oregon,” he says. “You have to set your goals accordingly.”