With Britons unable to cope with any temperature that deviates from what you find on a mild spring day, the hot weather has been adding to the already miserable experience of commuting. There’s the standard advice to drink more water, but when temperatures on buses and trains are approaching 35C, it’s time to call in expert advice.
Freeze your water bottle
“I trained in Australia for the Marathon des Sables [the six-day ultramarathon across the Sahara],” says Sarah Williams, endurance athlete and host of the Tough Girl podcast. “It would be 40-degree heat, everybody else would be staying inside and I’d be going out running. I would put water in the freezer for a while so it would stay really cold.” Leave a space at the top of your bottle to allow for the expansion of the ice.
Wear clean, natural fibres – and a hat
“They’re less sticky,” says endurance athlete Emma Timmis. And wear a hat, “to keep the heat off your head. Generally, when I run I use a visor, although I guess that’s more about the sun than the heat.” Loose clothing is preferable, says the endurance adventurer Sean Conway. And choose clean clothes. “Men tend to wear the same shirt for more than one day, and often shirts get less breathable with body sweat.” Sunscreen can inhibit sweat evaporation, so Conway says he prefers a clothing cover-up.
Carry frozen peas
“I have taken a bag of frozen peas out with me,” says Conway. “You wrap it in a tea towel and you can put it under your clothing, so you don’t look like a weirdo.”
Replace lost salt
Excessive sweating can result in losing essential salts. Too much salt in your diet can be harmful, but eating a balanced diet during a heatwave will help to replace lost salts and minerals. “When I ran across Africa, I craved salt-and-vinegar crisps,” says Timmis. “My body was craving salt.”
Go slow
“If you’re doing a run or cycle commute in the heat, you’re going to put a huge amount of pressure on your body,” says Williams. “Going a bit slower will take some of the pressure off.”
Shower in your clothes
“On my adventures, I would sometimes walk past a fountain and jump in,” says Conway. With all his clothes on. Recreate this by jumping in the shower, fully dressed, before you leave the house. “By the time you get to work, your clothes will have generally dried off.” Or take spare clothes. “You’ll end up being really cool, but you may get a few odd looks.”
