The 6th annual Grit Games are about to go down this weekend in West Columbia, Texas… and it’s gonna be HOT 🥵. The forecast on Sunday for the elite competition is calling for 100° F with a 95% chance of storms.
This isn’t out of the ordinary for Texas in August. Typical highs in Houston (closest major city) in August are in the low-to-mid 90s, with highs often reaching 98°+. This year, 7 out of the 8 days so far in August have hit 100° or 101°.
The Weather’s Effect on Competition
How will 100° temps affect the competition? Well, for starters, those who aren’t used to this kind of heat will likely not perform to their highest potential. This will mainly affect those who live in colder climates, or at higher elevations.
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To get a better picture of the totality of the competition, let’s look at the time domain that each workout occupies:
- Workout 1: 20 minutes
- Workout 2: 24 minutes
- Workout 3: Unknown, but likely short
- Workout 4: Elimination style, but top finishers will go for at least 36 minutes
Workout 1 consists of running and lots of heavy carries.
Workout 2 consists of running & burpees.
Workout 3 is a short obstacle course with grip-intensive obstacles.
Workout 4 is elimination style, so total amount of work will vary, but mainly consists of repeated 800m runs in under 4:00 (under an 8:00/mi pace).
These are relatively long, and definitely grueling, workouts. The endurance workout (#4) could end up lasting close to an hour for the top 3-4 athletes, which would mean running 6-7 miles, along with a bunch of dead hangs and sandbag overhead holds. And this workout is scheduled to start at 1:19pm, where temps would be nearly at their hottest.
Hot weather techniques
How the athletes recover between workouts will be extremely important if they want to do well. Hopefully they bring a ton of ice, are able to locate the shade, and pound electrolytes.
Here are a few things we’d recommend to combat the heat:
- Wear white or light colored clothing
- Keep your clothing wet to assist with your body’s evaporation/cooling process
- Use ice between workouts, or even between rounds
- Focus on cooling your hands & feet
- Find shade whenever possible, including on the run course during the workouts, if possible
And with the obstacle course starting at 11:04, it’ll likely be pretty hot already. Sweaty hands could become an issue with grip-intensive obstacles. Consider tucking a towel into your shorts or sports bra to wipe off your hands.
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At the end of the day, I don’t think hot weather will give specific athletes much of an advantage. The best will still rise to the top, but only if they take care of themselves. If anyone slips up and doesn’t hydrate, or doesn’t take other precautions, it could bump them down the leaderboard.
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