You know me. I love my data. I got an email from "The Feed" back in October 2020 about it.
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It got me curious about it since I'm a big believer in the effects of heat training/acclimation/adjustment just like elevation training. Two things initially stopped me from purchasing and pursuing information further:
1) The use of either a HR strap or medical grade adhesive patch. I used to use a HR strap long ago for a good while, but developed a pretty nice sore from it. It's since healed, but it makes me apprehensive about going back to it. Although it appears the device resides on the side moreso than the middle of the chest. The adhesive patches are more desirable to me, but seem cost prohibitive at $7 per 8 patches. It looks like they've since come out with an arm strap since what I remember seeing. Now that's something I could get behind, but even their own site says that the accuracy on the arm is lower. So then is it worth it?
2) The initial cost of the product is $250. So I'd weigh that against what actionable data I would get from the device. Is it like GCT on Garmin devices which is a good measurement, but how much are you going to change things based on this value? Or is it like HR which if used correctly can show actionable trends over the short/long term? Or like wattage for running, which might not be quite there yet, but provides instantaneous feedback that's actionable?
I remember watching the Olympic Mens triathlon and finding the eventual winner's outfit choice interesting. That sheer white with practically visible everything except for the underwear. Now after visiting CORE it looks like they had actionable evidence as to which outfit was providing the best body heat response (
link). Here's a DCRainmaker article as well (
link).
While the core temp in heat was interesting, I don't encounter it that often in WI. However, I would be curious about the opposite direction. Because I do tend to train in some pretty darn cold environments (as low as -40F wind chill). And I'd be curious to see where that takes my core body temp. And then prep for warm weather races and heat acclimation training effects. As well as I'd probably use it to track performance in races and the relationship seen with change and actual body temp. So for me, it's not an instant no. I think it has value, and if you've got the money for it, then I do think it will give actionable data that you can use to optimize training and race performance, as well as assist in finding ways to pre-cool your body efficiently. It's something that if I had the money for it, or someone gave it to me to trial run it, then I would have a field day in testing it out.