University of Washington – Heat Training with CORE

Editor's note: The University of Washington Cross Country and Track & Field program has been using CORE since early 2025. Their coaches wrote the following report not long after both their men's and women's teams won the 1500-meter national championship.

Training as a distance runner in Seattle, WA has so many advantages. The running trails and parks are accessible and plentiful. And the temperate weather allows for uninterrupted outdoor training year-round. We credit our ability to stay healthy and resilient to the being able to run outside on soft surfaces throughout the whole year. The only drawback is if you needs to prepare for competition in a place with a hot and humid climate.

Because we can’t simulate the high temperature and humidity of places like Texas and Arkansas, which host annual NCAA qualification meets, we are forced to come up with some creative methods to ensure that our student-athletes are prepared and calloused to the demands of that kind of climate. Before we were introduced to CORE, typically it involved layering up in space age garbage suits and getting some funny looks from passersby; which is a great way to sweat and a good start to familiarize yourself with the challenge of running hot. But past that initial introduction to discomfort, we lacked a deeper insight into how well our sweat suits were preparing us.

Using the CORE sensor has helped us refine our heat training methods with their science-backed literature and has given us critical insight into how each individual is responding to a new training stimulus, giving us valuable training intel and further deepening our preparedness for the challenges posed by heat and humidity.

Undoubtedly, we will continue to use CORE in the future to prepare for hot and humid environments, from the comfort of our natural environment here in Seattle.

– Maurica Powell, Director of Track and Field
– Andy Powell, Head Coach of Track & Field and Cross Country
– Chris Kwiatkowski, Assistant Coach, Distances

University of Washington