Baby Its Hot Out There

There's been some talk about the heat here in Tallahassee. You know, about running in it. While most people want to get from the car to the house and from the car to the office quickly and with the least amount of sweat we runners are out in it for hours. Running after the sun is down, on the trails, and in the wee hours of the weekend helps, but really. . . its the humidity that makes it so rough.

Here's some interesting information fo you on running in the heat. Doesn't cool us off, but interesting nevertheless:

"Humidity on top of heat drastically decreases the body's ability to cool itself. "Sweating doesn't cool the body; it's the evaporation of the sweat that makes you feel cooler," says Lisa Bliss, M.D., medical director of the Badwater Ultramarathon. "When it's humid, it's harder for the sweat to evaporate." The most effective way to deal with the oppressive combination of high humidity and heat? "Let your body self-select the pace," says Dr. Bliss. In other words, when it's hot, slow down. "If it ain't happening, it ain't happening," says Dunaway. "What we say here is 'Don't be a hero in the heat.'"

And from Jeff Galloway's Book on Running (published 1984):"In hot weather, blood rushes to the surface of your skin and spreads out in thousands of tiny capillaries to release the heat. Small reservoirs of water in the sweat glands are squeezed out on the skin's surface by tiny "sweat muscles" to cool off the skin and body through evaporation. This capillary action and sweating diverts needed blood away from the exercising muscles, reducing their work capacity. There is also less blood to carry oxygen to the cells and remove waste. Although you may become adapted to the heat through training, even the best heat runner will feel discomfort and run slower as the mercury climbs... "

While training hard for Marine Corp last summer, we discovered that putting some hand towels in the cooler with the ice water was a fabulous way to cool down. Squeeze the hand towel over your neck and head to refresh and cool down. A bit of gasping is always good, but it really gave us a boost.