Anyway, today's article is in commemoration of the ridiculous heat wave which is currently sweeping my hometown and making training absolutely miserable.
First: Recognize Symptoms
The first thing to know about exercising in hot weather is to pay attention to your body. You need to be on the alert for any of the symptoms of the heat disorders. The three heat disorders, in order of severity, are Heat Cramps, Heat Exhaustion, and Heat Stroke.
Heat Cramps is the most mild of the heat disorders, and is what it sounds- painful cramps or spasms brought on by exercise in the heat. Heat Exhaustion is a more total-body affliction, and this is what you need to look out for. The symptoms are headaches, fatigue, malaise, nausea, faintness, mental confusion. There's a fairly wide range of severity for Heat Exhaustion, starting with simple fatigue and excessive perspiration and ranging through the symptoms like mental confusion. If you cannot cool off, the body eventually enters Heat Stroke.
Heat Stroke is not something to mess around with- internal body temperature rises over 104 degrees fahrenheit, and the heart beats extremely rapidly, around 160-180 beats per minute. The patient frequently no longer sweats, and eventually unconsciousness, convulsions, and death result.
This is why it's so important to pay attention to your body- you need to recognize the symptoms of Heat Exhaustion before it becomes severe. If you have a headache, or if you're unusually fatigued, are feeling nauseous, you should stop exercising.
Knowing the symptoms is all well and good, but the important thing is prevention.
1. Exercise Closer to Home
Say you're doing a 5 mile run. Rather than do 2.5 miles out and 2.5 miles back, find a 1 mile loop and do that 5 times. Boring? Yes. Safer? You bet. Trust me, you do NOT want to be at the turnaround point when you realize that you're starting to get Heat Exhaustion and still have to run all the way back. If you're starting to feel the symptoms, you can just stop, rather than try and figure out if you're going to have to walk home.
If you can't or won't do this, carry a cell phone. You may well need to call somebody to come pick you up, or even call 911 if your symptoms get too severe. Bring the phone. It's always better to be safe than sorry.
2. Wear the Right Clothing
You should be wearing white, of course, but also wear any technical fabrics that you might have. They wick sweat away from your body, which keeps you cooler, and if you dump water on them it feels really nice.
Oh, and wear a brimmed hat, if possible. It keeps the sun off of your face and keeps sweat out of your eyes. You dissipate a lot of heat through your head though, so you should wear a very thin hat if possible. If you don't have a thin hat, it's better to go without.
I have a nice mesh hat that I got from a race that I use. It's white, mesh, and has a brim, so it's pretty much perfect. Looks stupid, though.
3. Lower Intensity
Don't work hard in the heat. Just don't. The heart beats faster in the heat, so you're already exercising harder than you would be otherwise, and it's harder to achieve any given speed.
Also, the harder you work the more your body temperature rises, so you get closer to risking heat exhaustion. If you have a hard training day planned, either try to swim instead or just lower the intensity. Training in the heat, even at low intensities, helps the body adapt to hot weather, so the more you train in the heat to better you'll be when you race. So don't worry, you're still getting a benefit, even though you're not going fast.
4. Ice.
If it's really hot, lay a bandanna out flat. Fill it with ice, roll it up, and tie it around your neck. It'll melt, trickle down, and keep you cool. It's a very effective method for very high temperatures.
Also, let's say you're doing that loop I mentioned earlier 5 times. You can put 4 cups of ice water on your porch beforehand, and each loop douse yourself with the water to keep cool. It'll take virtually no time, and it'll help you avoid any of the heat disorders.
5. If You Didn't Listen
Ok, so let's say you didn't follow any of these steps, you were out in the heat for a long time, and you manage to get home. You know that you don't require hospitalization (again, better safe than sorry-- if you think you need it, call 911) but you have heat exhaustion.
Get 3 bags of ice, frozen peas, or very cold washcloths and place 1 bag in each armpit and 1 bag in the general crotch area. These sites are where the body responds best to cooling, so that's where you need to get the ice. You can also put some on the forehead, neck, and abdomen, if you so desire.
Do not jump in an ice-cold shower right away. Going between very hot and very cold that quickly puts a lot of stress on the body, and you could go into shock. Instead, get into a lukewarm shower and then gradually decrease the temperature.
Stay safe!
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