Body Temperature Reguation While Working Out Information

As most of you probably know I've been training for a triathlon for 2 months now. It was in the 80's here in Central NY today, and I did a brick workout ( 2 events back to back w/ no rest ). So, I rode the bike 15 miles, dropped the bike off and got a 5 mile run in. Let me tell you, going from 20-22mph to around 10mph is a huge shock. The second my foot hit the ground from the bike, sweat began to flood out of my pours. About 3 minutes into my run, I noticed I was getting VERY VERY hot, VERY quickly. My mouth was like sand 5 minutes into my run, so I had to push through being extremely dehydrated, and overheating.

After my workout, I did my normal routine (Strides, Stretch, Abbs). Even though I wasn't doing much work, I noticed I was still extremely hot and my mouth was still tacky. A cool shower fixed the heat, and a 1/2 gallon of gatorade fixed the dehydration. So I decided to get on the computer and do some research inorder to better prepare myself to make my workouts from now on more comfortable. So here's what I found:

Although the Average Tempurature for Mid-April in Central NY is around 65, the forcast for the next 10 days is:

As you can see the average temperature is above normal for the next week and a half. For you out there who have been running, and have noticed that it is MUCH harder to run in this very hot weather, it's not just you.

Actually, the reason that it's so much harder to train during warm weather is because your temperature regulatory system in your body controlled by the hypothalamus gland has trouble keeping up when the air temperature gets closer to normal core temp (98.6F), and has even more trouble when the humidity raises. Air tempuratures 55 and higher begin to put stress on the Thermoregulatory System. Most athletes don't notice the decrease in efficiency until about 65 degrees. The human body perspires water and salts which evaporate into the air, cooling your body down. When the air is saturated with water, your sweat cannot evaporate as quickly.

So, the first thing that happens when you start running, is your core tempurature starts to heat up. This is because muscles create up to 20% more heat when being used during workouts. When the blood passing through the hypothalamus gland is higher than normal, the heart beats harder and faster, pushing the HOT blood to the skin's surface (instead of your muscles) to COOL it off. So not only do you have less blood going to the muscles, but you have more lactic acid buildup, because less blood is transporting acids away.

If your body keeps heating up, Heat Stress, can progress to Heat Exhaustion which can cause the life threatening Heat Stroke. If you ever begin to feel dizzy, or have muscle cramps, you may be experiencing stages of Heat Exhaustion, if you ever stop sweating, while you rightfully know you should be, you're becoming dangerously close to Heat Stroke, and you NEED to stop, cool down and hydrate. Heat stroke causes blood presure to drop, and could result in a Coma.

Having a quick change in tempurature, which is what happend for the past 3 days, the weather went from about 55F to around 80F in a few days. Your body needs to go through a process called Acclimation, or just getting used to the hot weather. After your body gets acclimated to the warmer, more humid weather, the Thermoregulatory System becomes more efficient, you release more sweat, quicker, at a lower blood tempurature, but your sweat has less salt in it.

Here are some tips for getting good workouts in during the summer months without letting that big ball in the sky effect you as much:

• Wear light colored breatheable clothing that allowes easy wicking of sweat.
• Get acclimated to the weather before performing vigerous workouts.
• Take a cool shower before your workout to pre-cool your system.
• Pour water over your head ( 70% of your body heat leaves your dome )
• Workout just before sunrise, or when it cools after sunset.
• HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE ( cold water leaves your stomach faster, and has a phychological cooling effect )

I got information from:

• Summertime sizzlers - body temperature regulation - Brief Article

• Hot Weather Running

• Wikipedia
  

I wrote a blog on March 11th about the basics of Triathlons, click here for that blog.

BeginnerTriathlete.com is an excellent site to look at if you are interested in articles, training schedules, or a forum about triathlon stuff.

Triathlon.org is a huge database of upcoming events, results, news, and rankings ranging from sub-amateur to professional triathletes.

USATriathlon.org is a site made to connect fellow triathletes to clubs, races and coaches.  they have a membership fee, but being a member decreases the entry fee to most races, and such.

I'll post more on Triahlons soon.

If anyone has any questions you can:

       Email me @ lilmidg12@yahoo.com

       IM me @ lilmidg12

       Or just message me on runnerspace.com

2007 Rhodes BG Triathlon World Cup - Elite Men

Event Location: Rhodes, Greece

Date: October 7th 2007

Prize Money: 100,000 US Dollars

1	Gemmell	Kris	NZL	01:51:53	00:19:14	00:01:23	00:58:10	00:00:28	00:32:35
2	Brownlee	Alistair	GBR	01:51:57	00:19:07	00:01:26	00:58:31	00:00:28	00:32:23
3	Atkinson	Courtney	AUS	01:52:20	00:19:15	00:01:26	00:59:42	00:00:24	00:31:30

 Full Results

Bike: ~18Mi in 60Mins.

Run: 9Mi in 60Mins.

BOOO YAHHHHH!!!!  Starting to feel it in the Legs again.

OK, so I haven't written a blog since... the 14th.

I don't have anything interesting to write about today, I have Spring break next week, so I'll have ample time to produce a few blogs.

I just watched Old School...:

Bike: 60 mins.

Run: --

    Today I rode over to the local bike shop on Central Ave, Albany NY.  I bought the Profile Design Century Aerobars.  They feel pretty comfortable (not as comfortable as the really expensive ones they had on their top end TRI bike, but good enough for a beginner like me...  I'll post pictures of the whole bike/Tri bars tomorrow.

    After putting the aerobars on at the store, I decided to take the storekeepers advice, and head out towards the Guilderland Area and hit up some country roads.  I did that for about an hour, I don't know how far I went, it was more or less just a leisurely ride to scope out the area, get used to the aerobars, and waste time.

    After that I met up with an old teacher from my first semester here at UAlbany, Laurie Garafola, she is one of the heads for RESLIFE here at SUNY Albany, so... I've got the hook-ups...  She's going to see if she can get me onto the Freedom Appartments for next year.

    Anyways... I took Mr. Burns advice and got meself a bit of Yuengling, have been craving beer for the past few weeks.  I haven't drank any alcohol in a month.  Felt like everyone deserves a few drinks for St. Patty's Day Weekend, not to mention I've had a good "almost" first month of training...

    This gives me time to reflect on the first week of training.  The first day, I went out for a run.. I got about 1.5 miles into the run, and was DIEING.  Kids in 7th grade race that far, and I could barely walk after running that far... haha makes me laugh out loud, yes I said it withough shortening it up to LOL.  By the end of the first week of training, I thought 4 miles was good... I ran 10 miles the other day, and biked 22 yesterday, before running another 5...  I'm deffinately getting back into shape, but have alot to work on before the TRIATHLON Aug 10th.

    Since I've been listening to Dave Matthews Band for the past hour, I feel it is my obligation to pour it onto you foke.