Some years ago, when I considered myself a runner in the classic sense of actually living and breathing the runner’s lifestyle, there was a popular 10 kilometer race in Milan, Ohio. The race was a highlight of the very popular, annual Milan Melon Festival. It was always held over the Labor Day weekend. Each year over 100,000 people would journey to this small village of less than 1,500. The temperatures on race day were invariably over 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity! I loathed it.
I always envisioned a personal best at this race because it was a flat, out-and-back course. For those of you that are not runners, ‘flat, out-and-back” courses are the kinds of courses where runners hope to attain their personal best time. There are no fancy undulations or patterns to the course to slow down their times or to keep them from funning ‘flat-out’. The Milan course was a dream for runners who were seeking a personal best time. And I, year after year, and for many years of my youth, was one of those personal best seekers.
What I Failed To Consider
Runners, and often tennis palyers, are infamous for putting up with a lot of physical pain. They enter long and difficult races, many times in extreme conditions such as the heat and humidity of the Milan Melon Festival Run. In spite of the punishing conditions, they still run like mad people – in a good way. They incur much pain and suffering – in a good way. Then after the race is over, they forget about all the pain and about all the suffering, only to seek out another race for another personal best. My opinion of them is . . . you gotta love them! Here’s the problem though: In my situation with the extreme heat conditions of the Milan Melon festival, I didn’t just forget how painful that race was, but I failed to remember how dangerously hot it was.
What is Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke?
Heat-related illness is when your body can’t keep itself cool. As the air temperature rises, your body stays cool when your sweat evaporates. That’s the good stuff. But sometimes on hot, humid days, the evaporation of sweat is slowed by the increased moisture in the air. When sweating isn’t enough to cool your body, your body temperature rises, and you may become ill.
Heat exhaustion happens when your body gets too hot. It can be caused by physical exercise or hot weather. You may experience: heavy sweating, weakness, confusion, dizziness, nausea, headache, fast heartbeat.
Heat stroke is when the internal temperature of the body reaches 104°F. It can happen when your body gets too hot during strenuous exercise or when exposed to very hot temperatures, or it can happen when heat exhaustion isn’t properly treated. Heatstroke is much more serious than heat exhaustion. Heatstroke can cause damage to your organs and brain. In extreme cases, it can kill you.
In warm to hot conditions, most adult tennis players will lose between 1.0 and 2.5 liters of water during each hour of competitive singles. Sweat rates of 3.5 liters per hour are not unusual when:
1. the environment gets hotter and more humid,
2. as intensity of play increases, and
3. as a player becomes more aerobically fit and acclimatizes to the heat.
Sweat is mostly water, but it contains a fair amount of sodium and chloride. Clinical evidence supports a relationship between heat-related muscle cramps and a high sodium loss. Without adequate sodium replacement, the cumulative effect of such losses can lead to a progressive sodium deficit after several days of playing or training in the heat. The effects of inadequate sodium replacement cause muscle cramps or increased heat exhaustion during subsequent play.
One reason that tennis players don’t always offset sweat losses with fluid intake is that, during a match, thirst is usually not a rapid enough indicator of body water losses.
Because players don’t always feel the need to drink as much as is needed they should follow a predetermined hydration plan, whether they are thirsty or not. Studies have shown significant decreases in muscular strength, muscular endurance, physical work capacity, and even mental performance, with only marginal to moderate body water losses. Also, current research shows that fluid ingestion reduces internal body temperature, as well as muscle glycogen use, during prolonged exercise. These factors contribute to improved performance.
If you are prone to heat-related muscle cramps during hot weather, you might consider increasing your intake of foods and liquids containing salt. Avoid drinks that contain caffeine or alcohol; they will accelerate fluid loss.
General Gotta Know Heat Smarts For Summertime Activities
Lifetime fitness means taking it down a notch in extreme heat conditions. But oddly enough, while many people will agree with this statement yet, none-the-less, will take pride in not heeding this advice.
And just what do I mean when I say “lifetime fitness means taking exercise down a notch in the heat?”
Many of us strive to be healthy, lean and fit. However, lifetime fitness encompasses more than being healthy, lean and fit. Lifetime fitness is not the superficial kind of fitness where people cycle through periods of being hyped up to crashes into a sedentary lifestyle, on and off, throughout their lives. This kind of fitness approach is comparable to yo-yo dieters, people who get hyped up about a new diet only to yo-yo back to their old lifestyles and body weights. This behavior saddens me. It is self defeating. Many athletic and fitness striving people desire to do things right. It is their impatience with obtaining quick results that is their downfall. This impatience is why many people end up simply reading but not heeding sound medical advice of being safe when exercising in the heat.
Get The Right Mindset
Situation It is hot and humid outside but I have not worked out yet.
Mindset – It is not the end of the world. Either go inside and train at a gym, or drink lots of water ahead of time and then go outside and train with a decreased intensity.
Making a decision is key here!
Situation It is hot and humid outside but it’s important that I train hard today because I have a race or match coming Up.
Mindset – I can train later in the day or early in the morning. It will be inconvenient and out of my regular routine, but I can do it this once, or I will decrease my intensity today knowing that this is only one of many challenges I have in my lifetime.
When it is hot and humid, do the sensible thing – take it down a notch.