Hydration is it only a summer problem?

Summer is quickly coming to an end but depending on where you live you may still have plenty of hot days left before the cooler fall weather comes.  During my 28 years or running I have experience hot days often when you think the cooler fall weather is here and all of a sudden out of the blue at 90 degree day.

If you choose to run or exercise in the warm weather you have no doubt  heard a lot about hydration and the need to properly hydrate.  Hydration means your body is at its full capacity to hold  water in your tissues.  This can actually take several hours to accomplish.  Most athletes should begin to hydrate more than 24 hours before they compete.   When you are not properly hydrated you will quickly lose the ability to sweat (which is your body’s way of self-regulating your internal temperature) and a big factor in all endurance activities.  Your body is like a car engine, it needs to find a balance between being warmed up and overheated.  If you feel thirsty and them start to hydrate it is too late your body will them have to work harder to regulate its temperature.  My college cross-country coach use to tell us is your urine is dark drink, if it is clear you are properly hydrated.  Many athletes run into problems  as the cooler weather roles in and all of a sudden a hot day hits the area.  I ran the 1999 Boston Marathon  the temperature at the start of the marathon was  52 degrees  by the finish it was 72 degrees and sunny not a cloud in the sky.  Thousand of runners where not expecting temperatures like that on an April day in Boston resulting in lots of not properly hydrated runners.  I have also witnessed runners have problems with dehydration problems in Cross Country meets at the end of October.

Summer is quickly coming to an end but depending on where you live you may still have plenty of hot days left before the cooler fall weather comes.  During my 28 years or running I have experience hot days often when you think the cooler fall weather is here and all of a sudden out of the blue at 90 degree day.

If you choose to run or exercise in the warm weather you have no doubt heard a lot about hydration and the need to properly hydrate.  Hydration means your body is at its full capacity to hold water in your tissues.  This can actually take several hours to accomplish.  Most athletes should begin to hydrate more than 24 hours before they compete.   When you are not properly hydrated you will quickly lose the ability to sweat (which is your body’s way of self-regulating your internal temperature) and a big factor in all endurance activities.  Your body is like a car engine, it needs to find a balance between being warmed up and overheated.  If you feel thirsty and them start to hydrate it is too late your body will them have to work harder to regulate its temperature.  My college cross-country coach use to tell us is your urine is dark drink, if it is clear you are properly hydrated.  Many athletes run into problems as the cooler weather roles in and all of a sudden a hot day hits the area.  I ran the 1999 Boston Marathon the temperature at the start of the marathon was  52 degrees  by the finish it was 72 degrees and sunny not a cloud in the sky.  Thousand of runners where not expecting temperatures like that on an April day in Boston resulting in lots of not properly hydrated runners.  I have also witnessed runners have problems with dehydration problems in Cross Country meets at the end of October.

It is a myth that you only have hydration problems in the summer.  The athletes are not thinking about hydration because the hot days are over but they don’t realize that even when the weather gets cooler they still need to be hydrated to reach their full potential in the race.

The easiest way to hydrate is to have a water bottle and keep it with you taking sips during the day (starting the day before a race) and sip on it during the day.

It is a myth that you only have hydration problems in the summer.  The athletes are not thinking about hydration because the hot days are over but  they don’t realize that even when the weather gets cooler they still need to be hydrated to reach their full potential in the race.

The easiest way to hydrate is to have a water bottle and keep it with you taking sips during the day (starting the day before a race) and sip on it during the day.

So you have to run in the heat, listen to your body!

If you watched the 1984 Olympic Woman’s  Marathon you remember the last runner staggering across the finish line in the hot sun of Los Angeles. Is the only time you have free to  workout  during the hottest part of the day?  Have you ever been out for a run in the summer a felt something was wrong?    The seriousness of overexposure to heat while exercising falls into four categories.  The different heat related injuries are heat cramp,heat syncope, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Heat cramps are muscle spasms or twitching in the limbs or abdomen area caused by loss of electrolytes and dehydration.

Heat syncope is characterized by weakness, fatigue, hypertension (low blood pressure), elevated skin/core body temperature, and sometimes syncope (brief loss of consciousness)

Heat exhaustion can be caused by water depletion or salt depletion.  Water depletion heat exhaustion, is characterized  by reduced sweating, dry tongue and mouth (cotton mouth), thirst, elevated skin/core body temperature, weakness, and loss of coordination.  Another sign is your urine is almost orange in color.  Salt depletion heat exhaustion is characterized by headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, possible vomiting and diarrhea, syncope and muscle cramps.  Salt depletion heat exhaustion usually takes 3-5 days to develop.

Heat stoke is a life threatening medical emergency.  The bodies sweating mechanism has become fatigued.  however the person may still be sweating a little but usually sweating has stopped and the skin is dry.  The core body temperature maybe over 105 degrees.  Heat stroke is can also cause by involuntary limb movement, seizures, vomiting and diarrhea, coma, and rapid/shallow heart beat.  This heat related injury should be taken seriously and the individual should seek medical help immediately.  Heat stroke can lead to death because irreversible damage to the central nervous system.

The most common factors for having a heat related injury is heat exposure  and loss of body water.  One needs to be careful while training in the hot days of summer.  It is important to realize that heat cramps can lead to heat syncope, heat exhaustion and eventually heart stroke.

Normally, a person will involuntarily stop exercising and seek shelter from the heat when heat cramps or heat exhaustion starts to set in.  However highly competitive athletes, are more vulnerable to heat disorders. They are highly competitive / motivated and therefore more likely to overextend themselves.  In races they will often think more about the prize and ignore the signs their body is giving them to stop.  If you watched the 1984 Olympic Woman Marathon you remember the last runner staggering across the finish line.  Gabriela Anderson staggered out of control around the track to the finish. Heat exhaustion left her not knowing “where I was” but three times she waved off medical assistance because it would have prevented her from finishing.