Running and heat exhaustion

dani21496

dani21496

Cathlete
Hey there! I just wanted to ask about running and heat exhaustion. I ran 12 miles yesterday with my marathon training group. We met early in the morning and the temp was okay at first but when we hit the 7 or 8 mile mark, I was having a little trouble controlling my breathing. I was really hot! (It got into the triple digits yesterday here in Chicago...I think it got up to 107!)

Then at the 9 mile mark we stopped for gatorade and I noticed that me and this other girl had goosebumps all over our arms and legs. We finished the 12 miles finally but I was drenched. It looked as if I had jumped into a swimming pool!

My hands and fingers were all swollen and puffy and I had goosebumps. Was that heat exhaustion? I went home and slept for 2 hours and then went to bed last night at 8:30.

What's really crazy is that during our run we saw this crazy guy running the other direction with a huge furry winter hat on and winter coat! CRAZY!!
 
Danger, Dani! Goosebumps are a sign you are no longer regulating your temperature. Are you srue you were still sweating? Did you replenish electrolytes post run? With the humidity in Chicago, it can be life threatening to run. Did you hydrate as you ran? I never run in the heat of the day in Tucson and it's a lot dryer which makes cooling down through sweating more efficient than more humid climes. I ran one summer in Michigan and even at 7:00 AM witht he temp in the 80's, the humidity made me struggle. Don't do it, sweetie. Do you have access to a treadmill? When the dew point rises so the temps "feel like" the hundreds it's best to reduce mileage, workout indoors or skip it altogether.
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
 
Dani,

You definitely had heat exhaustion and a touch of heat sickness. Before you do that again, 2-3 hours before drink as much water as you can, without making you slushy inside. Then an hour before grab some gatorade and drink it, at least a cup if not more. This will help keep those electrolytes in you, instead of you dripping them out of your body as you run. Also next time jump on the scale right before you head out, write down your weight, then when you come back home jump on it again. If you notice you weigh less, it means you’re dehydrated, and need to drink about 8 - 10 oz of water for every pound you lost during that time. But sports drinks are a lifesaver when it's really hot and your running more then a few miles. And sometimes it is a lifesaver when it's really hot and you happen to be outside for whatever reason.

Also next time when you see those signs, or headache, tiredness, dizzy, spots in front of eyes, having a hard time breathing, or you suddenly stopped sweating especially the tiredness, don't go to sleep, you can go into heat stoke, very easily since you can drink water while you sleep. Keep awake and keep drinking water, or gatorade, which ever you can get the most down you. Get up move around and have a near by friend come and check on you. Being from Az I've seen a lot of cases of heat exhaustion, sickness and heat stroke. It can go from very mild to very extreme in a matter of hours.

I know we all want to watch our calories and gatorade is pretty high calorie drink, but a few extra calories or a visit to the ER might be your only two choices, when dealing with any type of signs of heat exhaustion/sickness. As you actually had signs of both, yesterday. Also next time find a nice bit of shade and sit down, and drink water and gatorade, don't just hop in the car, and turn up the air full blast, that is about the worse thing you can do. Though when you do get in the car, turn up the cold/heat mixture, so it's only slightly cool, and then slowly turn it down, every 30 minutes. The cold air will stop you from sweating and can send your body in to shock. And please do tell your group, what your experience, as there will probably be someone who knows enough about heat sickness to tell you, if you need to go to the ER or not. It's always safe then sorry with this. If there isn't anyone. Don't be the tough gal, really stand back and say, if this was happening to my friend what would I tell her to do? Then take your own advice.

As for the other guys, with the fur, they were trying to lose weight; a lot of the wrestling teams do this, as they want to be the strongest but lightest guy. I usually have to get after a few of them as they'll even run wrapped in black trash bags, to lose that extra 5 pounds. These are also the guys I’m usually in up calling the paramedics for, as they will pass out right as they get inside the health club and the cool hair hits them, and down they go. Drives me nuts, but it looks like nothing will convince them that this is a bad idea. Even having a teammate in up in the hospital for three weeks from doing that, didn't stop the rest of them.

Kit
 
Congrats on your 12 mile run, Dani! I ran 8 this past weekend and had the same thing - goosebumps - so this advice you got has really helped me out, too. Next, weekend I will run 9 and definitely be bringing some Gatorade to drink when I need it.

~Marcia~
 
Bobbi, come to think of it I may have stopped sweating by the time I saw the goosebumps. But my clothes were all wet from beforehand. There were gatorade stops about every 2 miles and I made sure to drink two full cupfulls at each stop. I drank gatorade afterwards also.

I do have access to a gym and can run on the treadmill there. But, once a week I have to meet with my training group for the long runs. I don't think I'd finish the whole distance running by myself. Well, I probably could but it would be a lot harder. You're right though...if it's this hot again next week, I'll try to do it all inside. Next week we have to go 13 miles.
 
Thanks Bobbi, Kit and Marcia!! I really, really appreciate all these tips! I knew something was wrong yesterday but wasn't sure what.

Congrats to you too Marcia and good luck with your running!
 
Hi Dani...yes congrats on your 12 mile run! I ran 12 too yesterday...:)...I agree with Kit about drinking water before you go out for the longer runs. Also keep well hyrated the previous day. I run in the heat most of the summer but I don't think it's as humid in Cal as it is in Chicago. I drink alot of water and take electrolyte tablets too. I don't know how early you ran but you might want to try to get the group to run earlier for this reason....be careful!...:)...Carole
 
Dani,

Another thing if you workout inside most of the week and then do the run outside. This is bad for you, your body can't take that sudden change in environment. Try to get out early morning for 30 minute workout, or evening when it's still a bit warm, even it it's just a run around the block a few times. And then slowly build up, by adding on another 10 minutes. When your outside, every 15-20 minutes you need 2 cups of water, doesn't matter if it's hot or if it's cold, that's how much your body looses from the outside air, so do make sure you take plenty to drink. Once your body starts to get use to working out in the heat, you'll be surprised at how quick it adapts and will be able to keep going. And that gatorade breaks will be more of a re-energizer type of thing.

And also when it's really humid, be very careful, this will actually stop your body from being able to sweat correctly. Which could be another sign of why you had goose bumps, the humidity was cooling down your skin too fast, with you running so it was stopping your sweat glands from working. Make sure you wear super dry weave or wicking material on your runs when it's hot and humid or just avoid going outside, and do a run on the treadmill.

Even with the football players we always make sure that there is a break every 20 minutes so everyone can get water/gatorade etc, and we have a scale right on the field, everyone weighs in and weighs out with a sheet telling them how much water then need to drink to re-hydrate themselves. I even jump on it to make sure I’m drinking enough to be out there, as a lot of time practice is 3 to 4 hours long, and just standing there you lose a lot of water.

Kit
 
Kit,

Thanks again. Our training team told us we should run short runs outside during the week too, so we can slowly acclimate our bodies to running in the heat.
 
Thanks so much Carole. I used to live in San Diego and the climate there was a lot better than here. I loved it out there. :)
 
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