Thag Hot!

You may or may not have noticed the last week or two, but it is kind of hot out. If you live in Kansas, like me, it has been REALLY hot. Burn your feet on the pavement hot.

Heat like that brings up a few special considerations when it comes to health, so I thought I'd dedicate today's blog to dealing with the heat.

First, I will let the doctor in me talk for a minute about heat exhaustion and heat stroke. These are the two main heat related illnesses.

Heat Exhaustion is when you have been out in the heat too long, but not long enough to kill you yet. You begin to feel tired, weak, and sometimes lightheaded. You  are sweating profusely, and feel shaky. Passing out is possible at this stage. The symptoms are not subtle. You will know that something is wrong. The cure is to get out of the heat RIGHT AWAY, and drink something (non-alcoholic).

Heat Stroke is what occurs if you ignore your body's warning and don't (or can't) get out of the heat. You stop sweating (a very bad sign), and can get confusion and loss of consciousness which progress to coma and death. This is obviously not very good.

There. That is the public service announcement part of the show. Dr. Ott is satisfied. Now, on to how to exercise in the heat.

1. Choose a good time: OK, so you may be one of those people who love to run every afternoon at 3:00 exactly. If you have to wait until 3:02, you start to get the shakes. Believe me, I understand this kind of obsession, but temperature speaking, this is probably not the best time to run. Truly, the best time would be around 3AM, when temperatures are at their lowest, but since that is usually not practical, early morning and late evening are the next best choice

2. They invented the treadmill for a reason. I know that treadmills are boring, but they are infinitely better than dying of heat stroke. Trust me. When it gets super hot, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and just giving in and running on the treadmill is your best bet.

3. Drink water: Here is a news flash- when it is hot, you sweat. A lot. Those fluids need to be replaced. Unless you happen to be a frog (who can absorb water through their skin), the only way to replenish fluids is by drinking them. Drink water every 10 minutes or so. Drinking water also helps to lower your core body temperature, so it gives you a double benefit.

4. Take breaks as needed: You have your 20 mile long run scheduled for Friday. It is 100 degrees on Friday. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to cancel your run (but you should consider it). You could instead break it down to four 5 mile runs, with a 10 minute inside break (to cool off). This strategy would keep your core temperature lower, so that you can finish, rather than overheat.

5. Protect yourself from the sun: If heat stroke doesn't get you, skin cancer might. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and your chance of getting it is greatly increased by sun exposure. Be sure to wear a had, and technical clothing which has a high SPF (a cotton shirt only has an SPF of 5, but you shouldn't be wearing that to run outside anyway, as it does nothing to wick sweat away). Wear sunblock, but don't be fooled by the hype- while it will prevent you from getting a sunburn, studies have not ever shown it to be effective in preventing melanoma.

Remember these steps, and your run in the heat will only be painful, but not deadly :)