Take The Heat

By John Boel

I did it again today.  I went on the air and read stories warning people "If you don't have to go outside, stay inside.  It's dangerously hot." Then I went outside and noticed people going about their lives as usual: mowing, roofing and even running.    But it's 94 degrees outside, with a heat index of 102.   Are they crazy? Aren't they listening to news teams warning of the dangers out there? After all, no one in the Louisville media would ever unnecessarily try to scare people when it comes to the weather.    After several days in a row went by hitting a heat index over 100.. I noticed no one had died and local hospitals saw little or no increase in heat related health problems.  Joggers kept jogging.  Cyclists kept cycling.    

Then I read about the 135 mile long Badwater Ultramarathon, run in the dead of summer in Death Valley when the temperature hits 130 degrees.  No deaths in Death Valley either, and some pretty impressive finish times. Hmmm...     Could it be that running in the heat isn't such a horrible thing?  I'm a 44 year old, 15-pound-overweight-asthmatic, and I run in 90 plus degree heat all the time.  I love it.   I think the high humidity loosens up my creaky joints.  But I picked up the phone and called Baptist Hospital East Urgent Care Dr. Russell Bird, who has also spent plenty of time in a hospital emergency room treating people for heat exhaustion and heat stroke.   I had one important question to ask.  Is there ever a situation where it's too hot to run?    "It depends on the athlete," he says.  "For the majority of amateur athletes, I would not run in the middle of the day with heat advisories greater than 100.  It's sort of a combination of heat, humidity and your own conditioning.  If there were one rule though, it would be never run dry.  Drink before, during and after running in this type of heat.  Even if you don't feel thirsty, drink."   

That's really interesting to me, because the more I've read about hyponatria (too much water), the more I'm hearing the experts start to back off that age old advice of drinking before you're thirsty.  But when it comes to hydration, Dr. Bird has some firm advice.    "A lot of times you'll be running and your adrenaline will be going and your body will ignore the early signs of dehydration.  The experts recommend 5 to 10 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes, but the bottom line is to drink, preferably water.  But there is controversy over whether to drink sports drinks verses water.  If you are just running up to an hour, drinking water is fine.  Whatever you drink, it shouldn't be more than 8 percent sugar.  Typically, sodas are 10 to 11 percent sugar.  Gatorade and Powerade  are about 6 percent."     Dr. Bird says a lot of people don't understand the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke.  "Heat exhaustion is just overwhelmed dehydration, but the sweating mechanism is still in place.  So you still sweat and you don't have hyperthermia (high temperature).  Heat stroke is past that and the sweating mechanism shuts down and your core body temperature goes up to 105 or 106 degrees.  That's deadly."   

Louisville averages 30 days per year with high temperatures in the 90's. It's not unusual to see that kind of heat extending well into September. Whether this continues or not, I have some suggestions to help you 'take the heat' when you run: -  "Visor Advisory".    I always used to make fun of people plodding along in visors.  Now I'm hooked.  Unlike a hat, they allow the heat to escape up thru your head.  A visor helps you cut down on squinting in  direct sunlight, so you're more relaxed.  Psychologically, I feel like I'm peering out from a nice, cool cave on all those hot, sweaty runners.  Combine good sunglasses and a visor and it's already a lot cooler in my mind.  A visor also works like a sweatband and keeps the salt from pouring into your eyes.

"Tune out heat with tunes."   I know you can't race with it, but find a lightweight sound system to keep your mind off the pain and the temp.  I love the tiny SR2000 made by Speedo for lap swimming.  It's better for running.  But I just learned Speedo has stopped making them. -  "Holy Grail on the trail."    It's amazing how much more enjoyable running in the heat is.. when an ice cold drink is waiting for you after every mile.  One of the courses I run is basically a one mile lap.  I place a big, tall, icy sports drink in a well-insulated styrofoam cup along that route and every lap I take a big swig.  It works great for long runs while training for a marathon.    I'm telling you, take off on a sweltering day with a visor, shades, lightweight tunes and a huge, ice cold drink waiting for you every mile, and you'll hardly notice the heat. 

But there are plenty of other things you can do to beat the heat.   Stay off the blacktop.  It's several degrees hotter.  Pick a higher elevation place to run where the wind hits you. Break up your runs with cycling or swimming. I've been placing a swim right in the middle of a scheduled run (for example: 4 mile run, half hour swim, 4 mile run) and it makes everything less painful.    Often times in this column I maintain that racing, or even exercising, is all a matter of perspective.   Maybe I just enjoy running in the heat because of my personal  perspective.  I still remember all too well what it's like to shovel 300-degree blacktop all day long in the summer when I worked street construction.  And I still remember what it's like to put the pads on for two-a-day August football practices all those years.  When the coach gave us a break and allowed us to run around for two hours without full pads, in helmet and shoulder pads only,  it was a heavenly difference. So every time I step out in steamy weather in only a tank, shorts and running shoes, I feel like a sleek Kenyan, regardless of what the TV weather experts warn.

John Boel is a 41-time Emmy winning news anchor at WLKY-TV. He's married, with two daughters, and is an avid runner and triathlete.