This thread is relevant to my interests.
[quote=“Jive Turkey”][quote=“BigJohn”]
The other danger is heat exhaustion and heat stroke. But you can detect that because if you have heat exhaustion you will fell like total shit, and if you have heat stroke you will be half (or more) dead.
You can tell if you’re on the borderline of heat exhaustion because you will probably feel: hot, headachey, shivery, irritable, fatugued, a bit daft.[/quote]
I would generally agree with what you’ve written above, but when doing a high range aerobic workout in tropical heat, heat exhaustion and even heat stroke can come on pretty fast. I think this is especially true for people who are just getting back into exercise, or for people who are not used to pushing it in extreme heat and humidity. Such peope are less likely to know their limits when training in tropical heat.
A heart rate monitor comes in handy when training hard in the heat. I use one every morning when I go on my hilll climb. Year round, it helps me keep myself training right at the edge of what I want my body to handle, and in the summer, it helps me recognize that even though I’m going a bit slower (due to the heat), I’m still actually pushing my heart right up to the limit.
Another thing that is handy is a camel pack. When training hard in the heat, your body diverts blood away from your internal organs and toward your skin to dissipate body heat. If you take spread out, big gulps of water from a bottle, you’re more likely to end up with cramps since your gut is not running on a regular supply of blood. With a camel, or something else that is easy to sip from without stopping, you can keep moving and take more smaller sips of water.[/quote]
actually if you don’t want to use a camel pack (and a lot of road cyclists won’t) use a bottle with a nipple/straw mechanism; the advantage being you don’t need to invert it and can even grip it between your teeth if you suddenly need both hands on the hoods. i haven’t used a heart rate monitor yet but common sense should tell you when you’re red lining…if you suddenly find it hard to concentrate on the road or feel dizzy, stop immediately and wait 10 minutes while your heart rate drops to a healthier level. there is no shame in rest stops on hill climbs in high heat. also its actually counter-productive to your general body conditioning to push yourself too hard in hot weather.
True. It’s pretty obvious when your heart rate maxes out, if you’re at all used to training you’ll learn pretty soon that that red mist and hammer pounding the head is a sign to stop.
For me, that was about 200 bpm when I was fit. Keeping it at 180 bpm was fine for half an hour or so, and it would quickly drop back to a more respectable 150 after a few minutes. Being in the shade and drinking at that point is good advice too, if you can find shade.
If you DO ride in the midday heat, follow shade patches as much as possible, and keep rehydrated with electrolyte drinks. Losing Calcium, zinc and magnesium is a good way to bring on cramps, so take supplemental Ca Zn Mg tablets before riding, and maybe gobble another two during a mid-ride break.
Pokari powder is available (sports stores, sometimes in RTMart), and is not as sweet as the premix.
Ha, I should have seen this earlier. Just got back from a mid-afternoon ride from Shiding/Pinglin. After descending Bei-Yi at a nice clip, my entire right leg cramped up on that short ascent right after the intersection to Wulai. I jumped off my bike and did the spastic dance for about 5-10 minutes.
Christ, it’s hot out. I can usually go up the 47 at 12 km/h. Today I was doing closer to 7 km/h and stopping every 15 minutes.
Ha, I should have seen this earlier. Just got back from a mid-afternoon ride from Shiding/Pinglin. After descending Bei-Yi at a nice clip, my entire right leg cramped up on that short ascent right after the intersection to Wulai. I jumped off my bike and did the spastic dance for about 5-10 minutes.
Christ, it’s hot out. I can usually go up the 47 at 12 km/h. Today I was doing closer to 7 km/h and stopping every 15 minutes.[/quote]
yeah mid-afternoon today I wouldn’t have gone near the 47. Mind you Maokong this morning was a delight 
A tip for anyone on the road out to Shiding…stop at the fruit stand next to the gas station and get some cheap, fresh bananas. They’ve got Ca, and Mg and especially Potassium in them so are a natural way to ward off cramps and heat stroke.
Would you please tell me where you get these, and what they are called in Chinese? Thanks.[/quote]
Online from Holi.com: 活力達康站, a health food online store in Taiwan. Not cheap, but worth it:
Electrolyte drops
holy.com.tw/sendbinary.asp? … &Width=250
Concentrated mineral drops (supposedly from Utah, great salt lakes region)
holy.com.tw/sendbinary.asp? … &Width=120
Thanks Wookie, valuable info and generally, good thread-thanks for the contributions.
Going off-topic, but something that really annoys me is pet owners (of huskies in particular, but long hair cold weather dogs in general) in Taiwan. During the last two weekends I have seen people with huskies taking them for Summer run/hikes in the hills. The physiology and hair of these dogs is expressly for cold weather, they are pack animals that need a lot of exercise. And should be banned from Taiwan. I gave one of the owners a good talking to.
EDIT: Tommy, well I’m not sure about the beach-since the water would cool them down. But taking them up hills is just cruel, as is leaving them in air conditioned apartments since they are such an active strong animal.
I saw a husky on a beach in Taiwan and thats what I was thinking. But the dog was enjoying himself immensely. Playing in the ocean, running around. He didnt know he was supposed to be in snow. Maybe they are acclimatized ?
edit: My two TW cats were both Persians. Long haired cats suited to cold climates. But honestly those guys feared the cold taipei winters much more then the hot summers.
yes they needed to keep cool in summer, so they would often stretch full out on the tiled floors to keep cool, but whereas we kept the living room airconditioned but not the kitchen and dining rooms, they often would be in the hotter areas of the house rather then in the airconditioned rooms.
And when i brought them to America with me they would be much more comfortable when i turned the heat up in the house to 26c plus. They started sneezing and all that if i turned the temp down to 20c or less. And when i take them out for a walk in the cool days, they dont walk home, they run to get out of the cold.
Its possible that even though they have long hair, they can get acclimatized I think, at least to a certain extent. Im not sure bout huskies though. But german shepards seem to do fine in Taiwan.
A few more things:
You can acclimate (acclimatize?) but it takes time- about 2 weeks of working out in the heat. Plan to go easier, and take breaks, for those first few workouts in the heat.
Proper clothing helps a lot too (not too tight, breathable, moisture wicking).
I find a white cap made of tech material (cool-max, dry-weave, whatever) is really helpful- the sun is just so strong, and my dark hair really attracts the heat. I wring the sweat out of it at the end any workout in the summer but I wring sweat out of my hair if I just wear a visor- that’s life.
Finally, no matter how much you “get used to” the heat, you’re not going to be able to perform as well this time of year, even if you’re going out first thing in the morning or at night. (It’s still wicked hot.) And few people can take in all the water/ electroytes they need during exercise- your stomach just can’t process that much. (I’m talking fairly intense exercise in the heat here- not an easy bike ride in the winter.) So be conscious of drinking water and possibly sports drink before and esp. after your workout. Try weighing yourself before and after your workout, and take into account the drink you consume (1liter= 1 kg)- I can lose 2 kg on a 45 minute run and no way can I drink 2 liters of water during that time.
I found out the hard way today that this heat should be respected.
Was in Ilan, suiting up for my favorite dive sites, tides…perfect, water temp, perfect, not a cloud in the sky, and 36c. I donned my wetsuit in the bed of my pickup, the black bedliner so hot it was warping under the noon sun. I put on my tank and grabbed my fins, noticing that no matter how much water I dumped down my suit or poured over my head, I just for the life of me couldn’t seem to cool off.
Dumping 1.5liters of water in the suit later, I told myself how good it would feel to hit the ocean…Which was down a steep trail that descends 100vertical feet or so down to the rock slab, and then another 250meters to the waters edge.
No problem, I’d done it hundreds of times before.
I made it about 30feet.
I started to pass out.
Staggered back to my truck, dumped my gear in the dirt next to the truck and pulled myself inside. I’d stopped sweating and was bone dry. I knew this to be a bad sign. I cranked the A/C to full blast, drank a bottle of Pocari sweat and another 600cc of water.
It was 30minutes before I could even gather the strength to collect my gear, and throw it in the back of the truck.
I still feel like shit…hours later.
New respect for midday sun. Lesson learned.
Good job you went back to the truck and did all that. Being in the water in your state could likely have been much worse.
Heat stroke can come upon you unawares. Its happened to me too in Taiwan.
p.s. ,maybe you should don your wetsuit near the waters edge, maybe thats what got you super heated?
[quote=“MJB”]I found out the hard way today that this heat should be respected.
edited out
New respect for midday sun. Lesson learned.[/quote]
This happened to me a couple of years ago backpacking in the california desert. And it is really scary. I had been backpacking all summer in the heat but for whatever reason I needed twice as much water that day. I got to the next water source (verified as guaranteed a day before) and I felt fine (as fine as one can be when hiking all day in 30-35C heat). I ate a little (I hadn’t been eating either since digestion uses water) as I started drinking water and about 30 minutes later I started shaking. I set up my tent and crawled inside my 0C sleeping bag and continued shaking for the next hour. It was pretty scary when you’re by yourself in the middle of nowhere although late the next day some friends would have hiked thru. but I drank a lot of water that night and although I felt terrible the next day I was able to get myself out of there.
I did find the Pocari powder at a camping store this weekend. 120NT for 4 1L packets. Which unfortunately means that it is just as cheap (or cheaper) to buy the 1.25 or 1.4L bottles of No Frills (Wellcome) or Supau. It’s just a PITA to constantly carry those home from the store. And it’s an environmental waste. The packets are convenient for when you are on the go (or camping) though.
I usually get up and start my hill walk/run by 6:15. It usually takes me about 43 minutes to climb the 450 meters to the top, and then another 25 minutes to run down the other side. Today I woke up late and began at 7:45. What a difference 90 minutes makes. At 6:15, the sun is sort of looking at me from the side, and its rays are made less harsh by passing through more atmosphere. By 7:45, the sun is high enough to get rid of any shade on the hill, and the dawn breeze has petered out. It took me an extra 15 minutes to get up and down. A lot of that was just stopping more often to drink water, and I ended up drinking twice the usual amount.
I work out on the roof of my building, and the sun is really not my friend. Still, you get used to it after a while. Just drink a lot.
I’ve been going up at 5:30am or before. I don’t have the same energy as it takes me a while to warm up, but it’s nice-cool and relaxing. Today I went at 5pm and it was perfect.
I’ve become used to the heat and more careful with getting fluid and food before workouts. I don’t see much decrease in my speed in the heat, but still sweat lots.