A rest day today; and after 34 miles in 3 days my legs needed it. I was pretty sore across my thighs and calves but nothing too dramatic. I used the rest day to go to the sauna and to the spa to relax and 'bubble massage' my legs.
So without any running to report I thought I'd put down a little of what I've learned about heat adaptation. Actually I'll put down everything I've learned about heat adapation; but it is very little!
Everyone knows that humans are cooled via sweat and that the moisture that comes from our pores carries away heat very effectively from the body and by this we maintain our temperature at the correct level. But how do we 'adapt' to hotter climates? When we talk of 'heat adaptation' what actually happens to our bodies? Firstly we need to understand that our blood is a multi-purpose fluid made up of many things that do many different jobs. A key one is to move oxygen to our muscles. Another to move energy, sugars, to our muscles. A third is to move the white blood cells that fight infection around our bodies to keep us healthy. And also it moves fluid to our skin to allow us to sweat. The part of the blood that carries this coolant is the plasma.
So what happens when we adapt to heat? What happens when I sit time and again in a sauna hoping that this will help me in the desert? Put very simply, when you expose your body repeatedly to high temperatures, and thus trigger a sweat reaction, your body tries to become more efficient at cooling by producing more plasma. I read that a fully adapated person can have as much as 2 litres of additional plasma in their blood but that seems unfeasibly high to me so I'd take it with a pinch of salt. This additional plasma makes the body more efficient at reducing temperature. So as long as I keep hydrated and keep enough salt and electrolytes in my system then all this sauna time will pay off.
Or will it? Well, there's just one more fact to consider. The body can adapt to heat very quickly, in a matter of days or weeks. Sadly it undoes this adaptation very quickly also. In just two or three weeks all the benefit of heat adaptation can be lost. Therefore although taking some sauna time ahead of the marathon can boost the plasma in my blood it will only help me if I do it in the few weeks before I leave. So the time I put in now is really just selfish 'me' time and not helping my efforts to raise money for Mencap one jot. Oh well, on the bright side it's very relaxing to lay on a towel in a hot sauna and just let the world spin away without me.
Oh and one last thing I should say about the sauna. I did 30 minutes yesterday in it. And during that time I had a very graphic illustration of the difference between a German sauna and a British one. The difference is easy to put your finger on. Easy but inappropriate. In a German sauna everyone gets naked! In 30 minutes yesterday I saw more nudity than I did during the whole of my teenage years. Fortunately the Germans don't scare easily and the sight of my hairy belly didn't seem to put anyone off!
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 81.1 Kg
TODAY
Distance 0 miles
Time 0
Kcal 0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 30 mins
TOTAL
Distance 205.65 miles
Time 36:21:46
Kcal 21649
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 2:40 mins
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i will discuss this with you over a beer mate
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