Man takes his spear and goes in search of dinner. He spots a tempting kudu and takes up the chase. The kudu darts away. A species of antelope, the kudu can hit speeds of 43 mph. Man hasn’t a chance. Right?
Guess again. Man’s pursuit is relentless. He runs after the much faster quarry, always keeping the kudu in sight. The pursuit may last for more than 20 miles during which time Man keeps to a constant pace. The kudu can’t maintain its top speed and stops to rest frequently. It runs off whenever Man and his spear come dangerously close.
It’s hot. Air temperature is greater than 100 degrees. Both animals feel the heat. But herein lies a difference.
The kudu is cloaked in a continuous layer of fur that doesn’t allow it to perspire. The only way the kudu can control its body temperature is by panting through its mouth. It’s a highly inefficient process.
Man, however, has very little hair covering his skin and perspires freely. Upon evaporating from his skin, his sweat pulls off vast quantities of heat compared to the kudu’s panting.
Man, with his superior cooling capacity, can maintain his running pace nearly indefinitely. The kudu, on the other hand, is finding it hard to maintain any pace at all.
Eventually, its inability to deal with its rising body temperature renders the kudu powerless to move. Man approaches his motionless prey and kills it easily with his spear. Dinner’s on.
We’ll get back to the implications of Man vs. kudu in a bit but first a few announcements.
Readers of this blog know that I ran six marathons in a span of six weeks during the fall of 2021 including the World Marathon Majors held in Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, and New York City. To round out the six, I did a virtual marathon in my hometown of Seattle as a stand-in for the Tokyo Marathon that wouldn’t allow non-residents to participate.
Last week I launched my book about that experience entitled Run With It: A True Story of Parkinson’s, Marathons, the Pandemic, and Love. It is available for purchase on my author’s website (https://joesgottarun.com). All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Besides raising funds for the foundation, I hope that the book inspires more people living with PD to embrace vigorous exercise as therapy to slow the progression of the disease.
In addition, I have three running events this fall that could use your support.
Perhaps the most exciting of these is my participation on Team Synapse, a group of 12 runners all living with PD, who are competing in the grueling, ‘round the clock, 208-mile Blue Ridge Relay. The project is the brainchild of Bill Bucklew who I met during my marathon effort last year. He recruited me and the other runners.
It is a fascinating bunch. Our goal is unprecedented: a team of twelve athletes all suffering from Parkinson’s disease taking on one of the toughest relays of its kind in the country. I am very eager to get to know my teammates and hope to introduce them to my readers in future posts as I recap the race.
Until then, you can learn more about us and the race on our website https://www.uncorkedadventures.org/blue_ridge_relay/. Besides raising awareness of exercise as therapy for PD, we hope to raise $100,000 for the MJFF through this event. Please use the link to find our donations page.
Furthermore, I will be running as a charity entrant with Team Fox in the Chicago (October 9) and New York City Marathons (November 6). Links to my donation pages can be found below. I had hoped to run in Berlin and London again this year too but opted out in favor of Team Synapse and the Blue Ridge Relay.
Unusually high temperatures have been recorded all around the world in the past few months. As such, there have been a steady stream of articles on my digital feed regarding techniques for running in the heat.
It is a business opportunity that is heating up (sorry). I’ve seen all sorts of devices and vests that are designed to better control the body’s core temperature while working or exercising in high temperatures. Many aim to lower the core temperature through application of ice packs. Others are intended to enhance the evaporative cooling technique than humans employ.
Simpler approaches were endorsed recently by Jeff Dengate, Runner’s World Runner-in-Chief. Jeff suggested wringing out your sweaty T-shirt and dunking yourself in cold water.
All this came to the fore on a 9 mile workout last week. About halfway in, the temperature, which started at 73 degrees, had risen and it was doing some damage. I felt crappy enough that I entertained the idea of calling it quits and walking the remaining 4 miles home.
Literally dripping with sweat, I started thinking of my soaked T-shirt.
The sodden garment was preventing any further perspiration from cooling my body. Without the opportunity for evaporation, I’m like the doomed kudu. Although it was unlikely that anyone was coming to end it for me with a spear, continuing like this might nevertheless render me as roadkill.
I don’t like to run shirtless. I suspect that in my prime that was a view that some found appealing. Nowadays though, I can’t feel good about subjecting neighbors to the sight of my 61-year-old man-flesh flapping every which way. How does one unsee that?
Nonetheless, in this case, discomfort and scientific curiosity forced my hand. I stripped off my shirt and started running again. It was like magic. Okay, maybe more like a parlor trick.
I felt immediately better and running became relatively effortless. Stay cool to run faster.
I obsess a lot about running during hot days. It is a problem especially severe for people living with Parkinson’s disease. When I did those marathons last fall, three of them were during heat that dramatically affected my performance.
I have more such events coming up and I need a better way to deal with them. Especially significant is the Blue Ridge relay where all of us will be running three segments during the race each separated by 10–12 hours. Some of these segments will be at high temperatures and it will be critical for us to recover from one segment quickly enough to perform well in the next.
Among other concerns, success means paying strict attention to the body’s core temperature.
I’ve already mentioned the need to cool the body while running. On longer runs when I carry a hydration vest, I put ice cubes in my electrolyte drink. The ice on my back helps to cool my body for the time until it has melted completely. I will do that during the relay and I also intend to carry an extra dry shirt with me on each segment to allow for a quick change if the one I am wearing gets sweat-soaked.
But what about after a segment? The effects of over-heating can last for hours and must be curtailed efficiently.
I have a theory. Though not a physician, I have thought it through, did some research, and performed relevant experiments. It all points to this:
The autonomic nervous system has two parts: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS is responsible for rest and recovery. It is the part that must be engaged in order to recover from a workout.
The SNS gets in the way of rapid recovery. It is also known as the “fight-or-flight” system. In order to focus energy towards any current physical or emotional threat, the SNS will shut down all PNS activity. A high core temperature is one such threat that must be eliminated before the PNS can seize control and begin the recovery process.
The best way that I know of to eliminate the threat of a high core temperature is to do as Jeff Dengate suggests and douse the body with cold water. Now after every run I immediately take a cold shower. The effect is astounding. For the rest of the day of a hard workout, I feel far more energetic than without the cold shower.
Might be a placebo, though. Don’t care. The Placebo Effect is very powerful. Bring it.
During the Blue Ridge Relay, I may not have access to an immediate shower after each of my segments. In this case I will try swabbing my body with ice and cold towels.
I’m looking forward to giving this a try in 11 days.
I have some campaigns again this year that could use your support.
If you share the passion that The Michael J. Fox Foundation and I have for finding a Parkinson’s cure please consider contributing to any combination of them. All donations are meaningful and greatly appreciated.
First, there is the Blue Ridge Relay that I mention above. I am running with Team Synapse and you can donate at the following page:
https://www.uncorkedadventures.org/blue_ridge_relay/
Also, I am a charity runner again for Team Fox in the Chicago and New York City marathons. The links to my donation pages are below:
https://fundraise.michaeljfox.org/chicago-marathon-2022/joesgottarun
https://fundraise.michaeljfox.org/nyc-marathon-2022/joesgottarun
Finally, if you want something tangible for your contribution, think about purchasing my book. It is an enjoyable read and all profits from its sale is being donated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation. It can be purchased at my author’s website:
https://joesgottarun.com
