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Showing posts from November 12, 2023

Endurance performance in the heat

The human body functions the best at a stable temperature of around 97.7-98.6°F Thermoregulation is the maintenance of internal core body temperature by balancing heat generation with heat loss.  When I was participating in XTRI ICON in Livigno, Italy on September 1st, I experienced symptoms of hypothermia after the swim portion of the race. The air temperature was 32 degrees F and the water temperature was 52 degrees F. Although I had on a thermal swim cap, gloves and booties, my gloves filled up with water and I was forced to remove them. Spending almost an hour to cover 3.8K caused my body temperature to drop - I was losing heat faster than I could produce it. After I exited the water, I was shivering uncontrollably. The brain recognized that my body temperature had dropped and it made me shiver - producing heat through muscle activity. Thankfully, Karel and a few others athletes helped me out by getting me out of my wet clothes, putting on dry clothes (and lots of layer) and ma...