Heat Exhaustion

Recently I’ve struggled with bouts of heat exhaustion…this summer has been really hard on those of us training outside for extended periods of time
I have a tendency towards overheating to begin with-I’m a salty runner-you can see so much salt on me by the end of activity you might think it snowed.

When is it dangerous to continue activity?
just this past weekend I had intended on completing a 29km run but could only get to 22km. Symptoms were feeling the chills., light headed and feeling like I couldn't get enough fluids

the hard thing about endurance athletes is that we are trained to be mentally tough..long runs are meant to be hard….so when do you know when to stop?
well….it is important to listen to you body...we are bound to sweat profusely in this extreme heat so that on it’s own can’t equate to stopping.
If you notice that you’re no longer able to sweat..your skin is dry and hot…..you’re body thermoregulatory system is no longer able to function efficiency to cool you down. Sweat is your body’s way of cooling itself down.
The other key is starting to feel the chills, lightheadness or dizzy. These are all signs that the body is trying to tell you stop. If you feel like this it is best to get out of the heat, cool your self down gradually ( focus on head, armpits and groin)

On a side note, I recently taught a first aid class to hot yoga instructors-common concern among instructors was how to tell if their participants were experiencing a heat condition. In hot yoga everyone is sweating profusely. So things to look for are when a person looks or feels disoriented, getting the chills, isn’t able to transition from pose to pose smoothly.