Being Acclimated

 This past Sunday we were out doing a training ride for the Dallas-Fort Worth "Tour de cure" on August 3rd.  One of the coordinators for these rides is my buddy Don and he is real good about rotating our rides throughout the DFW metroplex.  DFW is like 80 miles wide by 100 miles long so basically half of Texas and parts of Oklahoma are considered DFW.  The day was a low humidity of 20% but the temperature was 88 degrees at the start and moved up to 96 by around afternoon.  From the beginning we knew we had a two group pack, one consisting of faster paced individuals and a second group of slower paced individuals.  The rides are always "no drop" which means no man, woman, child, or diabetic is left behind.  Things were rolling good (besides the usual traffic) until the heat took out a few riders at the 20 mile mark.

There are always factors with exercise, training, and activities that we sometimes overlook.  Everyone on the ride this day was capable of doing the distance, keeping up with either group but one factor that alot of us forget to consider is acclimation.  You can train for a marathon on a treadmill in your living room all year and be ready for it but remember the marathon is outside and you don't get a TV to watch, fan blowing on you, towel hanging by your side, and air conditioning all the time.  The fact is training needs to be done in a simulation of what your event is going to be like.  The event might be hilly and if you only train on flat ground you will not do well, if the event is in August and you only train in the winter, you will not do well.  The ride was shortened for one of our riders and was pretty tough for a few others and I would say alot of this is because how many hours people spend indoors.  Oh yeah let me tell you my disclaimer as well:  I am not a doctor, medical person, clown, or actor.  I have diabetes and this blog is meant for things to stimulate your thinking and to get you to consider things.  None of this is advice and should not be taken that way.  So with that said I personally do what my friend Dr. Mark told me to do and that is first drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water.  Say you are 200 pounds then drink at least 100 ozs of water a day, every day.  Then, get your but outside as often as you can and learn your body to take the heat.  Finally know when to say when and prepare, train, and nutrient yourself properly.