mycrofft
Still crazy but elsewhere
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On another forum I have started monitoring, there is much talk about "training so you can operate in the cold" (in this case, during obstacle races).
Having a recent crash course (or "cram" course, as we were cramming people into heated ambulances and into space blankets or our own outerwear) in hypothermia cases, here are some observations*:
1. Most of our pts were short and skinny, but many other short&skinnies didn't succumb.
2. Many of our pts wore Underarmor and not much else
3. Few of our pts had eaten real food , most had either skipped breakfast, or had some sort of shakes, bars, drinks, smoothies, etc.
4. Some said they had been running in the cold to "get used to it" but most didn't know what I meant about "training for the cold". Of course, they had to stop their teeth from chattering (literally) to speak and had a tendency to back up into the bonfire unless warned.
I have a belief about training for the cold....it's in your head.
It increases your self-confidence and familiarizes you with the physical sensations so it isn't quite so scarey. It also winnows out those who cannot work in the cold like that. (I don't mean failure to gradually adapt to moderate seasonal changes, but being physiologically unable to operate when wet, tired, it's windy, etc. ). I do not think you can literally train your physiology into that of a polar bear, but learn that you can warm your head and core and the limbs will follow, how to dress and eat,keep moving, etc.
Thoughts?
*Also drawing on experience from USAF and Guard training and missions in Midwest and east slope of the Sierras.
Having a recent crash course (or "cram" course, as we were cramming people into heated ambulances and into space blankets or our own outerwear) in hypothermia cases, here are some observations*:
1. Most of our pts were short and skinny, but many other short&skinnies didn't succumb.
2. Many of our pts wore Underarmor and not much else
3. Few of our pts had eaten real food , most had either skipped breakfast, or had some sort of shakes, bars, drinks, smoothies, etc.
4. Some said they had been running in the cold to "get used to it" but most didn't know what I meant about "training for the cold". Of course, they had to stop their teeth from chattering (literally) to speak and had a tendency to back up into the bonfire unless warned.
I have a belief about training for the cold....it's in your head.
It increases your self-confidence and familiarizes you with the physical sensations so it isn't quite so scarey. It also winnows out those who cannot work in the cold like that. (I don't mean failure to gradually adapt to moderate seasonal changes, but being physiologically unable to operate when wet, tired, it's windy, etc. ). I do not think you can literally train your physiology into that of a polar bear, but learn that you can warm your head and core and the limbs will follow, how to dress and eat,keep moving, etc.
Thoughts?
*Also drawing on experience from USAF and Guard training and missions in Midwest and east slope of the Sierras.