Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wednesday Dry sauna and the central governor.

4 miles in 34:44. 8:41 pace. Average HR 140/ max HR 145.
Upper body lift- 30:00. I put up 80# on military press 8 times.
Dry sauna 35:00 straight. I left when I felt my central governor mewling in my ear. Anyone interested in experiencing their central governor quite definitively, sit in a dry sauna (~170 degrees) until you panic. I've made it an hour before and it was mentally excruciating, every fiber of my being was screaming at me to get out. Physically it's not painful but your brain senses danger and bodily harm and will start to tell you to get out. It gets progressively worse the longer you stay in. I've seen my HR over 160 (well hydrated) in the sauna so the physical stress is also quite significant. Your body also senses the need for electrolytes and (from what I have read) will preserve your stores to protect the brain (this lines up with acclimation to heat). Oxygen consumption goes through the roof too and your body reacts very similarly to stress at very high altitudes which has led people to theorize that EPO production is stimulated. The challenge of it is what I love. Physical stress is something tangible. You feel pain (which arguably is not a physical sensation, rather a mental one. In that regard you could say that we think pain first, not feel it) and you can rationalize what it is. But the dry sauna is something completely different. There is no physical pain but there is a definite sense of danger to your body... this may be exactly what Spiderman feels with his 'spidey sense' :)

I got an X-ray of my foot. Before going in I looked at about 10 X-rays of metatarsal stress fractures. I asked to see my X-ray and mine didn't look like the others. So it isn't obvious to a completely uneducated schmuck... surprise. My doctor also said it definitely doesn't sound like a stress fracture. They don't let you skip straight to the bone scan so this was the requisite first step. I'm not sure I want dye injected in to my body anyway so I'm hoping the doc can see something useful. Apparently an X-ray is far more effective after the healing has already started- so with 25 days of healing it should show something? Now I get to wait. Yay.

13 comments:

Eric Bart said...

The best thing about the dye is it is radioactive and you get to carry a card that explains why you just set off a radiation detector. Fun.

Lucho said...

Ya.... no thank you!

David said...

The first paragraph is eloquently insane. Like a James Joyce novel. I am not sure whether to applaud in awe, or fear for your safety.

Best of luck with everything! You have a great blog, and even better outlook on life.

Lucho said...

Dave- Cheers man. We can't know our limit with out going to it. And any man who doesn't fear that is worth applauding!
Thank you for the good word~

Lucho said...

And I remember you from the hill race this summer?

scott said...

Don't tell me you are also training for Badwater :-) Your post reminded me of this book I read: http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Death-Valley-Mystery-Endurance/dp/044667902X

It's a good winter read.

kerrie said...

i didn't know you thought you had a metatarsal stress fracture...i have had a million(or maybe it was closer to six...) but i can tell you exactly what it feels like. not so much bruised but more of a constant dull ache, even when you are off your feet in bed. also, it is unbearable to wear any kind of stiff soled shoe or any shoe that compresses your metatarsals....so ur shit-kickers would probably be out of the question...don't run in those.

Lucho said...

Scott- No way on Badwater. But I also said that about 50 and 100 milers. Maybe I'll check out that book...

Kerrie- That's why I don't think it's a stress fracture. It doesn't hurt at all from impact or bending my foot, only pressing on the top of the foot. No pain otherwise. And a stress fracture can't keep the hides off the dogs.

David said...

Haha, yes, I was out there for a week and hopped in a race to be destroyed by a guy wearing a sombrero :)

After the butt-kicking, I checked out your blog and the whole training philosophy inspired me to change the way I train (used to be bike-heavy, as low as 20 mpw running) and have seen great results. I guess what I'm saying is that I am glad there aren't coaching fees for blog-stalking.

Have an amazing day!

Lucho said...

Dave- It's good too to alternate big bike weeks with big run weeks. And brick a lot too. Even a short 1-2 mile run off most of your bikes will be beneficial. And for duathlon you have to be run heavy more than anything.

Jeremy said...

Have you ever tried a steam room or what I guess could also be considered a wet sauna? I think the humidity adds another degree of uncomfortableness that makes the steam room a bit more difficult to endure than the dry sauna, personally.

Lucho said...

Jeremy- Steam rooms are maintained at about ~110 degrees and are moist. In a lab if you want to grow bacteria the ideal environment is moist and warm :) The dry sauna is too hot and dry to be as filthy. I haven't done steam rooms very much at all but maybe next time I'll try it. I would imagine that you're right though- the humidity has to add a degree of suffering!

GetBackJoJo said...

What Spiderman feels with his "spidey sense"?
That is CLASSIC.
My metatarsal problem --the "pain in the ball of the foot" problem--has not gone away--despite clear x-rays.
I think it's safe to say you're still injured. Just my opinion.
If it hurts-- well. It hurts.