I took part in last year's Tough Guy, and was pulled out with severe hypothermia quite close to the end. (For those who don't know, Tough Guy is a race held in January which involves running, climbing, fire, various nasty things, and lots and lots of freezing water.) I'm considering trying again this year, and would appreciate any ideas which might help prevent the same thing from happening again. Here are my thoughts:
1. Get fitter. I was in the top 200 out of around 5000 when I was pulled out, so I was clearly one of the fitter competitors last year, but of course there's still lots of room for improvement in this area, and getting round the course quicker might help me avoid hypothermia.
2. Get fatter. I don't particularly want to put on fat, but perhaps putting on muscle would also help with insulation.
3. Dress better. I wore cross-country-style running shoes, full-length, stretchy running bottoms under shorts, a long-sleeved running top, insulated Alpine climbing gloves and a woolly hat last year. That still seems pretty good to me, but perhaps it can be improved (e.g. insulated swimming cap under the hat). Do you think it would be possible to do the course in a wetsuit?
4. Do cold training. I had a 10-minute cold shower almost every morning in October, but have since given up as it's fairly unpleasant and I'm not sure if it will have an effect.
Thanks in advance for any opinions.
1. Get fitter. I was in the top 200 out of around 5000 when I was pulled out, so I was clearly one of the fitter competitors last year, but of course there's still lots of room for improvement in this area, and getting round the course quicker might help me avoid hypothermia.
2. Get fatter. I don't particularly want to put on fat, but perhaps putting on muscle would also help with insulation.
3. Dress better. I wore cross-country-style running shoes, full-length, stretchy running bottoms under shorts, a long-sleeved running top, insulated Alpine climbing gloves and a woolly hat last year. That still seems pretty good to me, but perhaps it can be improved (e.g. insulated swimming cap under the hat). Do you think it would be possible to do the course in a wetsuit?
4. Do cold training. I had a 10-minute cold shower almost every morning in October, but have since given up as it's fairly unpleasant and I'm not sure if it will have an effect.
Thanks in advance for any opinions.