jethrien: (Default)
jethrien ([personal profile] jethrien) wrote2010-09-25 03:38 pm

Possibly TMI

Why is it that I don't seem to start really sweating until ten minutes after I stop running? I come inside and I'm slightly damp, and then ten minutes later, it's like my body suddenly thinks water is poison and that it must all be expelled through my pores immediately. Am I seriously going fast enough that the wind's evaporating the sweat, so I've been sweating this much the whole time? Because honestly, I'm not all that fast. I'd love to think that I'm speedy like zoom, but we all know that isn't true.

[identity profile] ivy03.livejournal.com 2010-09-25 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Am I seriously going fast enough that the wind's evaporating the sweat, so I've been sweating this much the whole time?
Well, there's an easy way to test that. Run on a treadmill.

And quite probably, yes. There are things like breezes in the outdoors.

[identity profile] cubby-t-bear.livejournal.com 2010-09-26 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
It's not just breezes or running quickly. One thing you definitely notice walking around in Texas on hot summer days, is that you might be sweating all the time, but it's a lot more noticeable when you step indoors, into the cold.

I don't know if it's an illusion or a real effect, but ...

[identity profile] jeths-mom.livejournal.com 2010-09-26 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Two things spring to mind.
1. How long are you running? I notice that it takes me a while to really break out into a heavy sweat. I have to be in a treadmill at a pretty quick rate for at least 15 minutes before I even begin to sweat. At about 20 minutes I start getting soaked.

2. Genetics. Your dad takes a really long time to stop sweating after heavy activity. If he takes a shower too soon after coming home, it's a waste of time.

[identity profile] jethrien.livejournal.com 2010-09-26 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
1. About 23 minutes. (It takes me somewhere between 18 and 25 minutes to cover my 2 1/2 mile route, depending on how I'm feeling and whether I get stuck waiting for a train to pass. It's usually 22-23 minutes, though, and then a 5 minute walk.)

2. Oh, definitely. There's no point in showering for at least twenty minutes, or I'm covered in sweat again five minutes after the shower, no matter how cold the shower is.

[identity profile] trinityvixen.livejournal.com 2010-09-27 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
It's biology. You can't turn sweating on or off that quickly. You start sweating in response to rising body temperature, something that may take a little while to get going, depending on how fast you start off on your workout. Once the signal comes that you need to sweat, the activation is quick, but there is a delay. The same is true of turning off the sweating mechanism.

What really might be going on is that you're not stopping sweating as fast you'd like because going indoors is warmer than being outdoors (I'm guessing, given the season). If you stayed outdoors longer after finishing your run, you'd probably find that you sweat less in the cooler air and sweating would stop sooner. Just a thought.

Me, I go from cool outdoors to AC-frozen indoors so there's no hope for me most mornings.

[identity profile] jethrien.livejournal.com 2010-09-27 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah, the same thing happens in August when I'm going from a humid 90 degrees outside into air-conditioned 72 degrees.

Now that I think about it, it's probably related to the fact that I have kinda bad skin circulation to begin with. My skin (and fingers and toes) get ludicrously cold while my core temperature is still up. If I have trouble getting enough blood to my skin to keep it warm, it would make sense that I have trouble getting enough blood to my skin to dump heat, too. (I also turn bright red when exercising. It tended to alarm people in gym, because I'd be getting rather pink well before I started seriously getting out of breath. I guess I'm just really well insulated between my skin and my innards. Yay, subcutaneous fat?)

[identity profile] freekofnature.livejournal.com 2010-09-28 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Next Physical exam, have Dr. check for Iron deficiency anemia and Thyroid hormone levels (plasma Thyroxine and triiodothyronine concentration)

Probably nothing, but you wanna eliminate these two things as possible causal factors...