Re: [Paddlewise] exhaustion

Exhaustion can often be avoided.  Many correctable factors can cause or
contribute to exhaustion:  1) hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), 2) hypo- or
hyperthermia (body temp too low or too high); 3) dehydration, 4) paddling
too long at anaerobic levels, instead of at an easy aerobic pace.  Sleep
deprivation could certainly become a factor, but most folks will succumb to
these others long before.  Once you experience exhaustion, you may be able
to overcome it if you can identify and correct one of these conditions.

Perhaps the most common problem in kayaking leading to exhaustion among
kayakers is the first.  You simply can't paddle more than 2 to 4 hours
without refueling (eating).  It's like "hitting the wall" in marathon
running.  You've depleted all your glycogen stores in liver and muscle, and
you simply can't break down fat fast enough to generate the energy you need
to paddle.  Once the glycogen stores are gone, it takes eating quite a bit
of food that is high in simple sugars to keep fueling the muscles.  How long
you go before you hit this limit depends on how much stored glycogen  you
started out with, how hard you work, how much you're eating, how
well-trained you are, etc.

In Julio's scenario below, a little snack and an easy pace might do wonders!

Bob Apter
-----Original Message-----
From: Julio MacWilliams <juliom_at_cisco.com>
To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Thursday, October 22, 1998 1:49 PM
Subject: [Paddlewise] exhaustion


>How do you folks deal with exhaustion?
>
>The following generic story might sound very familiar to all paddlers
>and mountaineers.
>A person paddles 20 miles in a region with few beaches, and miles
>of cliffs. In the way he/she has to cross two unforecasted storms, after
>which the water is relatively calm. There are still 5 miles to cover,
>and no landing close. The person is non longer enjoying the adventure
>and gets a bitter mood. All of the sudden he/she finds out that he/she
>does not want to paddle one more stroke. But there is no other
>alternative. Eventually the paddler is so exhausted that he/she does
>not care about anything anymore --"ok, I stop paddling, even if I die"
>kind of attitude.
>
>A happy end would be that the person eventually reaches a beach
>falls into a state of depression, and starts crying like a baby.
>
>What tricks do you have to go that extra mile when your body and
>mind are about to give up?
>
>One that works for many people is to think of something that makes
>you very angry, concentrate on that, and swear with every stroke
>until you reach the destination point.
>
>Others just cry, but not everyone gets better by doing that.
>
>Ideas? experiences?
>
>- Julio
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