I believe that cold acclimation is part physiological and certainly part mental. For those that live in northern climes-- ever notice how cold a 40F day is in the Fall and how incredibly comfortable a 28F day is in March-- it is short sleeve weather! I believe this is more than perception. I've always noticed that when working outside in very cold (0 to minus 0 F) weather the first few minutes are tough but then one "acclimates" and the discomfort largely goes away.. until you really start running low on energy reserves. I find it is easier to stay outside on those days than to go back in and warm up occasionally and return to the out-of-doors. Finally, a group of us swim in a lake for exercise, in the spring the water temps are in the upper 60s (not really cold by standards discussed here), the first few swims are short and miserable but within a week we are "reasonably" comfortable at those temps. Then mercifully the water does warm up for summer. I think we acclimate both physiologically and mentally. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 3/20/2003 7:56:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, wrf_at_cisunix.unh.edu writes: > For those that live in northern climes-- ever notice how cold a 40F > day is in the Fall and how incredibly comfortable a 28F day is in March-- > it > is short sleeve weather! I believe this is more than perception. Before I retired, I worked for a company that was based for the most part in the North, really cold. Then they built a mill in the sunny South. We had a lot of people that were transferred to our mill from the northern mills. It was fun to watch them the first winter they spent here. They would laugh at us southern born when we bundled up in what we called winter weather. They would be in shirt sleeves, us in our winter coats. Then came the next winter. The same people who had laughed at us while wearing shirt sleeves were decked out in their fur-lined parkas. They could not stay warm! So I guess the body does adjust to cold as well as heat. How much is physical and how much is mental? If you woke up breathing, congratulations. You have another chance, Ronnie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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