Scott Douglas Slate - Kenyans dress warm

Via D!

bulldog35 wrote:

This makes absoulute sense. Bernd Heinrich, A professor of Biology and Great Ultramarathoner who also was top Master at Boston Years ago did field research on insects and animals and fould that a certain type of beetle was fastest when it was warm and could even fly when it was hot. When the beetles were cold he could catch up to them and the beetles couldn't even fly. The research on several other creatures had the same result. The hot animals/insects were also the fastest ones. Now put on your warm up suit and shut up! Out!

Um, insects are COLD-BLOODED. Humans, even Kenyans, are WARM-BLOODED. Try taking freshman biology before talking about "research".

Eskimo wrote:

"I just wear tights on the bottom and a dri-fit and fleece on the top in weather around 20 degrees (gloves and hat too). I get cold easily standing around in the cold, but running in the cold is not a problem."

I would find that overly warm dress in 20 degree weather. Tights are, for me, for temps in the single digits. 20 degrees I would wear shorts and a thin polypro. Although my hands get numb easy. 6'4" and a lean 160+ (although I have lost a bit of weight and found I wear more than I used to). My ideal racing temp is around 35 or so. Racing, I would go shirtless or singlet into the 20's.

It just goes to show how we're all different. I'm still wearing running leggings (tights) and a big fleece on some of my runs now, even though it's soon May. Ideal temp for race = around 20C (70F) for me. Surely going shirtless/singlet when it's below freezing will hamper your times, though?

A friend of mine is 5’8” 120 and wears shorts and t-shirts in winter and claims to be warm. I am 6’5” 160 and am always cold (ran Boston in two shirts this year at 70).

I am the real native son in here.....hata ufanye nini bwana..lol

Jama acha mchezo. watch out lest a curse befalls u.

wewe ni nani sasa..mimi ni simba wa nyika

"Leg speed in beetles is, as in humans, dependent on both body build and muscle temperature" Quoting the author. Warm or Cold blooded this fact still seems relative to this thread. By the way the beetle I was referring to was Running Tiger Beetles, so do your own research and then pipe up you Hot Blooded Animal!

This is up there with Moses Tanui offering that running 21 km up Fluospar hill "opens the chest."

The Kenyans rationale behind some of their training is simply ludicrous and does not fit in any way with factual reality.

The rest of their training works, though, and that's what matters.

Can someone confirm or dispel a couple of things regarding fat, the cold, and keeping warm :

1) I read that there are 2 types of fat: brown fat and white fat. brown fat keeps you warm and white fat is fuel. If you have alot of brown fat, you tend to stay wamer. If you have alot of white fat, you tend to get colder more easily. Since women (and fat people)tend to have more white fat, they supposedly get colder more easily.

2) you burn more calories in the cold than in the heat because your body has to work harder to stay warm. if so, then wouldn't working out in more clothes make you burn less calories than if you wore less clothes?

Brown fat is essentially non-existant in the human adult. If plays a role in thermogenesis in babies.

That's not true; if that were the case, people would not be putting on so much weight in the winters.

Your body is kept at 98.6 if you are healthy regardless of outside temperature. That takes x amount of energy no matter the outside temperature. There is a difference between temperature (kinetic energy) and heat.

hey hey hey, thats the way we do it, thats the way we have always done it and we are proud of the end results..if you wanna do it welcome aboard, otherwise do your thing, lets do ours, at the end of the day the happiest person is the one that accomplishes his or her goal, cross the finish line first, thats the truth of the matter.

Jenny Craig wrote:

I have never heard a Kenyan say that they do it to lose any weight. They usually just get cold more easily. In Kenya, they also dress warm because they feel that it can help reduce the chances of them catching malaria (the same reason they won't run in the rain).

If you've read "Train Hard Win Easy the Kenyan Way", they won't run in the rain because of fear of the water getting in their chest and causing a cold. The only thing is this is a myth. Only way you're going to "catch a cold" is if you've been exposed to the pathogen, NOT by going out into the cold with wet hair, running in the rain, etc.. They believe hard training is easier to accomplish in a warm climate, which may explain their reasoning for wearing sweats in 70 degrees. They may also simply get colder because of low body fat.

On the other hand, being cold from having wet hair in the cold or running in the rain or having low bodyfat or etc. makes the body expend energy on keeping warm that it normally wouldn't expend, dirverting that energy from and weakening the immune system making it easier for the pathogen to invade. You're constantly exposed to pathogens, it's only when your natural immunity is inadequate for the form or quantity of exposure that the infector can find an open door. To people who have such a primitive medical system and understanding of modern medicine, avoiding illness in the first place is paramount.

To people who have such a primitive medical system and understanding of modern medicine, avoiding illness in the first place is paramount.

FIRST CLASS BULLSHIT!!! u KNOW NOTHING ABOUT KENYA, SO WHY CANT YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Since you must know so much, then how exactly does it measure up compared with medical amenities in the West, like in America or the UK? I'm talking about Eldoret and Iten, not Nairobi.

[quote="mkenya"]WHY CANT YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP.[/quote]

Don't Kenyans know English?

Macrobiology Whiz wrote:

On the other hand, being cold from having wet hair in the cold or running in the rain or having low bodyfat or etc. makes the body expend energy on keeping warm that it normally wouldn't expend, dirverting that energy from and weakening the immune system making it easier for the pathogen to invade. You're constantly exposed to pathogens, it's only when your natural immunity is inadequate for the form or quantity of exposure that the infector can find an open door. To people who have such a primitive medical system and understanding of modern medicine, avoiding illness in the first place is paramount.

How long is the immune system suppressed? The odds of the pathogen getting past the first line of defense (skin, mucous membranes) are slim. If you're going from being outdoors in the rain and coming inside to take a shower (soap, water), the pathogen won't be present for long.

Exactly? Too long, in some cases. Pathogens don't steer clear just because you've bathed.