What must be considered?

‘‘Practise in the Winter‘‘ – Tips from Dr. Willi Heepe, the long term Medical Director oft he Berlin Marathon

Preventive measures are contrast showers, regular bathing and the usual advices: eat lots of fresh fruit and many vitamins. The additional intake of vitamin pills is seen more critically because it is purely a matter of faith. The winter is a special challenge fort he runners. This includes higher infection rates and frequent occur of colds.

Cough or Sneeze

No runner will be able to avoid a trivial disease. Cough, sneeze or hoarseness are just a forcement to a short interruption of sports. After symptoms have resolved most of the sporting activity can be resumed.

Fever and Flu

During a fever attack or a flu-like febrile disease you should interrupt your training at least for 4 weeks.  If it is possible at this time it should occur an exclusion analysis of inflammatory parameters. The so-called acute phase proteins should be tuned that a cardiac involvement can be excluded. This cardiac involvement is still extremely dangerous. A sports break of four to 6 weeks must be observed recovering a  serious  flu. Especially this fact must be pointed out very detailed because we always see people with myocardial damages by strarting sports too early.

Prevention

Preventive measures are contrast showers, regular bathing and the usual advices: eat lots of fresh fruit and many vitamins. The additional intake of vitamin pills is seen more critically because it is purely a matter of faith.

Start gently

You have to note that you need longer phases of warm ups. Not just your breathing and mucous membranes of the upper airways have to get used tot he cold air. In this respect ou should first go a few steps and do a few stretching exercises before you gently start running. This allows the body to get used to tidal volumes gradually. Particularly endangered are former smokers. The damage of the mucous which are produced by cigarettes will not disappear after quitting smoking a few weeks ago. The healing of this damages takes more than several years. Even because of this information it is very important to give a caution.

Run at low temperatures

Even at low temperatures of -5 or -10 degrees are no objections to go for a run. But if there is a high humidity and the sensation of cold is stronger than normal, everybody should decide for him self if he is willing to go running. In extremely dry an cold are also low temperatures well tolerated. The Running sport should be adjusted if temperatures beyond -15 or -20 degrees are present. A reason for that is:  The airways are not able to warm up the breathed air enough and and a regional infection including pneumonias is often unavoidable.

Clothes for running in the winter

The clothing should be multiwall. Breathable and fiber clothing give you a good basic for a succesful and enjoyable run. Absorbent cotton clothing is dangerous because it takes liquid and leads to rapid cooling with often fatal consequences by termination of sport.  If you run with these clothes, you should get changed immediately after your run. However, a short cooling down, after having done some sports,  won’t have damaging consequences to your body. It may well have some warming effects to your body. How? The heat stays longer in your body because your skin vessels are constricted and helps your body to cool down slowly.

Running in Darkness

One problem in the winter is the limited daily brightness. Many runners who are used to run in the forest are forced to change their route to illuminated sidewalks .But you should avoid on side roads to slow down the inhalation of the fumes. The development of appropriate lighting while a run is still pending. I have even designed a lamp for running with a near – field- and remote spotlight. So I can run easily at complete darkness and remain independent of time. All runners  who prefer to run on streets or sidewalks should be remembered provide themself with adequate lighting stripes or similar effects. Because in this time of year the vision of older or not properly bespectacled driver is clearly limited. Many runners have been seriously injured by car accidents.

Dr. Willi Heepe
Praxis Dr. Willi Heepe – Berlin
Praxis Dr. med. Willi Heepe
Lützowplatz 5
10785 Berlin
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 (30) 99 19 49 20
Fax: +49 (30) 26 93 13 01
E-Mail-Adresse 1: wh@praxis-willi-heepe.de

Dr. Willi Heepe is a general practitioner and sports medicine.

Since more than twenty years, his activity as a practicing doctor focused on the medical care of people who love to live a life in motion. These include professional endurance athletes, but also patients with high blood pressure and heart disease. Dr. Heepe is an author of a textbook. His article about endurance sport appear regulary in current journals (for example: ’’Runners World and ‘’Lauf Zeit’’).  He is also a respected lecturer on the topics of sports medicine, cardiology and cardio training. Willi Heepe was the medical director of the berlin Marathon for many years. He finished a marathon fifty times and is also at the age of 70 years an active representative of that ‘’refinement’’ for whose development in Germany he committed for so long.