Heat Exhaustion Recovery Week & US West Cup #5

Monday - Felt horrible didn't do anything. Tuesday - Had to move the "house" to Los Olivos, CA. Got sick when I went outside to put water bottles away, was worthless, especially outside (in the sun or heat). Todd created the video which got ~400 blog hits. Wednesday - AM: Started to worry that I would never recover from the heat exhaustion episode. PM: The temperature dropped, I tried a one hour road ride with Todd and felt great, still a headache, but no dizziness or nausea and legs felt great. Thursday - Felt good, visited Pedal Power to work on the bike (best shop in the area!!!), put on new Red and White Magura Mag Brakes and White Ergon Grips & Bar Ends. (pictures and review in next post) Friday - Pre-rode the course once. Saturday - Felt good, first day without a headache, washed all the cow poo off the bike and got ready to race, although still worried that I would have to pull out. Sunday - Raced, felt good. All the plans to get enough hydration, calories and electrolytes went out the window when I only finished a half bottle on the first lap and my 2nd lap bottle (with gel) bounced out right after the feedzone and I didn't notice. Chad told Todd who freaked out and forgot to feed Joy (again). When I went for a drink and realized what had happened, I thought, "no way, you have to be kidding" I was not going to repeat last weekend and just slowed up a bit. At the top of the first climb I was hot, I had goosebumps and decided to quit. I found a couple swallows in a discarded Gatorade bottle nearby and after ~ 30 seconds I had cooled off, felt good and realized I had only lost one spot so decided to keep going. It worked out well I got that spot back and finished in 4th ~ 2:13, ~5 minutes off Amanda (1st). Amanda had a great race!

US West Cup #5 Podium: left to right: Krista, Kathy, Amanda, Allison, Natasha

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I was very happy after the race because I knew I had recovered, I was able to race and even race without enough water. I am sure the only reason I was able to race and race well today was because of the ice bath I got at the Sea Otter finish line. The doctors told me that the ice shoved in my jersey and dumped all over me got my core body temperature down quickly enough that it didn't do much damage. The Dr.s base this on the heatstroke symptoms I was getting followed by the blood test results which showed no organ damage. So if someone has heat exhaustion or heatstroke symptoms, get the core body temp down ASAP.

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The cross over from heat exhaustion to heat stoke seems to be the internal damage.

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heat exhaustion symptoms

heavy sweating

dizziness

nausea

pale, clammy skin

sometimes vomiting

sometimes headache

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heatstroke symptoms

very high body temperature (above 103degrees by mouth)

red, hot, dry skin (no sweating)

rapid, strong pulse

throbbing headache

dizziness

nausea

confusion

unconsciousness