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

Sea Otter XC

Heat exhaustion? But I was preparing for heat, heat was going to be my friend! Somehow I ended up at the hospital and received 3 liters if IV fluids. See cyclingnews note. OK so it was hot, hotter than expected. 93 degrees was one reading, I swear it was even hotter than that. Standing at the starting line on the black pavement was hot, at the start line they cut our race in half (one lap instead of two). About 10 minutes into the race I saw Wendy Simms pull over and throw up. I started the race with a small drink mix and 30 minutes into the race took a large drink mix and a water at the feedzone. My skin was so hot I poured the water all over myself, 30 minutes later I finished off my drink mix, sometime in the next 10 minutes I quit sweating and what leg power I had disappeared. I remember really, really wanting to crawl into a little bush and take a nap in the little bit of shade it provided. Apparently someone behind me did just that and Joy D stopped to help, like the incredible person she is. It was my mistake in not getting enough to drink in the feedzone and I suffered for it, dropping ~10 positions and landing in the ER, lesson learned. The only frustrating thing was watching other racers take handups at the start of the last climb out, the rules say you are not allowed handups anywhere else on the course but due to the extreme heat not all racers stuck to the rules. Can't really say I blame them... The best perks of being a pro cyclist is meeting great people! I am VERY grateful to our friends Brian and Bri, Nick and Cass and Chris Magerl (Kenda team Mechanic) for all the help when I was a little out of it! Todd really appreciated the help, I was a little less aware at the time. But I heard what everyone did for us last night as Bri cooked us dinner (twice, their BBQ cooks quickly). Thank you so much! Today I slept for 12 hours and am still sluggish with a headache and don't feel like eating much, but my legs feel good and that's what is important, right? Check out Kathy's description of the race/heat. Way to race Kathy!