This was the 2nd in the Va Derailer series. The course is full of twisty turns, "whoop" sections, and short climbs. This is the type of course where you're on the gas from the minute you start...no real good sections to rest...or take time to take a swig from the water bottle which would have an awful effect on me later that day. Temps were in the mid to high 90's. Normally I do okay in the heat...it has some effect on me but generally I can stay pretty well hydrated. I felt good in the warm up but felt a little "off" once we got to the starting line. I seemed a little more on edge than normal. I just chalked it up to pre-race jitters. 
I felt ok on the first lap. One of my comptetitors had gotten in front at the start but I figured I would just let her set the pace. Unfortunately she went down hard on one of those rollers. It was a tight left hand turn into a steep drop, followed by a steep, but short uphill. As I eased past her, I shouted "you okay?" she indicated she was..so I continued on. I was sure my competition would be back up on the bike so I pushed a little harder on this first lap. The key to this course is maintaining your momentum so that's what I tried to do. I even had a little help from the rider behind me. He had ridden the course many, many times so he knew every twist, log, turn, uphill, and even places to pause & take a sip fromt he water bottle. It was almost like having my own little coach in my head to let me know what was coming! We continued on..about 3/4 of the way through my first lap I had to clip out to dab through a short uphill section. As soon as my foot hit the ground, horrendous cramping started in my calf. I never cramp so I knew something was not right. The "coach" passed me but I soon caught back up. I thought..keep drinking wherever you can.
The second lap was a little slower than the first. Towards the middle of the second lap my buddy Todd Gilley caught & passed me. Todd races Clydesdale class. Somehow we always seem to end up riding together in the second half of the races. I followed Todd through the series of S-turns, then out into the open field. I asked him how far back the ladies were...He said he passed one on his first lap but was not sure of the rest. As we dumped into the downhill section, Todd was gone....so I plodded on but now the stomach cramps, nausea, and headache were beginning. Towards the last 2 miles or so, I caught up with one of the expert women..I asked her how she was feeling..her response was "not too good" I knew how she felt, except she had 1 more lap!
As I completed my second lap I felt extremely nauseated! After they took my number, I rolled over to the area where my teammates were. My hubby gave me a bottle of water & said "drink this,you'll feel better." Well I drank the water, then my recovery drink, then another bottle of water..still no better. Jannie put an icepack on my back..1/2 hour passed...Ok I think I feel a little better. I decided to stay under the tent while the rest of the team got some grub. That's when it hit me ....instead of feeling better, I felt worse. My breathing shortened and the nausea increased, although I never could puke (sorry, I know that's gross) One of my teammates ran to the food area to get my husband & a couple of EMTs...Seems I was in the begining stages of heat exhaustion and was dehydrated. They quickly put icepacks under my arms & on my neck to get my core temp down. They also gave me some extra oxygen to help w/ the shortness of breath. I put my legs up, continuted to drink lots of Gatorade & water. I forced down a piece of pizza to get my blood sugar back up. Finally after about an hour I was able to summons the strength to move to the air conditioned Jeep!
Here's what WebMD lists as the symptoms of Heat Exhaustion: Fatigue, Nausea , Headaches , Excessive thirst , Muscle aches and cramps , Weakness, Confusion or anxiety , Drenching sweats, often accompanied by cold, clammy skin, slowed or weakened heartbeat, Dizziness, Fainting , Agitation. I didn't have all of these but I had the majority of them. I may have even been on the verge of heat stroke b/c my skin was hot & dry rather than cold & clammy. That's pretty serious. Thankfully there were EMT's there to help the riders. I know I wasn't the only one that felt awful...I think it just hit me harder than others. Next year for this race, I'm definitely wearing a camelback so I can drink more during the event.
I did come in first in my class..but it definitely was not worth the pain & suffering. Turns out the competitor in my class who went down early did not finish....I think lot of riders did not finish..The heat was too much! Team El Toreo did well again. My hubby took 3rd in Single Speed...only 30 seconds out of second place, Chris Clark took 2nd in the Beginner class, Ron Glowczynski took 1st Expert Male over 36 and 3rd overall in Male Expert, Jannie took 3rd in Female Beginner! Way to go Jannie...you rock girl! One of our other teammates had a tough time w/ the heat as well..that was Aaron..he placed 4th in Single Speed but was just happy to finish the race. 
Lots of liquid & rest & I'll be back to my old self in no time.
2 comments:
after the bee attack and the heat, perhaps you should write off the city of danville as a place to race. ;-) and way to go jannie! CHICKY'S ROCK!
You've had a heck of an interesting season, P. Schmizzal.
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