Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race.

Oct 14, 19 12:51

Post #1 of 15 (2910 views)

I ran a 1/2 marathon yesterday. I paced well, ate a normal breakfast, had a gel at 10k, and hit a few aid stations for water/nuun along the way. Towards the end of the run, I was more or less where I should have been, time wise, with no surprises. I was tired, but, not unusually so.

I have next to zero recollection of the last km of the race. I remember suddenly being very dizzy. I remember brief seconds of walking and swerving all over the road and people telling at me to watch out. The last km or under took me an extra 5 minutes to cover. A friend of mine was greeting finishers, saw and caught me and called over medics. I was very pale and felt on the verge of passing out. I stayed in the med tent for 30 minutes as my BP came back to normal and I started to feel better.

I have no idea what happened. I highly doubt it was a fuel/hydration issue. I'm 36, 180lbs, no medical history, healthy guy and have ran around 10 half marathons, a handful of 70.3, one full iron, former rower, etc and have never had an experience like this.

I plan on following up with my GP but figured I would ask the ST hive mind if anyone has has this happened and what some likely causes might be.

Long Chile was a silly place.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 12:55

Post #2 of 15 (2886 views)

i'd be careful with it.

good friend of mine out west passed out in a race when a bit of a blood vessel de-lammed; he had a sort of a heart attack, went dizzy, passed out. had to have a stent put in.

maybe it's nothing more than bad luck, but i'd want a full workup of your blood plus a close look at the heart.

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 13:03

Post #3 of 15 (2837 views)

Yikes, I would see a doctor sooner rather than later and have it checked out.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

globetrotterjon

Oct 14, 19 13:44

Post #4 of 15 (2745 views)

Get your heart rate and BP checked on a 24 hr monitor as soon as you can. You can have any number of BP variations that could lead to this, driven by any number of things. For me in my much younger days, a weird combo of low blood sugar, heat, and air pressure (think small crowded rooms, bars, etc) would cause me to black out without warning. I learned to avoid the combination of issues after getting a 24 monitor - I eventually grew out of it, but I am mindful of other things that can cause blackouts for me - in particular extreme cramping. See your doctor.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 13:52

Post #5 of 15 (2711 views)

Something similar happened to me about 5 years ago. Olympic-distance tri, and on the run, no more than 1-2miles from the finish, I passed out mid-stride and hit the deck. Woke up in the ambulance.

It is a fueling issue. I was pushing hard, it was hot, some of the first hot weather of the season(April race), and the run course was just the shoulder of a hilly highway (no shade). I was in great shape but still ran out of gas. My body was in rhabdo and I spent the next two nights in the hospital.

If your pee looks like cola or if you haven't urinated much since the race, go to the hospital immediately. You need to be monitored for kidney functions. You'll likely be fine, but don't take chances.

-----

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 14:01

Post #6 of 15 (2684 views)

How hot was it, how hot were you? I have passed out twice, both on the bike because I just got too hot. Lucky for me, I realized it both times, and was able to get off and just pass out on the side of the road. Would just wake up, one time covered in ants. But it was no surprise, it was 100+ outside and I did long rides, so had heat stroke both times.

As someone else said, it could be fueling, or something more sinister. I would go with the most probably first, did you wear a HR monitor for the race?

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 14:20

Post #7 of 15 (2635 views)

I'd get checked out with a doc.

I'm 51. I was scared away from triathlon a few years ago because of the swim deaths. I've missed it terribly so I'm getting back to it and was having some issues with dizziness on my some of my runs. I had a stress test ultrasound a few weeks ago and then a few weeks ago I passed out at a blood test lest, which I never do. My doc scheduled a vascular ultrasound. She said she's being overly cautious but at my age and getting back to tri's it would be good to get checked out.

As I sure you are also - I don't want to drop over and have my wife find out I had an underlying issue that could have been caught.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 14:26

Post #8 of 15 (2614 views)

If you’re 36 and lucky enough to have a GP in Victoria I would go with Iron-mike and get a full work up.

They have excellent specialists there.

Maurice

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 14:49

Post #9 of 15 (2550 views)

The Answer is in your post

You were in the medical tent for 30 mins until you BP came back down

Go see a dr

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 14:58

Post #10 of 15 (2520 views)

BCtriguy1 wrote:

I have next to zero recollection of the last km of the race. I remember suddenly being very dizzy. I remember brief seconds of walking and swerving all over the road and people telling at me to watch out. The last km or under took me an extra 5 minutes to cover. A friend of mine was greeting finishers, saw and caught me and called over medics. I was very pale and felt on the verge of passing out. I stayed in the med tent for 30 minutes as my BP came back to normal and I started to feel better.

I plan on following up with my GP but figured I would ask the ST hive mind if anyone has has this happened and what some likely causes might be.

Yes, see your doc, and maybe another one. it would be kind of irresponsible for anyone to offer you advice given your description of events...could be nothing, could be life-threatening. And it would be foolish to act on anything that anyone does offer...except, "go see your doctor...and a second one, if nothing comes out of the first one."

Any information/records that you can obtain from your time in the med tent, might be of some value to your doctor.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 15:05

Post #11 of 15 (2502 views)

Do you have a hr monitor or Apple Watch 4/5? Would check out the data with doc and see if there were any anomalies. Good luck, stuff like this is spooky. Couple of super fit friends (a 49 yo guy and 40 yo girl) got a heart attack / stroke recently and made me think about being vulnerable.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 15:13

Post #12 of 15 (2469 views)

I’m hopeful it’s nothing major, definitely schedule an MD appt ASAP!

If you don’t get checked out, this will always be in the back of your mind during races and training.

Good luck, keep us updated!

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 15:24

Post #13 of 15 (2424 views)

Yeah could be brain or heart issue or just electrolytes or heat stroke.

I fear this when I’m really in the zone sometimes.

https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 15:29

Post #14 of 15 (2404 views)

Tom_hampton wrote:

BCtriguy1 wrote:

I have next to zero recollection of the last km of the race. I remember suddenly being very dizzy. I remember brief seconds of walking and swerving all over the road and people telling at me to watch out. The last km or under took me an extra 5 minutes to cover. A friend of mine was greeting finishers, saw and caught me and called over medics. I was very pale and felt on the verge of passing out. I stayed in the med tent for 30 minutes as my BP came back to normal and I started to feel better.

I plan on following up with my GP but figured I would ask the ST hive mind if anyone has has this happened and what some likely causes might be.

Yes, see your doc, and maybe another one. it would be kind of irresponsible for anyone to offer you advice given your description of events...could be nothing, could be life-threatening. And it would be foolish to act on anything that anyone does offer...except, "go see your doctor...and a second one, if nothing comes out of the first one."

Any information/records that you can obtain from your time in the med tent, might be of some value to your doctor.

This above. ^^^ I’ve blacked out due to low sodium during an ironman race and had febrile seizures due to lack of sodium from it. Took the ambulance ride and etc.

The best thing that happened was that the doctor told me that I have I had a super high sweat rate which lead me to additional testing at a later time which confirmed this.

Now I know to take additional base salt on the run and a truck more sodium on the bike. Ever since that I’ve been completing IM with no problems!

I’m glad to see that youre going to a GP/MD. I hope for the best.

Re: Had a scary experience and blacked out in a race. [monty] [ In reply to ]

Oct 14, 19 16:38

Post #15 of 15 (2294 views)

monty wrote:

How hot was it, how hot were you? I have passed out twice, both on the bike because I just got too hot. Lucky for me, I realized it both times, and was able to get off and just pass out on the side of the road. Would just wake up, one time covered in ants. But it was no surprise, it was 100+ outside and I did long rides, so had heat stroke both times.

As someone else said, it could be fueling, or something more sinister. I would go with the most probably first, did you wear a HR monitor for the race?

It was cool a sunny, a perfect running day to be honest. I don't think it got hotter then 10-13*C. I was pretty comfortable by km 19.

Unfortunately my watch with HR mysteriously died in that last km as well, so I can't check that for data. I remember checking my pace late in the race, then in med tent I remembered my watch and went to check it, only to see the dreaded empty battery sign. In the eyes of the Strava gods, this race did not happen!

Long Chile was a silly place.

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