I didn’t start my bike until noon yesterday, for various reasons, including an open water swim in the a.m. It got pretty toasty yesterday here in Denver.
I was out on the bike in the heat for 5 hours. Over the course of that 5 hours I drained my 100 oz. Camelback, and one and a half 24oz. bottles of Gatorade Endurance Formula. (Also 8 hammer gels.)
About 4.5 hours in, I was in terrible shape, starting to feel nauseous, my breath was coming in gasps. Had to pull over and lay under a tree for a few minutes. Finally managed to get home. Forced down a couple tall glasses of chocolate soy milk and laid down. Later I woke with a terrible cramp in my calf. Felt like crap the rest of the night. Almost fainted a couple of times. Started to feel a little better after I forced myself to eat something.
I was supposed to do a 9-mile run this morning, but I’m still feeling the effects of yesterday, so I bagged it.
I went and bought some Endurolytes today. Will they prevent this from happening in the future? I don’t ever want to go through that again. At least it wasn’t in a race.
Ha! I could have written that exact post. I swam at Chatfield in the morning then got on the bike for a 5 hour ride. Mustered through with the help of a pull back to Chatfield and then sucked it up and went for a quick 30 minute transition run out at the pond. Came home, felt terrible, drank my recovery stuff and had a good dinner.
Got up to run 14 today, made it 10 before I had to walk the rest.
I definitely think its heat-related. But beyond avoiding 90+ days, I don’t have any answers, I’m sorry to say.
Well there’s a good reason why all animals chill out in the shade to wait out the hottest part of the day. Even people do this - witness traditional cultures in hot climes - people just chill, which sometimes gets mistaken as lazyness.
Only the crazy breed called “type-A triathletes” flaunt the weather Gods by sticking to their A-plan no matter what. Ask yourself, is it worth it to be driven by the ego like that? To me the answer is no. These days my ego is well in check, and insane exercise jaunts in the Florida heat are a thing of the past (I’ve had my share of coming home dizzy and peeing yellow for days afterwards too).
I live in NY where the humidity (and heat) could sometimes be intense. through experience, I understand a few things…
hydration and nutrition: I take in at LEAST 24oz per hour. I also like GA Endurance because of the high sodium content. I think it tastes great and keep me drinking. I drink the GA for the first hour, then switch to Infinit. On a four hour ride I would use Infinit (super high mix of electrolytes) for the 2-3hrs and then switch over to Nuun combined with Hammer gel, for the last. I find that the first hour is a waste of calories because you should have food before you went out. And the gels are great for the transition for a brick.
body temp: you need to keep it down, otherwise your body will stop working effectively. You can do this by training in the shade, if possible; taking a few minutes here and there to cool off, and staying hydrated. A heart rate monitor is an effective tool to monitor this issue (and related to hydration).
*electrolytes and the such: pound it. I really like the Hammer Electrolytes. I just take about 4-5 an hour in the worst kind of heat.
Im learning along the way, but Hammer seems to have all heat and electrolyte related stuff covered.
Hmmm, driven by the ego? I was driven more by the fact that I have an ironman in a few months (Redman), which, despite the wisdom of animals and chillin’ traditionals, takes place during the heat of the day.
My body was caked with salt (as it usually is on long rides.) I’m hoping that electrolyte supplementation will prevent this condition in the future.
In the future, do a 2 loop and have a cooler with cold liquids in bike bottles so you can cruise by and get more. The cold drink will also help lower your body temp a bit, and you’ll be more likely to drink enough.
Dump water on your head whenever you have the chance. Evaporation works well in our dry air. I realize you don’t have a car riding next to you the way Floyd did in the (in)famous stage of last year’s TdF (where he must have dumped 30 water bottles on his head), but make the most of whatever opportunities you have to get some extra water. You should be able to design a course that allows this.
The other suggestion, alas, is to slow down. Even with perfect hydration and electrolytes, it is still harder to exercise in that kind of heat (and sun). On days like that, maybe ignore the speedometer and use a HRM to keep yourself in check.
I do feel for you. I finished my ride at noon yesterday and that last hour was getting rough. Some guy that I passed asked if he could draft off me heading back South on Rte 36 and I felt obligated to keep up a good pace. Stupid. On the plus side, I unexpectedly got into the middle of the MS150 ride toward Carter Lake. It was nice having cops wave me through all those intersections.
I was driven more by the fact that I have an ironman in a few months (Redman), which, despite the wisdom of animals and chillin’ traditionals, takes place during the heat of the day.