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Dehydration or heat stroke or simple bonk?

gonnzogonnzo
in General Training Discussions

Big Day #2.  Hot, sunny, humid.  Thought I was doing better on water intake, but finished almost 10# lighter (from 208 to 198).  Only made it a mile into the run before I ran out of steam.  Walked for a while, then had leg cramping when I tried to start up again.  At that point I noticed the world was spinning a bit and I couldln't think straight.  The world also seemed strangely "bright" around then too...

Obviously this was "bad".  It surprised me how fast the problems came on.  I was sweating consistently the whole time and never felt thirsty, though again never peed until after I was done.  Generally felt good until the run problems.

Any advice on how to address these problems, or at least detect impending problems before they build to this level?  I cut back the calories this time to try to get more water down and it seemed to work, but obviously not well enough.

Comments

  • ghernandghernand

    brian:

    tough to troubleshoot without more info, but in general:

    -your nutrition intake should keep you going throughout the big day.  adjust accordingly until you can get through the whole session without feeling dizzy;

    -slow down in the heat.  see matt and company guidelines;

    -drinking water is good, but a 10lb water loss from your normal weight means you need to drink more.  a good sign that you are topped off if is you have to keep peeing.  at this point, you can hold off on the water for a bit.

    gh

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Take 1 to 2 S Caps per hour based on the need and make sure you drink whether you feel the need or not. If you are just drinking plain water the entire time, you are flushing out all your electrolytes...no surprise that you shut down on the run. Good luck.
  • gonnzogonnzo
    I forgot to mention that I had a couple of caps at the beginning of the ride (forgot to repeat during) and about 1/3 of liquid intake was gatorade endurance. I can certainly add more caps in the future - any concern with getting too many?
  • ghernandghernand

    Brian:

    see nutrition thread on "what salt streaks mean?"  and other running in heat threads.

    your dizzyness was not likely caused by diluted electrolytes.  those symptoms are much worse.  i would have to do a full history to zero in on the most likely cause for that sensation on that day.  dizziness could have been caused by many things. 

    at this point, if i were you, i would focus on the fact that you lost 10lbs = need to hydrate more (alternating between water and gatorade/infinit/etc.).

    likely went too hard in the heat = slow down.

    gh

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