It's been a bit on the warm side these days. My very high quality g-ride no longer has AC, so i created a new one: 2n70 no this is not a new back woods fire ride such as 1E01. This means 2 windows down, drivin 70. However, while traveling to Riverside for grad school, i max out around 15 mph, so basically i sweat a lot. Now driving has become my zen emotional training. Focus, breath deep, relax. This really hasnt helped at all though.
HYDRATE OR DIE: HYDRATE AND DIE!!
Do you remember, i think it was the Power Ade slogan "Hydrate or die?" Well this can be quite deceiving. One day i will write a race report that goes like this: "The race was wonderful. Lovely weather and the competition was really slow, but very nice and sociable. We also had delicious food and felt very relaxed on the ride home. We are all winners...."
However: SANTA BARBARA BIKE FESTIVAL CAL STATE #5
Race time: 2:10pm
Race Temp: 100 degrees, perhaps
Race Length: 4 x 6 miles (this is stupid - my computer got all messed up. I thought we had just raced 32 miles. When i was looking down and it said "24" i was freaking out, because i hit the wall at about 25. I was also in awe of myself because i was climbing steady at 7mph. Actually, that was Kilometers PH STUPID!!!!
The Course: Fantastic if you are a really fast one on the descnets, and if you enjoy crop signs or the movie SIGNS. i felt as if we were creating miniature lines in a corn field, this time it was Annis actually, as we swooped down the single track, around the burms and through the brush. Nothing was taller than a corn stalk, and most of it was not wider than your average single track. Everything was hard packed and at times it looked like you were riding on grape seeds (growing up in the Napa valley exposed me to interesting trail conditions.) You could always see who was 3 turns ahead of you as they pasted through the thicket. Once i thought this girl was right behind me but what i htought was her helmet was a big flower pod, when looked at out of the corner of my eye, appeared much larger than it was...
It was late in the day and hot. I am a compulsive water drinker. Ever since Shelli and i got lost in the San Bernardino mountains, i fear the feeling of dehydration. I do everything in my power to avoid being in that spot. Sometimes i drink a whole bottle of water without even noticing it. So prior to the race, i had A LOT of fluid. Bad, bad, bad. During the race, i was ok. Then i began to get a splitting head ache, like really bad. On the last dirt hill climb out, my right quad started to cramp up super bad. I have never cramped before, i know, rookie. But i just sat back and told myself "so this is what a cramp feels like. Will it pull the muscle off or just twist it around a bit?" I ended up in 2nd place, which was just fine with me. My tan through jersey really did a number to the back. It is like i wasnt even wearing one, too much sun! I had traveled there with Christie and Teri scored her first pro podium with a stellar 3rd place finish, so of course we hung around!
Christie was having bad legs cramps and dizzy and feeling yuck, so i started the drive back. By the time we got to Ventura Chevron i promptly went over to the bushes and womitted, a lot. Poor Christie. You know you really have a friend when they tell you it is ok to puke in there car! I wonder what Mr. Pleiss would think about that one...
This continued for some time. I nicely asked Christie to pull over to the side of the freeway twice to help me with my situation. One of the time James Cross stopped to help out! What a champ! He was feeding us all during the race and was super supporter for the day! I couldn't even rest my head on the seat because the steady bumps in the road, i had to prop my elbow on the window and hold my head in my hand. Poor Christie was becoming quite bored with me while she was trying to stay away. She was so PC it was hilarious. Jeremy from K&N called for the race update and she said "JOY became sick." iF they only knew!!
Now i had to drive from Reldands to Forest Falls at 10:15pm. I really wanted Pedialyte from Staters, so i stopped and zig-zagged in. Once inside, i promptly had to puke. I ran outside and that was that. I found myself slumped on the curb by the planters, wanting to curl up right there for a nap. AS i sat there i wondered what people thought of me: severly sunburned, blurry-eyed, vomiting in a bush, late on a Saturday night. If they only knew...
I got home safely although i had to squint the whole time because my head hurt so bad. I laid down, motionless for about 45 minutes. then sat up, ate some food and pedialyte and was pretty much ok.
So, what happened you ask: HYPOTREMIA hydration intoxication. I had way too much of the good stuff. What this does is totally deplete your body of sodium, which is bad, very bad. It acts just like dehydration with nausea, headache, muscle cramps, dizziness. I read, online, that is can also cause "disorientation, slurred speech, confusion, inappropriate behavior, brain swelling, coma, and death." YIKES!!! I am so glad that all i did was puke my brains out! I think i lost 2 pounds. I also think that i consume so much water, i could stop drinking today, exercise for two days, and not get dehydrated. I need fix that one.
How do you fix the problem? Add extra sodium to your diet 2-3 days prior to events (and become hypertensive) and dont drink more than you sweat. Also, you could createt he same effects by drinking too much water the days prior. If you went to the hospital they would give you super consitrated sodium solution and a diuretic to make you dispell all the extra water.
Good to know!! Since we are getting into the hot super hot nasty oweful season, these things really need to be attained to. Although as i look back, the whole thing was entertaining, but not pleasant at all. Very dangerous too. There is such a fine line on these issues, you have to be careful.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: i KNOW i already asked some of you and you think i am stupid, BUT...you are not supposed to water your lawn mid day because it will get burned and die. The water particles magnify the suns intensity and burn it. So was it bad that these guys were spraying us with hoses and water bottles as we rode by? Could that shock our systems and make me act like a giant blade of grass roaming through the trails, causing me to get over burned and taxed? You have to answer this one, because i really need to know. Scientific proof is highly suggested.
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