Never let them see you Sweat!

Thanks for the title idea Joni! It makes a great slogan for a deodorant company, but not a very good slogan for a triathlete!

Sunday July 17th was the Door County Half Ironman, the venue is great – 1.2 mile swim in Green Bay, 56 miles bicycling on the country roads in and around Sturgeon Bay and finally a lovely 13.1 mile run through Egg Harbor. Door County is usually a very nice temperature this time of year, but not this weekend. Along with the rest of Wisconsin and much of the Midwest, Sunday was the start of a pretty miserable heat wave.

The swim was great – a little choppy on the backside of the course but the water temperature was ideal at about 69 degrees. The swim proved to be great practice for Ironman as I started in the last wave and in the middle of the wave so I could experience some arm-to-arm combat! The waves seemed to cause some anxiety so periodically I encountered groups of people backstroking, side stroking and breast stroking. Not usually a big deal as I normally choose the long and less combative route by swimming around them to the outside. Not an option in Door County as they have LOTS of  lifeguards and safety boats and they are in close making it impossible to swim around the crowds! So again good Ironman training – swam right through the middle of the high anxiety swimmers! Again lots of arm and leg contact but I didn’t panic and just kept on swimming. I did add a phrase to my mantra on the backside of the course “I am long, I am lean, I am in control and I am a Torpedo!” (Torpedos can cut through turbulent waters – well at least in my mind and that is all that counts so don’t burst my bubble if it is any different, please!!!) I finished the swim in 42 minutes and 18 seconds, not a bad time for me.

The bike is pretty flat by La Crosse standards so theoretically I should be able to maintain a pretty good speed. Well, let’s just say I have a focus issue on the bike. I will be biking along at a pretty good clip and all is going well and then la la la I am off in la la land – sightseeing or daydreaming or just checked out and before I know it I have gone 5 or 6 miles and am cruising at the breakneck pace of 12 or 13 mph!!!! ARGH!!! As Maggie said in my pre-race email – Stay Focused!!! I really tried but kind of lost my focus as the temps started climbing and then really lost focus when I realized I wasn’t sliding around in my aerobars like I normally do. Hmmm that is weird, kind of nice tho…. Well duh!!! the reason I wasn’t sliding is that I was not sweating! Well that is not good, my arms are as dry as a bone! This was about mile 25. I had been experiencing a muscle cramp in my left hamstring and  nausea, but I thought that was all from the turbulent waters as I have experienced seasickness on the bike after a rough swim. I was eating my Tums and drinking lots of fluids, forcing nutrition and electrolytes in on schedule but still fighting a sick stomach. I decided to stop at the next aid station to use the potty and see if that helped. At the aid station I rushed into the porta-john forgetting I was wearing slick soled bike shoes! Yikes, my right foot hit the floor and slid until it smashed into the wall of the tank! OUCH!!! I thought I broke my big and second toes!!! Oh well I tried to relieve my belly but not much success so I got back on my bike and cruised on. The bike continued to get hotter and I continued to grab an extra water bottle at each station to squirt on my head, back, and front to cool my core temp. I think I did maintain better focus for the second half of the bike as I had to add body cooling to my list of tasks.

Bike Task list:

• Top of the hour – Energy Gel & fluids – squirt water on head, front back
• Quarter after the hour – Electrolyte & fluids
• Bottom of the hour – 1/4 of my bar & fluids – squirt water on head, front back
• Quarter to the hour – Electrolyte & fluids
• Start again at the top…

Soon I came up on my friend and training partner, Libby, she had passed me early in the bike and is a stronger cyclist than I am so I thought something might be wrong. I slowed to ride beside her and she was struggling with the heat and worried about the run. I chatted with her a bit, and shared some of my water/shower with her to help cool her down and told her to meet me in transition and we would do the run together. She must have stayed right with me because she was waiting at the run out for me.

During the bike to run transition, my biggest concern was checking my toes to make sure they were straight and not deformed from the porta-potty mishap. I pulled my shoe off and stared at my toes. My transition area was next to a fence and a lady said “Do you have blisters?” I said “No I thought I broke my toes in the porta potty on the bike course, do they look okay to you?” She agreed they looked okay so I crammed them into my sock and shoe and then took care of the left foot. Grabbed my race belt skirt, visor and shoved my ziploc of energy in between my bra and sport top and off I went to find Libby. Libby was waiting at the Run Out and we jogged to the aid station table and promptly drank water and got a cup of ice. We shoved the ice into our bras and looked back and both turned around for another cup of ice to use elsewhere! So the ritual began…

The run or more accurately the walk/run (and later the death march…) started off with our plan – 10 min run then 1 minute walk. That lasted through two cycles and we came upon Brenda who was experiencing issues with her blood sugar (Brenda is diabetic) and she needed to walk and get it under control. No problem, we will walk with you! The three of us marched on. Pretty soon we came upon Sarah and she joined our group and about the same time Anna caught up with us and joined us. We were 5 women hot and determined to complete this quest. The volunteers, residents, spectators and motorists were AWESOME!!! They shared every thing they had – ice, water, sprayed us with hoses, set up sprinklers, shot us with water guns, you name it – if it would cool us off or encourage us down the road – They Did IT! Thank you Everyone! At every aid station our little group of 5 would get spread out as everyone did whatever they needed to get to the next station. For me, the key was keeping my core temp down as I was still not sweating. Each member of our group had their own challenges and we monitored and encouraged each other. It was a great support system and kept your mind occupied. Anna noticed my back was SUPER RED, so Brenda smothered my back in sunscreen at the next aid station. Anna was having a hard time getting nutrition in so I gave her some of my electrolytes. We all did and shared whatever we could to keep the group going. Max (Brenda’s husband) and Andy (Libby’s husband) were both on bikes and provided support along the way. Max even climbed the bluff with us!!! We did end up getting separated the last 2-4 miles but Libby and I stuck together. The 2 miles on top of the bluff was a long, straight, shadeless, blacktop and all you could see in front of you and behind you were people walking single file! It was ALMOST comical – it looked like a death march or the Trail of Tears! Everyone was slouched over, staring at the ground, walking. Libby and I discussed it with Max stood up straight, picked up the pace for a minute, laughed and immediately resumed the slouched death march!

Libby and I did run as often and as far as we could. The runs were getting shorter and the time between them longer as we were getting hotter and the balls of our feet were getting more painful. I think we both knew, even though I don’t think we ever discussed it, that we would run from the corner, down the hill and through the finish line – no matter what!!! And we did! Our run time was 2 hours and 52 minutes which was a 13 minute and 11 second minute per mile pace. Not bad!!! considering the temperatures had climbed into the 90’s with high humidity. I haven’t heard the heat index but I would guess it was around 100 degrees or more.

As we crossed the finish line, a volunteer put a cold, wet towel over my shoulders and asked how I was feeling. I said “Okay but I haven’t been sweating for a long time.” I was immediately ushered to the medical tent and into an ice bath. I am not sure how long I sat submerged in the ice water but the medical staff kept coming and grabbing my hand and asking me if I was cold. I said “No this feels great, I could stay here all night!” They came back again, grabbed my hand and asked if I was cold “Nope I am comfortable thanks” About the 3rd or 4th time they did that same routine I said “Why do you keep grabbing my hand?” It was kind of weird because I had a bottle of water in one hand and a banana in the other. The medical person said “Your hands are cold and do you realize you are sitting in a trough full of ice and water? Not just cool water?” I looked around and laughed and said “Nope didn’t realize there was ice in here but it feels good.” He came back with “Well your hands are cold because all of your blood is in your core your body is in survival mode. Let us know when you start feeling cold.” That got my attention. I remained in the ice bath for awhile longer – again I had no concept of time and my watch was still in stopwatch mode and I had my race time showing 7:04. Didn’t think to change it as I didn’t have anywhere I needed to go! I was happy as a clam sitting in the ice bath. Finally I started to get goosebumps on my legs so the next time they checked my hand, they pulled me out and put me on a cot in the medical tent where they took my vitals and got more information. After all my vitals came in normal,  the doctor heard my other symptoms – a POUNDING Headache!!! and I relayed my nutrition and hydration  history, he said “Well we can give you an IV or we can give you Tylenol..” I cut him off and said “Whatever comes with the Tylenol is what I want!!!” My head was KILLING me and had been for HOURS. I would have run another mile or two for a Tylenol or Ibuprofen! Upon getting my Tylenol, I was discharged from the tent with instructions to drink water. No problem!

It appears I suffered from Heat Exhaustion/Stroke. I was not dehydrated as I had peed twice on course and a large volume at both potty stops (once on the bike and once on the run). My symptoms: no sweating and a pounding headache indicate Heat Stroke. As I am writing this post, I remember muscle cramps earlier in the bike and my nausea (also symptoms of Heat Stroke) I thought they were the result of the rougher water but maybe not?? Anyway I am not sure what I could have done differently in talking with a few medical people – nothing! My body just didn’t like the heat! I do know my instincts to keep pouring water on my head, putting ice in my sports bra and the cold water dunks, hoses and sprinklers on the run probably kept my body temp low enough to enable me to keep going. I hate to think what would have happened without all that manual cooling….

Will/would I do it again? Yep, I will and I have. I did the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman in 2005 in similar conditions (90+ degrees with 115 degree heat index) it was ugly too but I did not end up in the medical tent after that one. So actually Door County was an Extreme Heat Half Ironman PR (personal record) for me! Racine in 2005 my finishing time was 7 hours and 24 minutes. Door County was 20 minutes faster!!!! 7 hours and 4 minutes! Woo Hoo

What did I learn? 1. Listen to my body and follow my instincts. 2. Find a buddy and let them know what is going on. You can watch each other, help each other and keep each other going. 3. Focus sometimes comes in different forms – while I lost focus on “racing” and going as fast as I could. I remained incredibly focused on my physical condition and my body and that of my friends around me. WAY MORE important than focusing on a race and speed! Should I have stopped when I quit sweating? Probably but I didn’t. What would I change??? After a LOT of rehashing and second guessing, I can now say “Nothing! I would not do a thing differently!”