Heatstroke

Most days I do pretty well with the weather, whatever it brings. In fact, at times I enjoy the extremes - frigid cold and broiling heat. Kinda weird..after all, as a runner I guess I have to make peace with the outdoors. Last Saturday was another matter.

I followed John and his Hyper Gila Cycling Team to Putrajaya for a change. While waiting for them to complete their 3 hour cycling routine, I decided to run around Putrajaya for as long as I could. Tony suggested that I should just enjoy myself and try jogging around the huge lake to check where it leads to and I did that.
By the time I finished, it was about 11.30am - the sun was intense but I was still okay. Or so I thought. I chatted with some guys who arrived earlier and learned that Michelle got crash and landed in Putrajaya Hospital. The whole team was with her. Later when John arrived, I was perspiring profusely and wondering why? It was cold sweat but I did not feel unwell.

Just as I was going to change into dry clothes, the world suddenly turned grey and the scene in front of me became vaque and then vanished. Panicked, I almost collapsed and called John who was nearby. He advised me to squat down. I obeyed and until I felt better, I got up. When I began to walk, everything that I could see quickly became blur again, as if I was being covered by a large white cloud. I squat down once more - this time slightly longer. When I felt better, we headed straight home. I looked at myself in the mirror and was quite shock to see how pale I've turned..seriously, I thought I saw my own corpse!!

I swear that this has never happened to me during my entire running life. In the end, I concluded that it was a heatstroke that occurs when the body's thermoregulatory system shuts down from excessive heat buildup or excessive dehydration. In my case, it could also be my raging hormones where I lost a lot of blood via a 10day heavy menstruation. I recovered by resting and doing nothing. I tried hydrating myself with fluids throughout the day.

Well, it's just another chapter in 'Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah' (Today in history) for me! A good reminder for me to seize the day and enjoy everyday - Carpe Diem!

Roasted or Toasted...

I was supposed to join my fellow Pacesetters for Breakfast Run at Mon't Kiara yesterday. Instead, I changed my mind later and decided to join Tony Quay's group 'Powerman Stimulation Practice RBR' at Putrajaya and wow, what a day!
I caught the flu bug last week after the Mizuno Wave Run but I believe I'm recovering. I had no idea how many kilometres I can cover - so, I just allow my body to reveal her condition to me and she did.
The initial stage of my run was nothing but pain. Breathing was hard as my nose is still congested. My back ached and my legs felt like iron bars - perhaps, I'm still trying to fight off the effects of the flu pills and at the same time, still trying to recover from the killer Hoki Stadium's slope the day before. Every step was so laborious that even Jezamine was running ahead of me! Anyway, it was okay as we were not in any competition and I moved on at snail pace...struggling slowly to finish the first loop (10km). My second loop (which was only 7km) was slightly better. After that, I decided to stop for a break - to hydrate and stretch out those aching muscles.
At about 11am John has already completed his 60km cycle and moving swiftly into his last 10km run. Unhappy with my current pathetic level of fitness, I was gamed to run another 10km loop even with the sun on top of my head! So, I just trailed behind John...This time, I thought I did it well. My back didn't ache so much and I managed to beat the heat to complete another 10km at 12.20pm.
All in all - I ran 27km, roasted and toasted.