Hey all, this is my first post on the forum. Lots of nice people on here and lots of great information. I'm really looking forward to learning and sharing any knowledge I can from the forum.
A little history of my riding first: I've been riding bikes all my life (BMX, Flatland, Mountain) and two years ago got into Road cycling because my knees were starting to bother me a bit from running (i'm 30). I figured what better sport than low impact from road cycling.
So, after road riding for a few years and really having fun with it, I made a mistake and pushed myself a little too hard. It was the end of the summer that just passed (2011), it was a very hot, very humid day (88 degrees, sunny, with 80+% humidity) and I didn't hydrate well, at all, like 1 24oz bottle over an hour 30 ride (very foolish). I got off the bike, did my usualy post ride nourishment and sat down to recoup. After an hour or so i noticed my heart rate was VERY high. So high that I was having a tough time counting the beats (that fast). This ride took place on a Saturday.
Time passed and my heart rate stayed elevated for the rest of the day, extreme exhaustion/lethargy for the rest of the day and into the night.Finally, the next day I was feeling back to normal, my heart rate was lower and I was going about my buisness. Two days after the ride (on Monday) I went to the gym in the morning, didn't feel quite right but still pushed through my workout. Hours later after the gym I went to the DMV and passed out for a little more than a minute. They took me to the hospital, hydrated me, did blood work and all other tests. They said it was likely dehydration, but the blood work showed I was only a "little" dehydrated, which threw me off completely and confused me.
Anywho, it's been about 8 or so months since this all happened, and it's be a daily mind game of "what the heck happened?". I've been an athlete all my life and its been difficult to push myself back to where I used to be because mentally I have this in the back of my head.
Since then, i've been really careful with hydration and have not had any issues.
I've been getting back on the bike, but it hasn't been the same.
Has anyone ever had a similar experience?
Could it be I passed out from just over exertion?
Thanks all