TMBRA - Rider Board

[Anonymous]

Hi Doc,

A few weeks ago I raced the 50K at Mas-O-Menos. After the race I experienced chills and felt feverish. I asked a couple of MD’s who were camped near me what was going on. The answer: Destruction to muscle cells, and their waste products in my bloodstream stimulated an immune response, thus the temporary fever. It didn’t help that I overtrained and underslept the week leading up to the race.

Now, more than two weeks later, I’m still recovering. In my training sessions I’ve felt slow and weak. Apparently I really did myself in during that race, and there has been a marked loss in conditioning. I know this is only temporary and I think I’m barely beginning to get over it. Can you recommend ways to speed up the recovery process and get back on track? How much damage to my muscles could I have done? It feels like I’m starting all over again in my training.

Thanks.

[The Bike Doc]

MikeRider:

Though you may have over cooked your engine, so to speak, with the intensity of the Mas o Menos, you also could have incurred a viral infection in proximity to the race. Additionally, dehydration can also present with similar symptoms. You may have incurred any one or all of of these insults to your body. The end results is you are sapped and your stamina has been markedly reduced. Take some serious rest time, allow your body to heal. It may take a couple of weeks of laying low and only doing EASY rides, no intervals, hard gear mashing or sprinting. Drink plenty of fluids. It can take a couple of weeks to replentish the dehydrated tissues in the body beyond the blood stream after a serious episode of dehydration. Do not hesitate to get an examination by a physician to help sort things out and to make sure no serious underlying condition is the cause of your sapped energy.

Thanks,
_________________
Paul K. Nolan, MD
AKA: The Bike Doc