Originally Posted by Banded Krait

I almost died from heatstroke when I was 15 years old. I ran cross-country in high school. My family moved during the summer between my freshman year and sophomore year. Because of all the activities related to the move, I did not have the opportunity to train much on my own prior to the official start of training at my new school.

The lack of training, plus the different climate (we moved to a suburb of Philadelphia, Pa., which has very hot and humid weather in July and August) did me in on the first evening of practice at my new school. We went for a moderately paced 3.5 mile run. Even though I suffered terribly, I finished the run and then collapsed immediately. The last two things I remember from that run are how my legs felt like rubber as I approached the area where we were to finish, and coming to as I was being loaded into the ambulance which rushed me to the nearby hospital where they saved my life. They plunked me into a bathtub filled with ice water to bring my core temperature down. It was so long ago that I cannot remember the maximum temperature my body reached that day; it was either 104 or 105 degrees F.

So, what were the take-home lessons from this episode? There are two that have stuck with me in the almost 40 years since then: (1) Know your limitations, and (2) always stay hydrated. Staying hydrated is the most important. Back in my high school days, there really were no sports physiologists, and a lot of coaches actually discouraged water intake during practice. Now, 40 years later, I cannot get enough liguid before, during, and after physical exertion.

Absolutely! You should have gone inside where it was air-conditioned, taken a 10-minute break, and drunk a large portion of your cold drink.

I am glad you made it home safely. If there is any message I can pass along to my fellow cyclists, it is this: Don't mess with heatstroke. It can kill you a lot quicker than you think.