So, the time before last, I blogged about walking in the rain. Pouring rain. Which resulted in me getting a) very very wet and b) falling over and hurting my knee.
Well, today the weather is more reflective of a true Australian Summer. We were told to expect 40 degrees today. Yuck. I dislike Summer. But, in true Dewy fashion, I didn't let it stop me from my normal Sunday workout.
I've been really enjoying my walks in the park and decided several days ago that I would still walk there today. Sure the weather would be disgustingly hot and there is little practical shade on the walking track... but I'd be prepared! I'd wait until after 3 so as to reduce my risk of being burnt. I'd actually wear sunscreen and a hat this time! (remember I got burnt not long ago!). I'd put water in the freezer for my walk so it would be cold when I needed it (and it was icy when I started!). I'd take an extra cold bottle of water for when I got back to the car to cool down with a wet cloth. I'd take a very cold bottle of sport drink to rehydrate quickly. I'd hydrate before I left (which I did!).
I did all of those things.
I started out on my walk around 1530 hrs. I started off at a good speed. I could feel myself huffing and puffing and figured it was just the weather. When I got to the half way mark (which, by the way, is all uphill!) I checked my watch. I was a whole minute and a half ahead of my time! Awesome!
A quick about turn and I headed back down the hill. I kept up the pace. But around 300m down the hill I began to feel a little light headed. Ick. I knew it was the heat and kept up my fluids. By this time (around 20 min into the walk) my water was no longer icy. It was barely cold!
I kept pushing on and another 200m down the path I felt sick. I wanted to throw up. I knew what was happening. I was overheating. A quick glance at my HRM showed that my HR was fine. It was elevated but well within the norms of exercise. In fact, it's been way way higher before! It was sitting around 160 bpm where on the treadmill it would have been over 170 bpm. Knowing exactly what was happening, I began to look around for a seat in the shade to have a quick rest - there was no way I was sitting on the long grass where snakes might be hiding!!!
Around another 300m I found a bench in the shade. I had a quick sit and felt a wee better. But not quickly enough. I worried that if I didn't keep moving, I wasn't going to make it back to the car. And today, unlike most days, the track was desserted - clearly the rest of the North Eastern Suburbs had brains and were not risking the extreme heat! I was starting to worry, if I'm honest, about passing out on the path and not being found for hours... which would obviously result in bad things including extreme sunburn and so forth. So I slowed myself down. I made myself back off.
A little further down the track, I had another break in the shade. Head between my knees to get the blood back to my head. I kept drinking water. When I felt steady, I took off again. I made myself slow my pace down. My music began irritating me - making me feel more light headed. I knew things were getting bad. I contemplated calling home but knew I could get back to the car before DH could get to me. And I'd still have to walk to the car because you can't get vehicles on the track. I HAD to make myself slow down. I told myself that my time didn't matter today - I just had to get home safely.
I began to worry how I was going to drive home. I saw another spot down the path and took my last break. This was the longest break I took. I felt much better after that break. But I still didn't know how I was going to get to the car. The heat was killing me. The sun was killing me! I could feel myself burning despite my 3 inch thick sunscreen!!!
Finally, I got to the car. FINALLY! I hit stop on the HRM as I unlocked the car. Before I got in the car, I turned the ignition on and turned the A/C to full throttle. I put all the windows down. I fumbled with the insulation bag I'd brought with my sport drink and ice bricks but eventually got the bricks out. I put them on two of the spots we use in nursing to cool someone down quickly. It made me feel more dizzy as my temp rapidly dropped. I got rid of the hat. When I felt steady, I moved my car to the disabled spot in the shade. The only shade. There was a car next to me with people in it. I fumbled to undo my sport drink and have a sip. I moved the bricks to another spot to cool me down. I was fighting the urge to vomit. I poured my spare bottle onto a towel and wiped myself down. I used that on the back of my neck to aid the cooling process. I laid the drivers seat back to give myself a chance to recover quicker.
I knew I looked crap. I was worried. And I wondered why the people in the next car didn't ask if I was ok. I was surprised that they didn't.
I spent 10 min moving the ice bricks and re-wetting my towel. Slowly, the fog lifted from my brain. I felt better. I didn't feel as hot. The nausea left. I sat up properly again and let everything settle.
I tentatively drove home. The whole way I felt better. I did, however, question my sanity at having trained in such heat! I decided today was not the day to start my leg work (which had been approved by my physio!) and vowed to recover as soon as I got home.
Once home, I downed more water. I stretched my muscles. I hit the shower. Oh how good did that cool water feel!!! But it did nothing for my headache! Several hours later, I still have a bad headache. I've had countless glasses of water but nothing seems to be helping. I'm hoping it will be gone in the morning!
Since being home, I have discovered that I actually ended up training in the hottest part of the day. Our maximum temp was *only* 39 today. When I got in the car after my walk, the temp was actually 37 degrees - it had been 30 when I left home. OUCH!
I have lernt that next time I should (and will) either train in air conditioning such as the gym or home, OR wait for the cooler part of the day.
Oh, and if you're curious what my time for the 4Km walk was (in 37 degrees Celcius and with a grand total of 5 min break) - it was 40 min and 32 sec!!! Soooo if I hadn't taken any breaks, I would have shaved at least a couple of minutes off of my time!
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