Passing Out.

I woke up a bit late this morning and decided to run at around 11:00AM. I had brewed coffee and a cheese sandwich an hour before I set out for my run. I changed my unit set-up in my Garmin from Metric to Statute. I wanted to try counting by miles than kilometers for a change. I had a couple of GU energy gels with me and a bottle of Gatorade in the other. I was planning on running for at least 10 miles (16Km) or even more – if I felt like it.

I was 6 minutes into my run in my usual pace – then my Garmin suddenly beeps. It wasn’t supposed to alert me yet, so I stopped and looked at it. As soon as I pressed the Start/Stop button. Everything around me started to swirl around…

And then I wake up after a few seconds or minutes (not sure how long), sprawled on the road and both my elbows aching from being rubbed raw from my fall on the rough cement road. It was almost noon and there wasn’t a person in sight from where I was.

I was a bit shaken after my fainting episode. I walked for 10 minutes while drinking Gatorade and downing a pack of GU energy gel. And I was replaying the events that occurred before I passed out.

Passing out. Running Syncope. Vasovagal Syncope. Exercise Induced Collapse/Syncope…

These are the terms used when it happens to individuals who are engaged in endurance related sports. The main cause was deprivation of Oxygen to my brain because I ceased running suddenly.

D just came back from a flight and I told him what happened. I know the reason, but he explained it so much better than me; “Mom, you ran so fast in 7 minutes, then you cut-off the oxygen by stopping – when your body needed more oxygen from that run… What went on was that your muscles, heart and other organs sucked the oxygen for your brain. You know you weren’t supposed to just STOP…Just rest today okay?”

However, now that I look back. Here are some of the reasons that may have contributed to my first ever encounter with Syncope…

• Sudden change in my Heart Rhythm – from gradually increasing my Blood Pressure and Heart Rate and then suddenly stopping – causing both BP and HR to plummet down…. Making it hard for my heart to pump blood to my brain.
• Not being properly hydrated. I drank a fairly large mug of brewed coffee an hour or so before I ran. And I had to make a three trips to the bathroom before stepping out. Caffeine is a diuretic – it caused me to lose water than I normally should, causing a fluid imbalance. Water that should be loss to sweating during my workout, went down a different avenue instead.
• I have been running more, but I haven’t been eating more. I still eat as I did before, but now that my training has become more intense. I should be eating a bit more to fuel my body.

Instead of not doing a run altogether after my fainting episode. I still ran a REALLY EASY 6.23 miles (10K) for an hour and 13 minutes before calling it a day.

I am all better now, like nothing even happened! No traces of exhaustion. However, raw pain from my elbows serves as a reminder of the unwise decision of abruptly STOPPING while on a run!