This was passed on to me from Coach Jim Hunt, All American Long Distance
Running Coach --
>From "Dr. Hunt!" Bill, you asked for it. Suzy Favor Hamilton collapsed in
the finals of the Olympic 1500 due to complete glycogen depletion.
Suzy does not possess the basic speed that some of the other competitors
possess. In order to run as fast as she was attempting to do, she had to run
at a
velocity that was too high of a percentage of her basic performance speed for
too long. The glycogen demanded by her muscles to do the work that the brain
was commanding of them was completely depleted.
As to the dehydration effect, it takes 4 lb. of water to produce 1 lb. of
glycogen. Oxygen must mix with glycogen in order to produce energy.
Glycogen is stored in the liver, muscle cells and blood stream and must
receive oxygen in the amount
demanded by the working muscles to continue to work at a desired level.
When stored glycogen is depleted, the body will attempt to make more. The
process of making glycogen requires a large quantity of water which would
lead to further dehydration.
In addition to the depletion of fluid, her body could not deliver
sufficient oxygen to produce the muscular contractions that her central
nervous system was commanding. Suzy could not extract enough oxygen from the
air and deliver it to the working muscles in the amount necessary to be able
to continue with the high rate of velocity that she needed to run.
In Suzy's attempt to run for 4:00 at a velocity of 6.25 meters per
second, complicated by the lack of body fluids, her heart rate soared to a
new maximum causing her body temperature to rise to possibly as high as 105
degrees-106 degrees. Her body's cooling system was not prepared to dissipate
this much heat. This high temperature coupled with the panic of seeing her
competitors fly by her caused her body to go into traumatic shock. Traumatic
shock causes the large arteries to expand, literally robbing the working
muscles and the brain of oxygen carrying blood.
When traumatic shock occurs, the mechanisms causes the body to go into a
prone position in an attempt to restore oxygen to the brain. Once in a prone
position, enough oxygen returned to her brain for her to muster the energy to
stand up.
Her tremendous desire to win had programmed her body to move forward to
the finish line. When Suzy reached the finish line the energy again was
completely depleted.
At this point, her body's protective mechanisms caused her to collapse
again into a prone position. After several minutes of intravenous fluids,
electrolyte restoration she was able to quietly leave through the back door
without any further assistance.
This traumatic experience will most likely make it extremely difficult
for Suzy
to ever push her body hard enough again to get close to world record time.
Her central nervous system will never forget the torture that her body went
through and the protective organisms of her body will resist any attempt to
duplicate this act in the future.
Alberto Salazar was an exceptionally determined athlete who could
withstand severe pain for long periods of time. He was able to force his
body to work to near death in two separate marathons before his body said "no
more, Al."
Good luck Suzy. We all appreciate what you have done for track and field.
"makes sense to me!"
Bill "maddog" Scobey
