Let's see, Suzy lost because: 1. Complete depletion of glycogen 2. Dehydration 3. Heart rate soared to unspecified record levels 4. Body temperature soared to 105 or 106 degrees 5. Panic 6. Traumatic shock 7. Vascular collapse 8. Lack of oxygen Anything else? A massive heart attack maybe? A sudden case of fulminant cancer? One of her legs fall off? Maybe her central nervous system went into total protective mode and ordered immediate and permanent paraplegia. But not to worry. Suzy's not in any kind of real trouble. Her newly vigilant central nervous system has it under control and will prevent her from ever running very fast again. I don't know who Jim Hunt is, but he's wasting his time being a running coach. He should be teaching at a major medical school. Anyone who can diagnose no fewer than eight ailments merely from watching someone fall down is blessed with amazing medical powers. Kurt Bray >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 _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
