vEversting, ER & IVs ... OH MY

Ride Report: vEveresting on Zwift & Coming Up Short 

Lisa introduced me to Zwift 5 years ago, it's a great way to ride a bike on an indoor trainer and not get bored. For those that don't know Zwift, it's like a video game with your bike as the game control. There are many worlds and courses, some of the courses are based on real world routes and some are totally made up. 

I use a Wahoo Kickr on Zwift, this is a trainer that has a power meter that controls resistance, this means that the trainer will make it harder when climbing, making you shift down gears just like the real world. 

The vEversting set up with all the hydration & food close at hand

Everesting is riding the same hill over-and-over until you reach the height of Mount Everest - 29,029 ft. With the popularity of Zwift, the concept of "virtual Everesting" (vEversting) became a thing. I got the idea that vEversting would be a good idea thanks to Zwift, Zwift encourages riders with badges for achieving challenges and the vEversting badge is one of the very last achievements I have left on Zwift. 

vEversting has a lot of advantages over riding in the real world: easy access to food, water, and plumbing; no safety issues with traffic on public roads; and because your Zwift avatar can descend without you, you can get off the bike while your aviator keeps going. During the descents, I'd use the toilet, fill water bottles, and I was changing into fresh bibs every other climb. 

Here's what the route looks like - the gray saw tooth at the bottom is the elevation

For vEveresting, there are a number of climbs available in Zwift, I pick the iconic Alpe du Zwift - the game version of the real-world Alpe d'Huez. This is 3,398 ft per climb over 7.59 mile for an average grade of 8.5%. A rider needs to climb Alpe du Zwift 8.5 times to complete the vEversting challenge. 

I picked a Friday to take on this challenge to have the weekend to recover. I got started a little before 7:00 AM, expecting to be at this until 8:00 or 9:00 PM. I know I can climb Alpe du Zwift in under an hour, but I can't sustain that effort all day, so I was planning 90-120 minutes per climb. I was feeling strong and didn't pace myself well, I was finishing the climb a few times in 75 to 85 minutes ... at the moment that felt good, but I'm sure was part of the ultimate need to abandon. 

I was feeling OK, but I knew it was time to stop. I finished 7 of the 8.5 climbs of Alpe du Zwift, for a total of 23,907 ft, 111 miles, and just under 12 hours of riding. 

After a shower and trying to recover on the couch, I couldn't get myself to eat and barely drink. I was feeling rough, but thought a good night's sleep would sort things out. 

At 2:00 AM, I had a violent vomit session, it was like it was coming from the depths of hell. I was able to go back to sleep again. But in the morning, I couldn't stop the shakes and my body went on rapid swings from feeling too hot to freezing. I still couldn't eat or drink much, Lisa brought some broth that went down, very slowly, but that was all I could get down. I realized I wasn't going to recover without medical help. 

Lisa drove me over to the local urgent care that had no wait (thank God!). I was really foggy at urgent care, I recall getting a blood draw and an IV. The part that I remember most clearly was the COVID test (my first of the pandemic). That damned swab tickling my brain set off my already queasy gut and another vicious bout of puking ... again it was coming up from the depths of hell. 

Getting the first IV at urgent care

The urgent care found my sodium level was in the low 120s - should be 135 to 145. They recommended moving to a hospital and likely spend the night there. 

This lead to another sub-story about the urgent care doctor and the ambulance EMT crew getting into an argument about transportation. I really was too sick to give a shit about their pissing-match and just wanted to get the hospital. The ambulance crew saw no reason to charge us for the ride, I was stable enough. They drove us around the building to our car and Lisa drove me to North Memorial. That was both Lisa's and my first ride in an ambulance.

By the time I got to the ER, I was feeling OK, walking in as Lisa parked the car. When Lisa was coming in to find me, she overheard the staff referring to this as a "... some crazy guy had a Peloton incident ..."  LMAO! 

After a couple hours in the ER and another IV bag, a tech came to move me to a room for the night (my first hospital admission), the tech had a hard time maneuvering the wheelchair, so I got up to make it easier to get the wheel chair around the door. I think we can say I was feeling my normal self at this point. 

It was a very boring night in the hospital with COVID protocols keeping visitors out, I had a couple meals, watch a few bad movies, and got up every hour to pee (so much hydration!). From the urgent care, to the ER, to the overnight room, I got 4 bags of IV (and started a 5th). 

Leaving North Memorial, there were no restrictions on food and activities. I got home Sunday morning for a pizza lunch and got to work cleaning house then a long walk with the dogs. I was feeling better than normal after a major ride, no sore muscles! 

I'll be back for vEversting, but smarter. Biggest changes include better tracking of hydration needs prior to the ride and during the ride; better conditioning for the heat (plus a new fan); and whole food breaks through out the effort. 

UPDATE: December 3, 2021 Covid long haul researchers last year sequenced the novel coronavirus and found that part of its genetic code “mimics” a protein that helps regulate salt and fluid balance in the human body. Covid long haulers are ending up in the hospital with hyponatremia more often post Covid. 

In April 2020, I likely suffered Covid before testing was widely available and I did not need any medical care so I don't know for sure it was Covid. However, the months following I experienced long haul symptoms without knowing what was happening. I was fatigue and achy without reason and had the worst brain fog. By October-November 2020, I felt the long haul symptoms had passed ... But this new research indicates long haul could still be affecting my body.