Word: rusch
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...Algona, a town of about 5,500, Mike Rusch has taken that message to heart. A Huckabee supporter and church elder, he has been talking to his neighbors about the importance of attending the caucus, even though he is a registered independent who has never before participated in the event. "We will be making sure that our friends and neighbors have a ride so they can get there," Rusch said...
This is Judgment Day, the one, says Rusch, "that separates the men from the boys." With very little sleep--probably only a few hours in the past 48--the racers are beginning to feel the physical and mental toll of their almost constant racing. Drinking enough water to fuel the body's internal needs is critical. After a person is up for two days straight, the body's metabolic systems start to overheat like an aging car. Without water and time to rest, muscles begin to falter and the kidneys start to sputter. The heart becomes less efficient...
...catching up with them, and their bodies have become catabolic (preferentially feeding off their own muscle and fat stores to fuel critical metabolic and cellular processes). The damage from repetitive impact on bones and muscles leaves its mark, especially in the legs and feet as capillaries break down. Rusch carries a second pair of shoes to accommodate feet that she knows from experience will balloon in size. In fact, after three years of repeated assaults on her feet, Rusch has gone up a shoe size...
...lack of sleep, the dehydration, the energy deficit and the physical battering that her body is enduring are starting to affect Rusch's mind. "You start hallucinating and falling asleep while on the bike," she says. "I've had vitamins in my hand and had them all turn into squirming bugs. In New Zealand one time, we were walking through a marsh in the middle of the night, and I saw a Vietnamese woman selling fruit at a little stand. I asked a teammate for some money to buy mangoes as I started to change course and walk toward...
...RACE, blood levels of nitrogen and protein waste products--and those of potassium, sodium and other substances not normally found there--are rising. Rusch knows too well what that feels like. "You're just in this state of slow deterioration, and you're doing everything you can to buy time," she says. "You can't recover until you stop." Even then, say exercise physiologists, the body doesn't always bounce back completely. Ultra-athletes may be more susceptible to developing arthritis and fractures when they are older, and their muscles may not recover as quickly from tears and bruises. Still...