That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stranger

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/sports/playmagazine/05robicpm.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

by prakash • 17 years ago

121 22 17 years ago

pmichaud2• 17 years ago

Many of his symptoms sound just like severe hypoglycemia. My wife has similar, but much less dramatic things happen to her when her blood sugar crashes. Really interesting.

listic3• 17 years ago

How is it diagnosed? What are the usual measures one should take if he/she has one?

Janzert• 17 years ago

A simple finger prick blood glucose check[1] will give the current blood sugar level. A doctor's office can also check A1C level that basically gives a longer term (couple of months) look at what the blood glucose level has been.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_glucose_monitoring

pmichaud2• 17 years ago

To determine if you have reactive hypoglycemia you go through something called a 5 hour GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test), which is hell if you really do have the disorder. Essentially you fast after drinking a sugary drinks, and they test your blood at intervals to see what it does. A Reactive Hypoglycemic will spike, then crash, unlike a normal person who will have a smaller rise then pretty much stay there. See, she normally has to eat ridiculously healthy food every 2 hours to stay even, otherwise she crashes.

It starts with cold sweats, then degenerates into nausea, confusion and a rotten mood. It never gets that bad with her anymore, we have a good system going now. When she is upset about something the first thing I ask is: when's the last time you ate?

If you want to know more about it, check out her site: http://www.reactivehypoglycemia.info/articles/

kmavm• 17 years ago

I've occasionally dug deep enough into exercise-inducded hypoglycemia to have very, very mild hallucinations, but mostly it just forces you off the bike; if you could go on exercising at that point, you'd be at risk of doing neurological damage, like someone injecting an OD of insulin. I'm familiar with Robic from other articles, and it seems pretty clear that his craziness is sleep-deprivation induced. He wins those multi-day "ultra" events more by sleeping much less than by going faster.

ComputerGuru• 17 years ago

90 minutes of sleep a day is enough for "normal people" to avoid hallucinations... But doing what he's doing, I'd imagine he'd need a hell of a lot more, so you're probably right.

DuncanKinney• 17 years ago

Read this yesterday. A great profile piece by the NYT on an obscure but awesome story.

smoody• 17 years ago

Version properly formatted with photos:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/sports/playmagazine/05robi...

listic3• 17 years ago

As a hacker looking into fitness and taking up cycling recently to stave off health issues that become to interfere with my life and work, I can fully relate to this. The extent to which the pro cyclists and this guy in particular can push their bodies is fascinating. As far as I can understand, it is generally beneficial to health unless you push it to the over the edge, where the position of this edge is unknown to science.

Often times I come from work very exhausted, unable to do anything, including having a dinner, which my body needs, I think. If I reluctantly stuff some food into me and cycle for an hour or to, I become so invigorated that I seem to be able to keep going on and on: cycling, or coding - I can do it. The prudent thing here is have a proper dinner and sleep, I guess.

I was told that "marathoners go by the pulse meter" (i.e. not odometer/speedometer), I wonder how true is this for marathoners and for endurance cyclists. Maybe at the point in your training where you have personal trainer and follow car, you don't need pulse meter that much? I am never going to be there and I have high hopes for training with pulse meter.

Here's an obligatory video introduction to racing cycling culture:

MC SpandX "Perfomance"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

arithmetic2• 17 years ago

For the longest time, I couldn't run more than a couple of miles a day. I was always told that I had poor stamina. I trained for a year, and recently ran my first marathon and I'm now addicted. I can completely relate to what you say above - its so easy to just go on and on (because you seem to be able to) completely ignoring your body. I've had 14 hour days at work at the end of which I'm very tired, and yet would easily run 8 to 10 miles and feel extremely refreshed at the end of it, that I would go back to work.

Adrenaline kicks in as a result of high-intensity workouts, and it then becomes hard to tell your body to slow down and rest. The key is to know your body's limits and feed and rest it regularly.

jac_no_k• 17 years ago

I started riding the bicycle to and from work a year ago, mostly to avoid the commuter crush here in Tokyo. The first few weeks was difficult but it got significantly easier as I got more fit. I've hit my goal of getting to and from work in less time then the train.

My motivation lately has been to keep up and pass the numerous mopeds and scooters. What really gets me going is trying to keep up with cyclists on road racing bicycles. I really don't have much of a chance on the my hybrid (cross between a commuter and mountain bicycle + electric assist to 24km/h) but it's always a happy day when I pass the slower road racers. It must motivate them too because they will try to keep pace but eventually fade away after a few kilometers.

The other motivation is thrill of speed on the downhill sections. Another area I seem to have an advantage as the road racers seem to top out at 40km/h. Or maybe I'm just crazy as I'm leaned all the way over to negotiate the curves.

Now that it looks like the burn I feel in my legs is most likely a lie, I'll keep pushing!

scotth• 17 years ago

I regularly take my road bike to 70 kmph+ on downhill sections. Some people aren't comfortable with that speed, so it is them, not the bike, that is holding them back.

listic3• 17 years ago

I first encountered the title phrase in comic strip Ozy and Millie, though I can't find the exact strip now.

klipt• 17 years ago

http://www.ozyandmillie.org/d/20021105.html

ojbyrne• 17 years ago

I found the use of the euphemism "derriere" in a story of such visceral details to be quite jarring. Hilarious even.

arithmetic2• 17 years ago

I love the title of the story - very intriguing and fitting.

DaniFong• 17 years ago

That which does not make you stranger will kill you.

wallflower• 17 years ago

That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stranger

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