What does a bonk feel like?

I know this sounds like a really stupid question, but today my ride was, well, lacking.

I left the house having had a couple of handfulls of sweet n salty chex mix and a cup of coffee. I had plenty of water on my ride as well as honey and sport beans. :)

I felt like I couldn't quite get going. I think I coasted more on this ride than ever before. But last night I also had taken a Rx for pain and I think I still felt a little sleepy from that.

It was hot (93 F) and I cut my ride short because it just wasn't coming together. :( I didn't feel like I was getting overheated, and my legs felt good, but I just couldn't seem to get into it today and I felt sluggish. Did I bonk?

I would say not. You definitely know a bonk when you feel it. When I have bonked, I get a cold or hot sweat, the shakes, extreme fatigue, and kind of an...empty feeling. You have to really focus to get to some relief (like a cookie! and a lemonade!) and that relief is all you are thinking about. Bonking is worse when running or walking, for me, but a bike bonk blows too (alliteration!).

You were probably just fatigued from the pain meds the night before- just not on your game today.
When I bonk- it's quite obvious to me. It'll vary for everyone, but for me I get very irritable and often get teary/weepy for no apparent reason. When I start feeling it- it's too late to do anything about it and I usually finish the ride/run and call it quits for the day.
It took me the better part of last summer to figure out why sometimes I'd get so cranky during a long ride or long run (then it was like- duh!).

Oh, ok. Glad to know it wasn't the lack of fuel or something. Trigirl, I can relate to your weepy stage in the game. I get that way when I am tired too.

I... tip over.

Nearly all of my falls can be attributed to "didn't eat lunch" combined with "went biking". I'll get lightheaded, stop tracking basic things like "is there traffic", my legs will turn to jello... So I try to stop, because in that state walking the bike is a *good* idea. And then I fall over in slow motion. I have learned that this is a bad combo, so now I'm making myself sandwiches before I ride, or starting out early enough that I can grab a sandwich while out.

What you're describing is similar to what happens to me on a day where I try to ride even tho I've overdone it for the week.

So, for the newbe, and mainly a runner, what is a bonk? I went on (just a usual) run on monday... I can't believe how bad I felt. I mean, there's just no way that I "hit the wall" - I just didn't go far enough, but man, I barely made it home. Maybe it was heat exhaustion (got goose bumps and almost stopped sweating) - but I kind of think it was a food / water thing. Will someone define bonk for me so I have a nice shiny new label to put on my misery ;)

Actually, you might have been more energetic with a real meal under your belt.
I can't go for very long even in pleasant weather when I don't eat.
But I wouldn't call it a bonk, i'd call it low energy from the drugs and lack of food.

A bonk is when you burn enough energy to deplete your glycogen stores without consuming enough carbohydrates to replenish them. This usually takes about 2 hours, but can happen faster if the exercise is more intense or if your glycogen stores were depleted at the outset. Your blood glucose drops and you feel symptoms of hypoglycemia, you feel irritable, sad, shaky, sweaty or you just fall over. Bonking really badly is called 'cockroaching' for the way the insect behaves flipped on its back. :eek:

Sounds like you might have needed a rest day, or that you maybe didn't eat enough (esp carbs) after your last ride. You also may have started off a bit dehydrated, or any number of things. But a bonk is something different. As they say, you'll know it when it happens. :)

Let's see...I've bonked and done heat exhaustion and maybe have experienced combinations of the two.

When I bonked bigtime, I was at around mile 40 of a 60 mile ride. It was hot and I know I didn't eat or drink enough. I was at a personal best with my average so I didn't want to slow down and that was a huge mistake. At first I felt uncomfortable on the bike, like I need to squirm around and stretch. All of the sudden I had to stop. I then drank and ate but that was it...I rode back to the car but had to stop every 1/2 mile to rest. This was on a flat road also. It tooks days to come out of it and back then I was a pretty strong rider.

The heat combo was a 100 mile training ride. I had been feeling kind of iffy and then had to rest. I was at around mile 90 and the rest of the ride was downhill incline. I had to stretch out on the grass with my head on my helmet. I was given gatorade but promptly threw it up. I had chills even though it was over 90 degrees. The ride leader wouldn't let me continue either. The worst thing? The gatorade was fruit punch flavor and it stained my clothes as I threw it back up!

I hear once it happens, you are more suspectible. I don't know if that's true but I do know I have to make sure to eat, hydrate, and stay relatively cool or I get really shaky.

As far as non-bonking goes, I do know that not all rides are the same. I can eat what I always eat, prepare like I always do, and ride like a sloth and feel fatigue. I can also NOT do everything right and ride in less than desirable weather and ride really well. For a while I attributed good rides to mismatched socks (that always worked for me) but to be honest, I don't know why some days are better than others.

I always thought that the running term "hitting the wall" was fairly equivalent to "bonking" which is used more in the cycling/triathlon world. As onimity says, it's the point of glycogen depletion.

Bonking for me means dizzy, delirious, incoherent, unable to stand straight, chills, etc. It always amazes me how easy it is to not notice that I'm bonking while on the bike. Then, when I stop the bike or get off and walk around I'm suddenly very very woozy.

An active bonk is different from "dead legs" which are often a result of overtraining, sickness, medication, or not properly replenishing glycogen after a previous ride.

Since I bonked twice, I would say for me it is a crying feeling. I will get so fatigued I feel like I don't know right from left. I bonked on the 85 mile Shiner GASP and was crying uncontrollably, cramping in odd muscles (the side of the shin) and was nauseated. Plus I got chills even though it was nearly 90 degrees.

Just FYI - chills, shaking and cramping can be symptoms of dehydration/heat exhastion - so if its hot out you may be experiencing this as well as or rather than bonk!

For me, it is confusion, since my brain isn't getting enough glucose, and simply the feeling that my muscles have run out of gas, which they have, they simply can't turn the pedals anymore.

Any Aussie gals giggle at the title? Or am I the only one with a juvenile mind?:D :D :D :D :D

woops. Hadn't thought of that one. :D Guess I was focusing narrowly on the context. But thanks for the definitions and descriptions, everybody. Brings to mind one olympic marathon I watched once, ages ago, with one woman struggling to finish, wobbling all over the track, stumbling, getting up, falling over again. I think a functionary finally held her up and walked her over the finish line ... and then straight to the medical tent. So now I'm wondering how useful the definitions and descriptions are. If I get to that point, I won't be in a rational state and won't be able to process the knowledge to do the right thing about it. So what I need to know is what it feels like enough BEFORE "the bonk" that I can still do something about it (such as get off the bike, eat, drink, and rest).

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Originally Posted by sarahlou

Any Aussie gals giggle at the title? Or am I the only one with a juvenile mind?:D :D :D :D :D

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bonk means the same thing in NZ english as in Aussie english and yeah, I have a juvenile mind too - most cycling or running discussions on bonking make me laugh.

Even worse, one time when I was in Hawaii during elections there was a women with the surname of 'Bonk' running for office (it may even have been for governor) and her election advertising said 'Bonk for Hawaii' - now that one really brought out my juvenile mind

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Originally Posted by Eden

Just FYI - chills, shaking and cramping can be symptoms of dehydration/heat exhastion - so if its hot out you may be experiencing this as well as or rather than bonk!

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This is a personal feeling but the chills I was describing were more of a I ned sugar shaking. Of course I think I was low on sugar and at the verge of dehydration. It was a miserable ride.

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Originally Posted by Duck on Wheels

So what I need to know is what it feels like enough BEFORE "the bonk" that I can still do something about it (such as get off the bike, eat, drink, and rest).

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If you begin to feel fatigued more than your normal a$$-whoopin' tired, you need to get some extra quick carbs in. I like a liquid drink or a gel, as they assimilate quickly. Take into consideration your recovery from your last ride (or lack thereof), your current carb intake and how hard you are pushing. If you even suspect you could bonk - stop & get some quick carbs in. Better safe than sorry. I always carry a water bottle of accelerade or cytomax to keep electrolytes, hydration and carbs flowing. I make sure that every 30 minutes or so, I take a couple of big swigs - more if I'm pushing uphill, in a headwind or towards the end of a ride.

Anything over 2 hours requires a quick stop with some gel-goo & a few fig newtons (my current energy faves.) Your mileage may vary. :D

OK, today I did 40 miles after being off for a week. I tried to eat something after 30 minutes or so and kept putting in fuel--Sport Beans, cheese and pb crackers, Hammergel, etc. However, I was cycling during the heat of the day and I was starting to really feel the heat from the road. I wouldn't have kept going if my hubby wasn't following with the *courtesy* wagon. :)

I had to take several breaks just to stretch and really hydrate. But the heat was really taking a toll on my performance. My heart rate was pushing the upper limits constantly and after pulling into the parking lot at the end of my ride, it was 98 F. Jeepers! I really didn't think I could do another 10 miles in the heat. Ack! I felt nauseous after the ride while I was cooling off in the car. I don't think I'll be putting in the long miles until the weather breaks. :eek:

Dogmama, I think I had a nice break at 2 hours too. I've wondered how often cyclists eat on the road and how often they stop during long ride. :confused:

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Originally Posted by sundial

Dogmama, I think I had a nice break at 2 hours too. I've wondered how often cyclists eat on the road and how often they stop during long ride. :confused:

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It depends on the cyclist, her level of hydration & carbs for that day, etc. I would think that every 1.5 to 2.0 hours would be reasonable, but I know some people stop every hour. If you are newer, I'd err on the side of caution & stop every hour.

Your food might have had too much fat (peanut butter & cheese.) You want quick carbs which means food that doesn't have a lot of fiber or fat. Both fiber & fat will slow down the uptake of carbs.

Of course, 98 degrees is brutal too! :eek: