newbie, exhausted AFTER ride?

[bikerchick2]

OK, I am new to cycling, been at this about a month. I've been doing 10-13 miles a day as minimum (time restrictions mostly), to build up stamina and strength, been off 4 days. Went out today to find that 13 miles was a piece of cake! Had to push to get any real workout at all, and was feeling I'd made progress. Got done, fine, got home, CRASHED. I needed a NAP! I was exhausted. Any idea what this means? I would like to ride my bike to work, (which is why I'd like for 20 miles to be a piece of cake), but I can't go to work and take a nap! LOL!

Bikerchicks2

[Zen]

What's your diet like? You're not restricting carbs are you? If so, that may be part of the problem. Did you have a good breakfast before you went out?
Otherwise,you may be pushing yourself too much, trying to do too much too soon.

Whatever your time constrictions are see what distance you can comfortably do in that amount of time without feeling exhausted.
stay at that pace/mileage for a week. The next week increase your mileage by ten percent for the same amount of time.
And make sure your body has enough fuel for the trip.
There are lots of threads here that reference proper nutrition for distance riding.

Keep us posted, I'd like to hear how things improve for you!

[KnottedYet]

Sounds like you put out a lot of effort and you were tired. Your body "pushed" those 13 miles after you decided your regular pace was too easy, and then said "OK, time for me to build muscle because the muscles sent the fatigue signal, so now you take a nap so I can do that."

We build muscle when we rest. Effort and exercise set up the signals to the muscle-building system. At the next restful opportunity the muscles build. (Like during your 4-day break.)

I bet when you do that 20 miles at a "not pushed" level of effort, you will find that they are a "piece of cake", too!

Knot-who-just-woke-up-from-a-nap-after-riding-45-miles.

[bikerchick2]

Yes, made sure I ate well before going, probably more so than before. I just thought it was something I should be expecting that I wasn't. And I do hope that it meant that I was building muscle, cause I gotta tell ya, that would be a GREAT trade off for all the flab I have stored up! LOL!
I have kept a bike log on my PC. I record everything, mileage, how I feel that day, weather, and measurements, (not everyday on those though!).
So, in the first month, I have recorded and lost some in inches, but gained about 4 lbs! So I went with the muscle weighs more than fat excuse, and I can definately feel muscle definition beginning. So if needing to sleep after a workout is what I need right now, then so be it!
Thanks for the input. I thought maybe I was missing something else!

bikerchick2

[KnottedYet]

BC2 - Yeah, I find it's better to pay no attention to the scale and instead pay attention to how my clothes fit. (and how strong I feel on the bike! It's quite a thrill to get up a hill with short walking breaks that before I had to walk up the entire way)

[lauraelmore1033]

I think, as the others have mentioned, that it is quite normal to feel tired after such an effort. I've also found that it is really important to eat something immediately after a ride. I'm a big fan of Balance bars for just this purpose.

[li10up]

My DH used to tell me I'm "worthless" after a ride. (He didn't mean it in a bad way). But most of the time I just wanted to take a nap after riding. Now that I've been drinking a glass of chocolate milk after my rides I seem to have more energy and don't need the naps as much as before. You could try that after your rides...it might help.

[smilingcat]

eat a banana and/or drink OJ and lots of water.

And yes I'm totally worthless after a good ride. nappy time

smilingcat

[Kano]

My body seems to want to nap after a bigger ride too, or when I ride a bit more than usual on a given day.

So, I'll curl up in my favorite chair, with my blankie, and start some knitting, until I nod off. DH will be watching TV, and keeps after me: KNIT dammit! My body has a hard time beating the war for the nap (it tries hard, and he tries hard to wake me, dang it!) This means my lovely nap gets interrupted a lot, and takes much longer to accomplish than it would if he'd just let me nap!

Seems hard to wake from my post-ride naps, but when I grab a handful of salty crunchies, either nuts or some kind of chips, what an amazing cure! To that, I add some gatorade-type beverage, usually Propel...

Think a salty snack and electrolyte beverage might get you back in the game?

Karen in Boise

[nicole309]

The first picture (not posed) was taken of me after an 18 mile ride in February. The second around mile 34 of 40 last week...