When and what to eat

[Veronica]

What makes a ride an endurance ride? I don't consider anything less than 90 minutes to be an endurance ride. Especially when you consider that at any given moment you are walking around with about 2000 calories in your bloodstream waiting to be put to use. A cyclist burns between 500 - 1000 calories an hour. It's a huge variation based on wattage and VO2 max. The average person already has in their body what they need to fuel them for a short workout.

A century is of course a different matter. This is going to be anywhere from a 5 to ten hour event for most people - depending on terrain and fitness level.
Personal experience tells me that if I plan on riding more than two hours I need to eat and I can't wait until the two hour mark to eat. I have figured based on my calorie burn I need to eat a fig newton every 10 minutes to sustain enough calories in my blood stream. I don't like fig newtons. For me it's 50 calories every ten minutes.

Veronica

[LBTC]

My winter cross-training this year is kickboxing. Great workout, almost as intense as a mountain bike ride, about one hour in length. I need to eat something with potatoes in it about 2-3 hours before the workout (I do the same thing before a ride). a couple of perogies does the trick. It doesn't have to be much. Other people find pasta works for them, but it just makes my tummy feel full

I've noticed that after kickboxing I'm pretty wired and it takes me several hours to realize that I'm actually kind of hungry. I usually crave protein, but the thought of eating meat at 10:00 at night doesn't really thrill me. Tonight I'm trying something different, something I would do after a mountain bike race or a 1 1/2 hour or longer ride....I'm going to drink the recovery drink Endurox. It's got protein and I don't know what else in it. I'm hoping that if I drink that right after kickboxing (about 7:30 pm) - on the drive home even - that I won't have any desire to eat dinner. That would be my ideal world.

Everyone here has good ideas. My thoughts are that you need to try to see what works for you. If you do a long ride and don't fuel up enough before during and/or after, you might not notice it right away, but just be very tired the next day. A training ride is different from a fun ride. During the summer our wednesday night rides usually last 3 hours or longer. I carry water and really watered down gaterade. I always have some kind of bar, usually just a snack bar, not an actual energy bar, and rarely have more than half on a ride of that length, sometimes nothing at all. but those rides are just fun and end up at the bar with a platter of fattening snacks (love those potato skins with bacon!! mmmmmm) and jugs of beer! not exactly training fuel!! On a training ride I'll have a before drink (we've got accelerade) drink water and gaterade on the ride, and, if it's more than an hour ride, have either a snack or a gel pack (I have to practice using those things - they're great in races, but they're not a lot of help if I fall over when trying to suck one back!!) every 20-40 minutes. At the end of the ride I'll drink the recovery drink while I"m doing my stretching. Seems to work quite well for me!

Best of luck on the century!!

namaste,
~T~

[slinkedog]

Eating protein after a workout isn't about calories, it's about providing your body with the stuff it needs to rebuild muscles. (In fact, eating carbs at that hour is not a good idea.) Any strenuous activity is going to tear down your muscles, at least somewhat, and protein (a hard boiled egg, lean red meat or chicken are all good) will help your muscles accomplish the rebuilding process.

I agree that you don't need to eat for an hour ride. When I ride first thing in the morning, I usually just have a little juice or else my stomach gets upset. But if you pump up the resistance on your trainer at all, your muscles will benefit from a little boost of protein to help them recover.

[Veronica]

Most Americans get more protein than they need already. Any discussion of
nutrition and exercise needs to take into account the stated goals of the
individual. There was nothing in the original post to indicate that she
was looking to work out at an intensity that would require additional
protein in her diet. Athletes training at the Olympic level obviously
have far different needs than the typical cyclist.

But like LBTC said - everybody is different and Jo would probably best be served by experimenting. Thom likes to have Endurox after a longer ride. I can't stand the stuff. I drink Gatorade while riding, it gives him stomach trouble. We're all individuals. (Someone needs to stand up and shout...)


Veronica

[slinkedog]

I hope I didn't offend... that wasn't my intention at all. I just felt from the conversation that we needed to clarify the difference between eating to fuel and eating to help rebuild. That's all.

[Veronica]

Nope, not offended at all. That's the beauty of this board I think. You can carry on a rational conversation and have differences of opinion without resorting to insults.

So when are you going to join us for a ride?

V.