mid ride blahs

[crazycanuck]

Tattie-good to see you're also getting yourself organized . I often wonder if i'm the only one out there with the same question...

In reference to your last comment about increased exercise & thyroids-i'm curious as well.

Perhaps a new thread

C

[solveig]

Hey tattie -
I have the same deal when it comes to getting myself to eat more. I've spent so many years trying to get myself to STOP eating when I'm full that I have a hard time overriding that.

I'm playing phone tag with a nutritionist who has experience with women athletes, and I'm hoping she'll be able to help me sort this out.

I'll let you know what I learn.


S

[mimitabby]

I don't know if this will help you or not. I did a ride close to the length of a 60 k this weekend.
(41 miles) I ate an average breakfast, followed by a hot chocolate.
I drank only water after that, and did fine until about mile 35 when the stomach started growling. I got to feeling tired after that, so I stopped and ate a bar and within 5 minutes enough blood sugar hit me that I picked my speed back up again.
DH told me I should have had that bar earlier...
but I don't drink a lot of those sports drinks unless it is very hot and I still drink more water than anything.

[Bluetree]

CC - I'm in the same boat with you in a lot of ways... still trying to figure out my nutritional needs for sustained rides. I do not think I could ride with the amount that you're eating...I need way more calories than that. Here was my ride this morning...

First hour: warm up in aerobic zone, HR between 130-140.
Second hour: hill training, intervals, anerobic zone, HR reaching 190 at times
Third hour: flat speed, HR between 155-170
Final stats: 40 miles, some hills, 3 hours
(My HRM says I burned 1900 calories, but I'm not sure if that's accurate)

Dinner the night before:
Half of a large plate of marinara spaghetti + bread + 1 giant meatball + lots of water + dinner salad
Breakfast (1 hour before ride):
Second half of leftover pasta, 1 cup coffee, 20 oz. water
During the ride:
Three 24 oz bottles of Accelerade (one scoop, not two, in each bottle). I put one scoop in little snack baggies and add them when I stop to refill my water bottle. Plus, one bag of Clif Blocks, one block every 10-15 minutes, starting at the 1-1/2-hour mark. After the ride, a tall glass of chocolate milk.

I came off the bike feeling great and could've gone much longer, had it not been for work. I really like Accelerade's 4-1 carb/protein mix. I don't think my body likes too much of the sugary gel stuff, and I try to use it only to top off what I've already eaten. Hope this helps.

[GLC1968]

I'm no expert, but my guess is that you are eating too much simple sugar for that ride and like someone else said, your body doesn't quite know what to do with the surplus.

For a ride of that length, I'll normally drink only water and I'll go through a pack of shot blocks (I like to eat a few every 30 minutes or so). I believe a bag of shot blocks is equivalent to 2 gels or so. Anything more than that, and I find it's too much for me. In fact, I *think* that this may be why I too was having mid-ride slumps last summer. It only happened to me on much longer rides (80 to 100 miles) but I would lose all oomph at about mile 65 or so only to get it back at mile 75. Looking back, I think I was eating too much simple sugar, too soon into the ride. I'll be curious to see if spacing it out better works for me this summer (we are only doing shorter rides this season...tops of about 50 miles). I'm learning what works for me as time goes on.

It's also worth pointing out that I start every ride with a good meal/breakfast of approximately 40% carb, 40% protien and 20% fat about a hour or 2 ahead. If I choose complex carbs, this will hold me well into the first hour of the ride. I follow each ride immediately with a 4:1 carb to protien ratio snack (usually a Cliff bar) which helps replentish my stores and keeps me from wanting to eat everything in site about 30 min later.