When to carb up?

[Skippyak]

I am not sure that bonked is the same thing to all people (other than the obvious British bonk). I think some people think they have bonked when they have just not ridden enough, or were not ready or come out of the gate too fast etc etc.

[rebeccaC]

I am not sure that bonked is the same thing to all people (other than the obvious British bonk). I think some people think they have bonked when they have just not ridden enough, or were not ready or come out of the gate too fast etc etc.

I would call that muscular fatigue rather than a bonk. Hypoglycemia (bonking/hitting the wall) and even dehydration have different symptoms than muscular fatigue. With both of the later eventually the brain wants to protect itself by shutting some of the bodies systems down. Both also give emotional and cognitive warning signs, bonking more so. Irritability is one of my early signs. No one bonks without ignoring several warning signs that could have corrected the problem. I'd call it just needing to know our bodies

[Skippyak]

I would call that muscular fatigue rather than a bonk. Hypoglycemia (bonking/hitting the wall) and even dehydration have different symptoms than muscular fatigue. With both of the later eventually the brain wants to protect itself by shutting some of the bodies systems down. Both also give emotional and cognitive warning signs, bonking more so. Irritability is one of my early signs. No one bonks without ignoring several warning signs that could have corrected the problem. I'd call it just needing to know our bodies

Irritability is so subjective though. I did a 7K climb century a couple of weekends ago and I sure was not bonking and I was really irritable that despite having done all the advertised climbing (as per my garmin 910), I was still climbing for another 20 miles LOL.

[Catrin]

It really pays to pay attention to what your body is telling you. My coach tells me that there is research that shows women's bodies often are unable to take advantage of 'carb loading' the day before an event. I am sure that some women ARE able to take advantage of this but it pays to track things. Keep a journal of both what you eat and how you feel before/during/after a significant effort until you nail down what works for you.