bug or bonk

popette

I did my longest ride of the year so far yesterday - 67 miles. I ate a banana, a nutrigrain and a small cone of chips (I was desperate at that stage). I had a bottle of squash and a bottle of carb drink. When I got back home, I had some leftover tomato and mozzarella salad on some sourdough bread.

About an hour later I was heaving. I was eventually sick and spent the night shaking and aching and feeling rubbish. I got up this morning and had to have a cold flannel on my head to stop me puking. I've managed to eat some porridge and a bit of chilli for lunch, lots of juice, but I'm still feeling rubbish. I just want to sleep.

I'm wondering if I've got a bug - perhaps already lurking and pounced on me when my immune system was low. Or, is it possible that this is a reaction to not having enough food/water on my ride yesterday. I always feel bad after a long ride but it's never been quite this bad.

What you reckon? (FYI - I burnt over 4000 cals according to my garmin)

clanton

TBH what you're describing sounds more than just post ride effects to me BUT I would normally eat a lot more than you have on a ride of that length.
Hope you get better soon!

cee

popette wrote:

I had a bottle of squash and a bottle of carb drink.

The first time I read that, I got CRAB DRINK.

I was gonna say maybe the crab drink was off, but then I re-read it. I was unaware of any lobster bisque style energy drinks.

I don't think I have felt ill like that so long after a ride. Sure I've blown chunks at the top of a climb, or at the end of a particularly gruelling ride (as this was yourlongest ride for a wee while maybe this would be it)

Remember there are a whole host of tummy upsets doing the rounds at the moment (not just the ones making the headlines).

Although the fact that you ate chilli today inclines me to rule that out.


Anyhow. Get better soon

Mike Willcox

IMO you over reached yourself on your ride. Also it could be that you eat too much too soon when you got home and that caused a reaction as well. By tomorrow you should be OK.

All good experience and you will get some physical adaptation benefits at the same time.

bahzob

Related to the general topic of how many calories to consume on a ride:

There is a calculator here http://www.tri-talk.com/TriTalkNC/TriTalkNC.htm that lets you enter various variables and gives an estimate of approximately how much you need to eat during a ride to avoid the bonk. (its for triathletes but you can just set the run/swim times to 0)

Of course it comes with a health warning that its one thing to know how many calories you need to get down you, quite another to know which foods your stomach can take and how long it will take to digest them to get the benefit of their calories (e.g. I think fat slows down the process so chips might not be the best on bike snack).

ut_och_cykla

popette wrote:

I did my longest ride of the year so far yesterday - 67 miles. I ate a banana, a nutrigrain and a small cone of chips (I was desperate at that stage). I had a bottle of squash and a bottle of carb drink. When I got back home, I had some leftover tomato and mozzarella salad on some sourdough bread.

About an hour later I was heaving. I was eventually sick and spent the night shaking and aching and feeling rubbish. I got up this morning and had to have a cold flannel on my head to stop me puking. I've managed to eat some porridge and a bit of chilli for lunch, lots of juice, but I'm still feeling rubbish. I just want to sleep.

I'm wondering if I've got a bug - perhaps already lurking and pounced on me when my immune system was low. Or, is it possible that this is a reaction to not having enough food/water on my ride yesterday. I always feel bad after a long ride but it's never been quite this bad.

What you reckon? (FYI - I burnt over 4000 cals according to my garmin)

My vote would be bug...and as you say you were desperate probably in you before you set off. Probabaly made worse by the level of exertion. Hope you're feeling better now... I'm just off to wash my hands

popette

I slept like a log last night. The best sleep I've had in a few weeks actually (well, apart from two of the kids waking up but between those interuptions, I was really sleeping deeply). I feel much better today - still a little bit clammy but not feeling sick now.

Thanks for all your replies guys.

cervelorider

popette wrote:

What you reckon? (FYI - I burnt over 4000 cals according to my garmin)

I reckon you had a virus that manifested itself, as you suspected, when your resistance was down after the ride. Hope you're now feeling better

What grabbed my attention was the amount of cals your garmin predicted :?
I have trouble burning 2500 on a hard session over that distance, and would speculate that the garmin maybe somewhat optimistic.
If you consider that the TdF riders burn 7-7500cals per stage, it should give you some perspective. The reason I raise this issue is that some people use info about cals burnt to balance their dietary intake, and 'if' you're getting innaccurate info, it might need to be adjusted.

Alex_Simmons/RST

popette wrote:

What you reckon? (FYI - I burnt over 4000 cals according to my garmin)

Could be a few things but one thing I think your Garmin is probably a little "optimistic" in it's guesstimate of calories "burnt".

I'm not say 4000 Cal over 67miles is not possible but it would require:

~ 275 watts for 4 hrs @16.8 mph (27.0 kph)
~ 220 watts for 5 hrs @ 13.4 mph (21.6 kph)
~ 185 watts for 6 hrs @ 11.2 mph (18.0 kph)

And that would be pretty good going. Besides, unless it was a headwind or uphill the whole way and you are very large, then those speeds are too slow for those powers.

popette

Ah, you've sussed me out - I don't have the incredible she hulk avatar for nothing you know I eat TdF riders for breakfast!
I'm 6ft tall and weigh (too much) 89kg :oops: I am working on this . My average speed was 14mph for the ride and it felt like head wind for about 3/4 of the ride! Motionbased tells me the wind was on average 13mph with a max of 20mph.

Could that mean that the Garmin estimate is realistic?

I don't tend to use the calorie info to balance my intake but if I see I've burnt 4000 cals, I may eat a bit more for my tea (on the day of the ride) than I otherwise would.

My little lad was sick the following night so it does look like it was a bug. I'm not sick anymore but still tired so have taken a few days off to recover. Thanks for asking chaps

cervelorider

Thanks for elaborating for me, Alex
Popette, what was your journey time?

popette

hiya, it was 5 hrs 20 mins. I had a really strange thing happen to me on the ride as well - after my chip stop, I got back on the bike and couldn't pedal with my left leg. It had turned to wood! It hurt to bend it and I couldn't put any pressure onto the pedal. I had to stop and really stretch my hamstring out and do some squats to get the joint moving again. I did manage to pedal home after that but I found that if I stopped pedalling, the knee completely seized again. Anyway, the point of me telling you all this is that I had a big stop in my ride to get my leg functioning again and it did slow me down a bit on the last 20 miles. No pain afterwards thankfully.

cervelorider

That sounds painful, and not something you want to happen miles from home.
First thoughts are due to low cadence, but it seems too extreme for that alone :?

:?:

Alex_Simmons/RST

OK, so 5hr20min 4000C ~= 210 watts average. That's certainly feasible given your height, weight and conditions on the day but is bloody good going for a relative newbie and busy Mum to boot.

What I don't get is 67 miles at 14mph = 4hr 47 minutes. Perhaps stops aren't included in the average speed.

popette

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

OK, so 5hr20min 4000C ~= 210 watts average. That's certainly feasible given your height, weight and conditions on the day but is bloody good going for a relative newbie and busy Mum to boot.

What I don't get is 67 miles at 14mph = 4hr 47 minutes. Perhaps stops aren't included in the average speed.

yes, that's right Alex. My total time was 5hr 20. My moving time was 4hrs 46mins. I've always looked at ride times and speeds based on those times rather than total times and overall avg speed (give myself every advantage I can )

jhop

I sympathise with you on giving yourself 'every advantage' but working out averages this way can be very misleading , take lots of breaks / rests and your average still stays high!

I find it more helpful to take total distance divided by total time as the most helpful average.
With this method you can still take what breaks you need, particularly at this time of the year, but account for it by using 'real average times' .