That's what I had this morning as I got ready for my bike ride to work. I have been riding my bike as much as possible to and from work in order to chip away at my weekly bike mileage. It's been a great way to save gas money and get in my training at the same time (I think my gas costs last month were like $25).
Everything was fine during the morning, but I noticed that, by the time work ended around lunchtime and it was time to close up, my stomach was totally empty. I ate a Clif bar and prepared to bike home. The whole way home I was cranky and pissed off in general. My legs ached, I felt light-headed, and every way the wind blew annoyed me (literally...I am not being funny here...I was literally mad at the wind directions).
As I got closer and closer to home, I started to make excuses to stop when I got there and not train today. I just did not want to do it. I was moody, tired, and totally unmotivated. However, I put on my self-trainer cap and said " 'I don't want to do it' is not an excuse." So I sucked it up when I got home, scarfed down a PowerBar, switched to my triathlon bike, and got back out there. I repeated, "Shut up and do it," in my head more times than I could count.
And then a really crazy thing happened. I started to feel good. PowerBar to the rescue! All the fatigue, bitterness, and anger were just symptoms that I was severely bonking. For those of you who don't know what bonking is, "bonking" is endurance-sport slang for not having enough fuel (namely carbohydrates) to sustain physical activity. You start to feel sluggish and light-headed as your body tries to deal with the fact that there just isn't enough energy to power the whole factory. So some areas experience "brown-outs." That is exactly what had been happening to me earlier.
I continued to munch on pretzels during my long ride, feeling a little bit better each time I did so. But I was still dangerously close to bonking, as it seemed that, just after I ate, my stomach started to growl again. If I was a car, it was like driving with the needle on "E" and then just putting in a few drops of gas every mile. Despite it all, I managed to finish, slurp down an energy gel, and do a 2.7-mile brick run after. AND it was my fastest brick this season. I've been averaging about 10-minute miles on my bricks (a.k.a the runs performed immediately after bike rides, usually done at an easy pace). Today I averaged 8:37 per mile without feeling any different effort-wise. Just imagine what I could do with my fuel topped off!
So, with all the hard work done, I entered all my food and exercise into My Fitness Pal, a calorie-tracking app. No wonder I was so light-headed -- not only was I bonking, but my calorie count for the day after all the training was -575. I was actually in deficit even while fueling during my workout. It looks like the breakfast is going to have to get even bigger. (I know, these are horrible problems, right?)I am SO glad I sucked it up and did my training today. I definitely could have bagged it, but I got a good amount of work done. And I have to say, I am feeling pretty tough. I just feel strong. I am the leanest I have been since I can remember, and it's all thanks to just being consistent with training and mindful of my food choices. I even took a selfie to celebrate.
