BONK!!!

Well, ain't that just flippin craptastic!!!  35 miles into a 67 mile ride and I bonk...HARD!!!  Apparently, just building the wall for me to hit wasn't enough...I decided to start a full on MMA brawl with the wall.  (What???...I've taken boxing...I'm a super tuff chic and I'll fight a wall if I want to.)  15 miles later and I was officially done...not quite dead (no that would come later in the evening), but Mother Nature put a fork in me cuz I was done.  Lesson learned!

So, what the hell just happened??

Once again, it all comes back to diet and nutrition for me.  Physically from a muscular standpoint I'm more than capable of handling the mileage, but physically from a nutritional standpoint I'm still a mess.  Maybe not the certified hot mess that I was a few months ago when I first received my hypoglycemia diagnosis, but I've still got some work to do. 

Since the re-entry of hypoglycemia into my life I've been working hard and diligently to get my eating habits under control (remember, I'm a control freak...so this I can totally embrace...hello new challenge!), but sometimes I still struggle with how much to eat and I sometimes find myself counting calories and making deals with myself using food as a reward...saying yes, to a Starbucks pumpkin scone, means skipping the mid morning snack and post workout beer for the day.  I'm not afraid to admit it, I still have food issues...I'm a work in progress, however I'm now up against a four month time clock.  Time for me to pick up the pace on the progress Ima thinkin. 

As a part of the hypoglycemia process, I've started eating small meals (snacks really) every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day to attempt to keep my blood sugar level, and I have also re-embraced the philosophy of becoming vegetarian again.  (Since going veggie, I honestly haven't felt better!!...no longer am I taking a life just to feed my face, and it's forcing me to focus on more nutritionally balanced choices...that's just good Karma all the way around in my opinion. :))  These little changes have made a HUGE impact in on how I feel and function in my daily life, HOWEVER, they are apparently not enough to keep me going the way I need them to during my athletic life. 

Mr. I said it best to me (as I was freaking out 6+ hours after the bonk when I stood up and fell because I suddenly couldn't feel my legs and the room was spinning faster than the Silly Silo at Adventureland)...he said, "if you're gonna train hard, you need to eat hard".  Crap!...of course he's right (when isn't he?!...LOL :)).  I didn't plan to feel like shit, or get to the point where my body was basically paralyzed from the waist down, I actually planned rather well I thought and took quite a few (by my estimation) calories along with me for the ride, BUT I didn't think to build up what what already in the tank before we left.  Another thing that Mr. I kindly pointed out to me..."prolly should eat more before you ride"...gee, ya think?!?!...darn him for being right all the time (JK, T...you know how much I appreciate your knowledge, support and input!).  Guess I just had to learn the hard way.  Here's really what happened...

When our (VTC, VTC's husband, and a bunch of other Team Vardo friends) wheels started rolling at 11 am last Sunday, I felt great!!!  I'd been eating clean and veggie and ultra healthy (by my standards) for a couple of weeks, and I thought for sure I was in a good place to take on a really really (did I say really?) long ride.  (First big BIG...phucking HUGE...one of the season...with rain/sleet looming on the horizon and all of us bundled up under cold cloudy April in Iowa sky's, we were all thrilled to just be back outside again instead of in the cycle dungeon of doom on our trainers...never mind the 17-20 mph wind that kept switching direction :)).  I had eaten my normal everyday breakfast and mid morning snack (which is incidentally my standard pre-race breakfast routine...I will prolly need to revisit this if I'm going to go long...what works for a Sprint, is NOT going to fly at a 70.3...but that's for later).  I felt perfectly normal and with a 3+ hour ride ahead of me I was just super excited to get the wheels rollin. 

VTC hooked me up with some Hammer Perpeteum to drink (basically thick, sugar free, all natural, liquid-ish, slush like calories) in Orange Vanilla, and I had packed a pancake sandwich that had all natural PB and Agave Nectar tucked in it.  I was set and ready for the road and the 45 miles ahead of me...(yep, I thought we were only going 45 miles, the 67 I learned about as we were at the mile 32 turnaround point was kind of a surprise to me...strategically done by VTC to get me out of my head, but a bit of a shock none the less)...ready-set-roll!!

It's no secret that I'm not yet the worlds strongest biker...Lance Armstrong I am not, and honestly I'm probably not even qualified or experienced enough to ride with his kids...but, I'm learning and I'm committed to getting better.  To get better it's just going to take more dedicated time to being in the saddle with my wheels on the road.  (Side note: I really need to invest in some seriously good bike short and Woo Hoo Ride Glide to protect my girlie parts...tri shorts, while great for racing...not so much cut out for long long LONG rides...just sayin...ouch!!...goddamnmotherphuckerOUCH! :)). 

Heading straight east on E29 I did ok keeping up with the group and felt I was holding my own, however I was focusing so much on keeping my cadence up over 90 and pushing with my very powerful and well rounded ass (not my quads...I mean hey, if I've got it, I may as well use it :)) and keeping up with everyone that I wasn't taking in calories like I should have.  VTC was good to yell at me whenever she thought I needed it, but by the time we were rolling through the hills of Marshall county, I knew I needed to stop and rest...and eat!!!  Only, there was never really an opportune time to stop and rest and there was certainly nowhere to eat.  (We passed by 4 towns and not a single one of them had a gas station...and what the hell is up with all the weird farms in Marshall County???...seriously, we saw dead horses, lama's, an ostrich, and were even chased by goats...yes, goats!!...wtf?!?!?!...that's just not right...and doesn't anyone there ever need gas or a pop?...geesh!...screw you Marshall County, I'm going home!)

The road kept on going and I kept on pedalling, however much much slower with each passing mile.  I could literally feel the drain happening internally.  All I wanted was the opportunity to just pull off the side of the road for about 10 minutes to puke and take a quick nap in a ditch.  (Remember, I'm a simple girl with simple needs...I'll sleep anywhere, and at that moment a ditch would have been fine with me.)  But, I kept going and pushing.  I was past the point of no return, and my body started revolting.  Any attempts I made to take in my Perpeteum resulted in me feeling more nauseous than I was before, and trying to ride in aero to relieve some pressure off my girlie parts intensified the puke feeling.  (Ya-ya, I'm a huge fan of puke pace when running, but puke feeling on the bike...BAD-BAD-BAD!!!!) 

At mile 50 we finally rolled into a town with a gas station (in Story County...home turf!!), and stopped for a long overdue and much needed rest.  Bring on the Red Bull, or Dt. Mt. Dew as the case ended up being, and food...oh wait, never mind...no food for me...blah!!!  With at least another 15 miles to go and the rain/sleet clouds looming closer, I called it in.  I was done.  I knew for a fact that there was probably not a good chance that I would be able to make it home on two wheels before I passed out.  I hitched a ride (called my dad actually who was happy to come rescue me...dad's are pretty awesome like that!), and made it home in time to shower and get ready for dinner and beers with Mr. I (yeah, pretty sure I shouldn't be driving in this condition either, let alone 25 miles away...fail!!..again, something came up and we had to reschedule, which was probably ok considering my physical state). 

I did finally eat some dinner (thanks VTC and VTC's hubby!) and was resting comfortably at home when all hell broke lose with my body and the adrenaline wore off and physical stress of the day took it's full effect.  I must have passed out at some point because I woke up in a haze with the room spinning...when I tried to stand up, my legs weren't there (literally...I think some little elf came and stole my legs, fucker!!!...I was pissed!!), only they were there, I just couldn't feel them or make them function.  I was suddenly trapped on my bedroom floor with a sweatshirt for a pillow and my cell phone.  So what does any other girl in my situation do??...yep, I called up an expert.  (No, not really...I texted Mr. I and he was sweet and gracious enough to calm me down and talk me through it...have I mentioned he's an expert on blood sugar issues, well he sort of is, and I'm so grateful for his knowledge and kindness and patience with me as I navigate some of these new situations...he's also crazy athletic, or he used to be, so when it comes to eating well for both blood sugar and physical intensity, he totally gets it and has some great ideas to share...thanks T!!!)  After a while, I was finally able to crawl back up into my bed and sleep it off...lesson learned!!! 

Up to this point in my life I've always raced short distance triathlons.  I like the short hard intense effort, plus there's a little comfort there knowing that I can handle my nutritional needs with almost anything that a sprint course can dish out.  While the short stuff is intense and requires an awful lot of endurance and training, this going long business is a different kind of endurance all together.  I've come a long way and am making progress every day, but I've still got a long way to go (and only 4 months to get there...yikes!).   As I prepare for this half ironman distance triathlon, I now know what my biggest obstacle will be...the 5th event of triathlon (after the swim, bike, run and transitions)...nutrition!  Yep, Mr.I definitely said it best when he said, "if you're gonna train hard, you need to eat hard".  Bring on the pizza and beer I guess, because carb loading for Pigman (in August) begins now!!!  Haha!!  Not really, but you can still bring the pizza and beer and you'll get no complaints from me.   :)