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Fueling, and Where I Went Wrong.

by Errin on August 31, 2010

I’ve had some time to think about where I went wrong with my fueling on my recent 200k. I had an overall feeling of sluggishness, and while I didn’t bonk, I’m guessing that I came pretty close. At the end of the ride I was pretty worn out. More than I should’ve been for that amount of miles. I’ve done a few of these rides now, and I felt better after riding 200 miles than I did after just riding 125 miles.

I used my normal mixtures of Heed and Perpetuem. One bottle of Heed and the other of Perpetuem. I mixed in 2 scoops of water in my 21oz bottle of Perpetuem, which is about 270 calories. I packed two extra bags of Perpetuem, with two measured scoops in each bag. So I was carrying another 540 calories in powder form. Over the course of the day I only used one of my bags of Perpetuem. I should’ve used both extra bags, instead of just the one. Even that might not have been enough though. As it was, I only consumed about 500 calories of Perpetuem over 10 hours of riding. I also had two packs of salted cashews, and a bottle of chocolate milk. So that’s only about another 410 calories. According to my Heart rate monitor, which may or may not be accurate, I burned 6,300 calories. That’s a lot more going out than was coming in. If you’re to believe the HR monitor I had a deficit of 5,300 calories.

Now I’ve gone from using too much Perpetuem, to using too little. I think I have a better understanding now of how much I need, just about two scoops every one to one and a half hours. So for the 400k that’s what I’m going to plan for. I think that this will work better, along with some chocolate milk and nuts at the stops. Also, eat some breakfast!

I’m learning that it takes some time to find out what works best for each individual. What works for one person may not work for you. Most of the randonneurs have gone through their learning curves so they have a good understanding on how to fuel themselves. I’ve got a better understanding on my fueling now, and I’m hoping that it will work well for me in a couple of weeks.

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  • http://www.1200km.com Dodger

    Errin -

    Sounds like you’ve got some good ideas for dialing in your nutrition. One of the things I work on during training rides is eating while on the bike. I know I need to generally put in about 300 calories/hour for any ride over 4 or 5 hours.

    Sometimes I have to remember to eat, other times I have to remember that just because I ate something doesn’t mean I can digest it. Too few calories, I bonk. Too many and I get GI distress. Neither will end a ride, just make it (much) more uncomfortable.

    Nutrition is definitely a personal thing, and it can change based on ride intensity, weather, hydration and a bunch of other stuff.

    Dodger

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