OK, during the last few weeks of hard riding, I have to eat more carbs. I
ate pasta (dinner at fiancee's house) on Wednesday night, then had fruit
and brown/wild rice (mixture) Thursday, fruit and very thin crust (1/8
inch or less) pizza (no cheese) Friday, and had the best rides on Thursday
(my "easy" ride) and Saturday (my long ride) I've had in a long, long
time. During Saturday's ride, I actually was cruising on some downhills,
whereas for the last two weekends, I've been unable to put out any power
on those same downhills. I plan on eating fruit and brown/wild rice
mixture daily for the next several weeks. I've also changed what I'm
eating for the long ride. Instead of taking a drink of protein and carbs,
last weekend, I had a power-type bar (30g carbs). This weekend, I not
only had a bar but I also took about 20 g of maltodextrin. I did that
because the hardest part of my ride occurs in the first 20 miles of the
ride, so I'd like to have the carbs then. I had one bar (270 cals and 30g
carbs) for the ride. I had several drinks of whey protein/maltodextrin
during the ride, one drink of just maltodextrin during the ride. My
stomach was growling, and unlike Pat, I don't like that. So, before my
last set of hills on the way home, I ate some protein/maltodextrin. I
took about 130 ounces of water with me and drank it all (and wanted
more). I've been putting some lite salt in my powders to try and prevent
cramps. I've also been trying to take magnesium pills for a fews days
before long rides. Luckily, it wasn't that hot during this ride, until
the end of the ride.
My next three rides are as follows: 90, 100, 100/125 (where I'll ride
either 100 or 125 miles for my last long ride of the season). Here's the
data from this weekend's ride:
Length: 75.4 miles
Time: 6:27:10
Avg. HR: 149 (80% of Max. HR of 186)
Highest HR: 170 (91% of Max. HR of 186) -- don't know why I didn't go
higher; I rode basically the same hills as last weekend
Total elevation gained: 5659 feet
Avg. speed: 12.4 mph (calculated while moving - I stopped at least 4
times)
Max. speed: 47.3 mph
Calories burnt: 5915 (according to HR monitor)
According to the data, I spent zero percent of the time above 170 bpm,
spent 25.8% of the time between 161-170 bpm, and spent 31.6% of the time
between 151-160 bpm. I'm not sure why my HR was so low -- I had no time
above 170? Yet last weekend, I spent 19.7% of the time at or above 171
bpm? Last weekend, I basically rode in the rain, whereas this weekend, it
was cool and did not rain at all. Nonetheless, the ride is the same for
62 miles. I don't get it.
Anyway, while I won't be transferring to my pre-low-carb diet of oats for
breakfast, pasta for lunch, and brown rice and beans for dinner (with rice
cakes for snack), I am going to add more fruit and brown rice for the next
few weeks. Without adding more carbs in, I don't seem to be able to
recuperate.
--
Bob M
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