This time 111.5 miles!

Pat wrote:
|| I rode the Waco Wild West Century on Saturday and because I missed a
|| turn, I managed to ride a personal best 111.5 miles. Oh well---it
|| didn't kill me. Again, I did the ride without any "carb loading"
|| whatsoever (but I am NOT a type II diabetic). I stopped at the 2nd
|| rest stop (25.6 miles out in the town of Crawford) and had a cup of
|| PowerAde, a chocolate brownie, and a chocolate chip cookie. My gut
|| reaction was that I was eating pure sugar---and I didn't like it!
|| That is what this diet has done for me: aversion to sugar.
||
|| At the 4th rest stop, I had PowerAde and a half of a banana. At the
|| 6th (Mother Neff State Park), I ate a peanut butter and jelly
|| sandwich and then had a half of a peanut butter sandwich (no jelly).
|| By then, I didn't care if I ever had PowerAde again.
||
||
|| Ah, but at the rest stop at the Mars Candy Factory, my stomach was
|| growling and I pigged out! Did you know there is such a thing as a
|| Snickers Ice Cream Bar? And a Twix Ice Cream Bar? I had one of each,
|| my first ice cream since June of 2003. Once again, my reaction was:
|| too sweet, too cloying. These are small bars, relatively speaking,
|| but I had about 3 cups of water just to wash out the sticky taste in
|| my mouth.
||
|| A person must use a lot of calories on a ride such as this, because
|| at the 100 mile point, my stomach was growling again! I did that in
|| 6 hours, 38 minutes, which wasn't bad considering the *(&^&#
|| headwinds all day long. It took me over an hour to do the remaining
|| 11.5 miles. Sometimes during the day, I would turn into the
|| headwind and my speed would go from 19 mph to 10 mph in an instant!
|| On the other hand, it was a bit chilly, so I didn't sweat at all.
||
|| Now, the question I have is this: how long will it take for my
|| system to get rid of the carbs I ate on Saturday?

Good job on the ride. I doubt if you ate enough to gain weight, so just
resume LCing and you'll likely drop the pounds by weekend. Do some more
riding without carbs to help it along. And hit the weights.

My legs gave out on my century this weekend. I had to stop at 80 miles and
4380 ft of climbing. Dammit!

Ignoramus32242 said:

I am most impressed. I am working towards running a pure LC
marathon. No gatorade or brownies.

Why? I mean, I don't understand the purpose of wanting to run a "pure
LC" marathon? Somehow I don't think that Atkins, etc. is targetted to
marathon runners.

--
jmk in NC

"jmk" : On 10/4/2004 9:04 PM, Ignoramus32242 wrote:
: > I am most impressed. I am working towards running a pure LC
: > marathon. No gatorade or brownies.

: Why? I mean, I don't understand the purpose of wanting to run a "pure
: LC" marathon? Somehow I don't think that Atkins, etc. is targetted to
: marathon runners.
: jmk in NC

What I think he means is to eschew the ingrained "you must carbo-load"
theory of exercise. The next time I do a long bike ride, I am going to leave
out the Gatorade, myself. Also, I didn't get anything of value from the
brownies, so they're out, too.

Pat in TX

: > What I think he means is to eschew the ingrained "you must carbo-load"
: > theory of exercise.
:
: You are correct.
:
: I believe that I sufficiently explained myself earlier, so that anyone
: of average intelligence could understand why I want to run a pure LC
: marathon.

Don't be so hard on them. Don't forget all of that carbo-load stuff is in
all of the magazines and training literature. People just have accepted it
as fact when it is not.

:
: > The next time I do a long bike ride, I am going to leave
: > out the Gatorade, myself. Also, I didn't get anything of value from the
: > brownies, so they're out, too.
:
: If I could make a suggestion, if you do switch to riding without
: gatorade, do it in a gradual manner, start with smaller rides etc,
: just to stay safe.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I NEVER drink Gatorade unless I am doing a
Century or a Metric Century. And, usually, the mixtures at the rest stops
are so poorly done that after one taste I just cannot drink any more. I have
been doing it more as a formality of "I must need the electrolytes" than any
feeling of bodily weakness, etc. For my weekly rides of 2-4 hours, I only
drink water and take string cheese strips for snacks. And, I have been doing
this for the past two summers, in Texas, so the heat doesn't seem to matter,
either.

:
: What I found for myself is that, since, due to my diet, I exercise
: with already depleted glycogen (supposedly), I already train my fat
: burning system during even small exercise. So, during my half
: marathon, I ran all the way using fat burning system, which was
: already sufficiently trained. The fat burning system does not have the
: same total energy limitations (total joules) as glycogen system, even
: though its "power" (joules per second) may be lower than that of
: glycogen based system. (Which is fine for a long run.)
:
: That enabled me to run a half marathon, without stopping even for a
: second, with relatively little training, on pure LC. The day before
: and in the morning of the half marathon, I pretty much skipped all
: sources of concentrated carbs -- vegetables, fruits, grains, sugar
: etc. Ate a few (like 5-8) cherry tomatoes on the day before, that was
: all. The purpose of this was to avoid "runners trots".
:
: A marathon is a different animal and I do not want to rush headlong
: into it, and will train some.
:
: i

the difference for me between a 100K and a 100 miles is largely mental. I
have to do more stretches during the last 40 miles, and I have to rise out
of the saddle more to let blood run into my butt, but other than that, it is
a mental problem instead of a physical problem.

Good luck on the marathon. I know that the mind talks to a runner more than
to a cyclist. When I ride, I can always coast for awhile, after all.

Pat in TX

Pat wrote:
:: "jmk" : On 10/4/2004 9:04 PM, Ignoramus32242 wrote:
:::: I am most impressed. I am working towards running a pure LC
:::: marathon. No gatorade or brownies.
::
::
::: Why? I mean, I don't understand the purpose of wanting to run a
::: "pure LC" marathon? Somehow I don't think that Atkins, etc. is
::: targetted to marathon runners.
::: jmk in NC
::
:: What I think he means is to eschew the ingrained "you must
:: carbo-load" theory of exercise. The next time I do a long bike ride,
:: I am going to leave out the Gatorade, myself. Also, I didn't get
:: anything of value from the brownies, so they're out, too.

What about the other stuff? Sounds like some carbs in the rest....

: ::
: :: What I think he means is to eschew the ingrained "you must
: :: carbo-load" theory of exercise. The next time I do a long bike ride,
: :: I am going to leave out the Gatorade, myself. Also, I didn't get
: :: anything of value from the brownies, so they're out, too.
:
: What about the other stuff? Sounds like some carbs in the rest....

I ate the banana more out of the thought "I must need potassium" but now I
don't believe I needed it and I don't plan to eat them at rides.The peanut
butter sandwiches were a calculated thought because on the Hotter 'n' Hell
Hundred I rode quite a few miles with my stomach growling. I knew this ride
was going to go until at least 4 p.m., so I decided in advance to have a
sandwich. On the other hand, a growling stomach is not worse than a
complaining bladder....

Also, in the past, I have used these long rides as a break from the diet
and sort of as a way to reward myself with a treat (chocolate chip cookies,
mainly) while I am expending a lot of energy. But, over the months, I have
come to not like the overwhelming sugar taste of the snacks. And, I didn't
even really enjoy those two little ice cream bars. That surprised even me!
This diet really weans a person off of sugar!

Pat in TX
:
:

Pat wrote:
::::: What I think he means is to eschew the ingrained "you must
::::: carbo-load" theory of exercise. The next time I do a long bike
::::: ride, I am going to leave out the Gatorade, myself. Also, I
::::: didn't get anything of value from the brownies, so they're out,
::::: too.
:::
::: What about the other stuff? Sounds like some carbs in the rest....
::
:: I ate the banana more out of the thought "I must need potassium" but
:: now I don't believe I needed it and I don't plan to eat them at
:: rides.The peanut butter sandwiches were a calculated thought because
:: on the Hotter 'n' Hell Hundred I rode quite a few miles with my
:: stomach growling. I knew this ride was going to go until at least 4
:: p.m., so I decided in advance to have a sandwich. On the other
:: hand, a growling stomach is not worse than a complaining bladder....
::
:: Also, in the past, I have used these long rides as a break from the
:: diet and sort of as a way to reward myself with a treat (chocolate
:: chip cookies, mainly) while I am expending a lot of energy. But,
:: over the months, I have come to not like the overwhelming sugar
:: taste of the snacks. And, I didn't even really enjoy those two
:: little ice cream bars. That surprised even me! This diet really
:: weans a person off of sugar!

How much do you weigh now?

: :: Also, in the past, I have used these long rides as a break from the
: :: diet and sort of as a way to reward myself with a treat (chocolate
: :: chip cookies, mainly) while I am expending a lot of energy. But,
: :: over the months, I have come to not like the overwhelming sugar
: :: taste of the snacks. And, I didn't even really enjoy those two
: :: little ice cream bars. That surprised even me! This diet really
: :: weans a person off of sugar!
:
: How much do you weigh now?

I'm 5'8" and weighed 163 until last week. My doctor put me on a new drug and
within 4 days, I had gained 7 pounds. That brings up another question: how
does one get rid of the water weight caused by a drug? I am trying to do so
by strictly cutting back carbs. I thought it would go away on its own but
it hasn't. As of today, I have gained 10 pounds in 10 days. With the
Century being in the middle of this weight gain, I thought it would be
interesting to see if the exertion would cause my body to release the extra
water. No such luck.

Pat in TX
:
:

Pat wrote:
::::: Also, in the past, I have used these long rides as a break from
::::: the diet and sort of as a way to reward myself with a treat
::::: (chocolate chip cookies, mainly) while I am expending a lot of
::::: energy. But, over the months, I have come to not like the
::::: overwhelming sugar taste of the snacks. And, I didn't even really
::::: enjoy those two little ice cream bars. That surprised even me!
::::: This diet really weans a person off of sugar!
:::
::: How much do you weigh now?
::
:: I'm 5'8" and weighed 163 until last week. My doctor put me on a new
:: drug and within 4 days, I had gained 7 pounds. That brings up
:: another question: how does one get rid of the water weight caused
:: by a drug? I am trying to do so by strictly cutting back carbs. I
:: thought it would go away on its own but it hasn't. As of today, I
:: have gained 10 pounds in 10 days. With the Century being in the
:: middle of this weight gain, I thought it would be interesting to see
:: if the exertion would cause my body to release the extra water. No
:: such luck.

Gosh....I don't have a clue about the drug-induced water weight gain...that
must be a bummer to pick up so much water weight so quickly. However, a
riding buddy of mine claims that when we did the Tour de Paws a few weekends
ago, he picked up 10 lbs just due to drinking a lot of Gatoraid. He said it
took him a week for it to fade away and that he thought it was due to all
the extra salt he drank during the ride. He claim the extra weight came on
AFTER the ride due to the extra salt being in his system. I'm wondering if
any of that could be responsible for your quick gain.

All this time I thought you weighed around 215 lbs. Your weight of 163
explains a lot as I'm sure you know cycling is a game best suited for light
people. Saturday, while I was doing that Ride for the Raptors century, a
guy come along and decided to hang out and talk to me for a while (we were
the only two there - all the other century riders (except one) had left me
in the dust and I guess this guy started late). My initial guess -- based
on the way he talked was that he was about 25. yo Finally, I had to ask him
his age: he said 49. I was floored. He had taken up cycling a couple of
years ago and was up to 6000 mile a year. Of course, he weighed 140 while
I'm out there with 100 lbs on him! Made me wonder what I'm doing out there
(not that I'm going to stop, mind you!)!! But still. The week before this
guy had done a century over in northern Georgia with over 10000 ft of
elevation gain! [censored]! I'd die on such a ride. After about 40 miles of
talking, he decided he need to get home to do some work and decided it was
"hammer time." I then ate his dust.

Anyhow, the entire point of all of this is that I think weight significantly
impacts ones need for carbs because the greater the weight the harder the
hills will be and the more you tend to go anaerobic on a hilly route (the
higher the HR tends to get even while not going that fast). This helps
explain (to me anyway) while my legs gave out at about 80 miles with only
4400 ft of el. gain.

:
: Gosh....I don't have a clue about the drug-induced water weight
gain...that
: must be a bummer to pick up so much water weight so quickly. However, a
: riding buddy of mine claims that when we did the Tour de Paws a few
weekends
: ago, he picked up 10 lbs just due to drinking a lot of Gatoraid. He said
it
: took him a week for it to fade away and that he thought it was due to all
: the extra salt he drank during the ride. He claim the extra weight came
on
: AFTER the ride due to the extra salt being in his system. I'm wondering
if
: any of that could be responsible for your quick gain.

I am also wondering that. It's puzzling.

:
: All this time I thought you weighed around 215 lbs. Your weight of 163
: explains a lot as I'm sure you know cycling is a game best suited for
light
: people.

When I started Atkins, I weighed 200#.

Saturday, while I was doing that Ride for the Raptors century, a
: guy come along and decided to hang out and talk to me for a while (we were
: the only two there - all the other century riders (except one) had left me
: in the dust and I guess this guy started late). My initial guess -- based
: on the way he talked was that he was about 25. yo Finally, I had to ask
him
: his age: he said 49. I was floored. He had taken up cycling a couple of
: years ago and was up to 6000 mile a year. Of course, he weighed 140 while
: I'm out there with 100 lbs on him! Made me wonder what I'm doing out there
: (not that I'm going to stop, mind you!)!! But still. The week before this
: guy had done a century over in northern Georgia with over 10000 ft of
: elevation gain! [censored]! I'd die on such a ride. After about 40 miles of
: talking, he decided he need to get home to do some work and decided it was
: "hammer time." I then ate his dust.

Well, you must remember that cycling changes the structure of your leg
muscles, enlarges your lungs, builds new blood vessels, enlarges and
strengthens your heart, lowers your blood pressure, etc. All of this takes
time. I have been swimming since age 7 (so this explains my aerobic fitness)
and I started cycling in earnest in 2001. Just remember that we are all on
a sliding scale here (of fitness and cycling fitness) and nobody out there
is exactly at the same place as you. So don't compare yourself to anyone
unless you can find someone exactly like yourself in every parameter. You
will advance rapidly even if it doesn't seem so right now.

:
: Anyhow, the entire point of all of this is that I think weight
significantly
: impacts ones need for carbs because the greater the weight the harder the
: hills will be and the more you tend to go anaerobic on a hilly route (the
: higher the HR tends to get even while not going that fast). This helps
: explain (to me anyway) while my legs gave out at about 80 miles with only
: 4400 ft of el. gain.

I understand you are Type II or at least Insulin Resistant. I don't have
that aspect to worry about, so our needs will vary. I do know that I am
climbing a lot better this year than before I started doing Atkins. The
difference is palpable.

But, I now have another problem to worry about vis a vis weight gain---I
apparently have a torn rotator cuff. Anyway, that's what the M.R.I. showed.
I don't get to see a doc until Oct 27 to get his opinion of how to proceed.
I am afraid he is going to limit my activities to just walking (with no arm
swinging). I tell ya, even numbered years have been my bane ever since I
tore that Achilles tendon in 2000. In 2002, I had to have my wrist
reconstructed, and now this! I am now trying to figure out whether I should
stop cycling immediately or wait until Oct 27 and let him tell me! Hah! See
how crazy we get after we discover we love to ride a bike?

Pat in TX
:
:

"Ignoramus13176" <: you are not talking about prednisone per chance?
:
: i

have you some experience with this? advice?

Pat

Pat said:

"Ignoramus13176" <: you are not talking about prednisone per chance?
:
: i

have you some experience with this? advice?

Pat

Prednisone affects different people differently. I have one friend that
gains on it and does not lose the weight until several days after she is
off it. I was on it recently and I actually lost a few pounds. One of
my dogs was on it several years ago and she had some serious
water-related issues (we found a different Rx for her it was so bad). I
think that it really really varies. Other than the weight, how do you
feel? I felt really drugged on it and I would not have wanted to be on
it long term (would have looked for other options or at least purchased
the book Coping with Prednisone) but for 10 days it was fine.

Good luck to you!

--
jmk in NC