Friday, February 23, 2007

Going Bonkety bonk bonk

I have always thought that expression was a great one. Todd Williams one of my running heros once said that after his great marathon debut, in which he bonked in the last few miles. He said the wheels just came off and he went bonkety bonk bonk. It was still a great time (2:11). However, I didn't bunk after 2 hours of running today, I bonked after 20 minutes! This happens to me every now and then. It used to happen a lot when I was working really long days on my feet at Walter Reed and then trying to run late in the evening after work having not eaten a very caloricly dense lunch. Sometimes I wonder if my system is just messed up as my blood sugar used to measure wicked low (like 65) in the afternoons when I worked at a cardiac rehab clinic and checked it for fun.
In today's run (at 4:15 PM) after a normal day of eating, but perhaps less calories than I need to be taking in over the last couple days, I bonked big time. I just felt incredibly slow and needed to stop to walk. I even got a little trembly. If I walk for 5-10 minutes then try running again it usually goes back to normal and I can run again fine. Strange. Some days I will go out and do 16-18 miles never taking anything in at all and am fine.
Some of the problem could be that I have upped my mileage lately and am also trying to lose a few pounds. Unless you are a serious runner and know what your body is supposed to look and feel like you'd say I am plenty skinny currently. But, I am still 7-10lbs over what I raced well at and yes it makes a difference. Try strapping a gallon of milk(8lbs) to your back and running a 10K race....it does not work well for setting PR's.
I think my new strategy is to continue to eat healthy, but force bigger portions of carbs...even when I feel full and just continue to up the mileage. If I am running 12+ miles a day I am sure the weight will come off. But, doing piddly 4 milers like today is not going to help.
So tomorrow I will get in the 20 I planned for today.

2 comments:

Bryon Powell said...

Greg,
I totally bonked on Tuesday night when running with Keith, Sean, and Amy. I'd run 4 by myself and another 9 with Sean and Keith. After 13 miles I felt great and was planning on 20+ even if it meant tacking on after the group run. We stopped at Kerry's for a few minutes before heading out again. Maybe half a mile later I was nauseous, dizzy, and had trouble focusing. I had to sstop and lean against a fence. I bid the group adieu and made a beeline for the bar we had planned to meet at later. After a beer and basket of bread I was a-okey, but it wasn't fun at all!

Ford said...

Greg,

I once ran a 10k with a gallon of milk strapped to my back and your correct, it was not fun!!!! plus it was strawberry milk so it weighted even more than regular milk!!!

Ford