Recovering from a "Bonk"

Triathlon Forum
1

This morning I misjudged my nutrition in a big way and bonked harder than I can ever remember. I was light-headed, seeing some stars, dizzy, etc. My appetite has been strong all day long and I of course feel better, but not strong. The question is how long does it take the body to fully recover from such an episode? I want to workout again tomorrow, but realize I won’t be setting a PR on my favorite 10K loop. 2-3 days until 100% recovered?? Just curious…

2

if we’re finished for the night i usually just fall asleep, otherwise gimme 15 minutes tops
.

3

it totally depends. I have bonked on a 16 mile run to the point that I walked 6 miles home. I went to visit some friends that night, had some pizza, a few beers and went home that night and put in 6 miles and felt amazing. I have also come apart on 100+ mile bike rides and had to move my Sunday long run to Monday.

4

  1. Replace of glycogen is pretty easy with bicycling. Normally, replenishment of glycogen is easily recovered in 24 hours, thus explaining the Tour de France.

  2. Running can be more problematic. If you super saturate your stores, then run a marathon, you can go from the high 100’s mmol/kg (just a number) down to 15-20 mmol/kg (very low). Even 7 days later, the muscle stores will not be restored. Basically,** severe running **knocks your ability to replace the glycogen stores due to muscle damage.

The question is “how did you bonk in the first place?”

Our muscles/liver can hold around 475G (400/75 split) of glycogen (think CHO or carbs) at 4 calories per gram. This gives you enough GLY to go for 15-20 miles with any training (since you’ll also use FFA (FAT) for energy.)

My guess is

  1. You ran a marathon. (Not likely) If so, you should allow time for recovery. Marathons are brutal events, and wack your system. I personally believe that Ironman and Marathon type distances are highly destructive. They may be fun/rewarding. They need to be recovered from.

OR

  1. You are trying some type of a ketogenic diet (think low carb). Which you need to stop NOW. Either diet or train. Don’t do both. You’ll only drive what is called gluconeogenesis, eat your own Lean Muscle Mass, and end up in a hole! Generally, if you want to diet, diet. If you must diet and train, run a minor deficit and eat plenty of carbs. Now if you are a fatty (which I am on track of being because of my high tech job) you may be able to train, diet, and make gains. However, you need to be fat to do this. Think of a BMI (body mass index) of 25 or higher.

OR

  1. You have another problem which is NOT bonking. This is serious and requires a doctor attention.

Theo

5

Ask Floyd…

Jodi

6

That is mean…

7

awesome answer!