Bonking - TG*

Any British readers not involved in endurance sports may well be wondering what on earth this post is going to be about. In the UK bonking is a euphemism for having sex which is obviously very different to its endurance sport meaning of a sudden onset of fatigue or tiredness.

Well on Monday this week I bonked (sudden onset of tiredness). To be fair it was not really a surprise. We had friends for dinner on Sunday night and I had a number of glasses of wine and finished off with brandy. I didn't go to bed until late and woke up tired and with a hangover.

When lunchtime came around I was still feeling pretty awful but set off on my 1.5 hour endurance run. I didn't take any fluid or nutrition with me as I can normally just about go that long without carrying anything but after about 70 min I started to feel the onset of a 'bonk' and by the time I finished the run at 101 mins I was really hungry.

It was at that point that I realized I was not going to have time for lunch as I had to get to an appointment on the other side of the city. A couple of hours later I was sat in a chair really struggling to keep my head up and my eyes open. I eventually got to eat at about 4pm and very quickly recovered in time for that evenings weights session.

It is not the first time I have bonked but it normally happens on long workouts when you get your nutrition wrong. It is similar to when marathon runners refer to 'hitting the wall', you have used up all your glycogen stores and just do not have the fuel to keep going.

I have bonked once or twice on 50-60+ mile bike rides and it is a terrible feeling as you just don't have the energy to keep going and most of the time you are nowhere near your car and have to keep going.

The only good thing about bonking is that when you do eventually get to eat it is simply heaven. On Monday I rushed to a Subways and ordered a foot long Sweet Teryaki Chicken Sandwich. It tasted so good as I wolfed it down.

With hindsight I think that it was the lack of sleep that did the most damage, as the coach told me at the beginning of this build phase recovery was going to be as important as the training itself. Thankfully I only have a couple more sessions to go and I am on a recovery week.

The Triathlon Gods must be smiling on me as this recovery week again falls on a week I am travelling and would struggle to get in longer sessions. This is the third time my recovery week has fallen on such a week. Next week I am going back to the UK on a business trip and I am going to take the opportunity to get in a couple of really good curries which could perhaps be the best apres-bonk food in the world.