So I typically only blog on the days I workout, but one area I'm lacking in training is the nutrition and could use some advice/tips/suggestions. So lets talk about my disasterous ride on Sunday. I'll preface all of this with the fact that we are self-neglecters when it comes to food in our house. I shop for the meals we are cooking and we rarely have more than that in the house. I'm also pretty anti-processed food so even fully stocked we don't have much in the grab-it-quick-before-a-ride category. So Sunday I woke up (late) and realized that if I was going to ride I needed to go NOW and oh-by-the-way we have NO food. I left the house around 7:30 with a bag of trail mix (the dried fruit and mixed nut kind) and drove off to my riding spot nibbling along the way. I rode in Scituate, following the Providence Bicycle Time Trial route, planning for 3 loops making for a 45 mile ride. I had vitalyte and water with me and started by following my 15 minute rule plan and had several sips every 15 mins. About 10 miles in I started to have stomach pains. I was trying to push my pace so initialy felt that I had overdone it on the last hill and back off hoping that the pains would also back off. No such luck, it got to the point where I was having trouble staying up right on the bike. I thought about stopping but with a loop there was no easy way back to the car. My pace for the first 10 miles was 16.3 and for the last 10 dropped to 11.5. It was terrible. After 45 minutes I did choke down a GU hoping it would help, it didn't. My whole body hurt to move, I made it back to the car and somehow got my bike in the back and made it home. I couldn't walk into the house and it took about 45 mins to recover. So lessons learned include that I can't eat on the way to my ride, I also can't eat trail mix. Usually I have a bagel/toast/bar about an hour before I leave the house and haven't had a problem.
So what suggestions are there for days when I don't have the benefit of an hour before taking off for a ride?
What have you found helpful to eat before a ride that is quick and easy?
Lastly when your stomach seizes up on the bike, what helps so you can get through the ride?
I'm beyond irritated that I wasted a great morning because of a stupid dietary mistake.
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Instant oatmeal before a workout is great. I would do one packet + a banana w PB before a longer ride like this. A PBJ sandwhich on white bread or bagel could work too. Instant oatmeal versus the slow cooking kind because it has less fiber and you do not want fiber pre or during a workout, to prevent stomach issues. Bananas have very little fiber, as far as fruits go. Trail mix has too much fat and fiber to be readily available for your body during a workout, as you obviously noticed. I don't know what to do if your stomach seizes up during a ride, but hopefully if you can be a little more planned about what you are going to eat before a ride, it won't happen.
For me, once I get bloated or whatever, there's nothing to do but wait it out. I discovered that once I traded out Cliff Bars for gels and Gatorade for Hammer products, the bloating disappeared. Just keep trying different things and eventually through trial and error you will find what works for you.
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