The Bonk

“Bonk” is a term specific to endurance sports like cycling or running, and it is a humbling experience. “Bonking” is synonymous with the concept of hitting a wall in athletic performance, literally when your body can’t produce enough energy to meet the physical demands you’ve placed on it. For cyclists, this most often occurs when not enough food is taken in to match/exceed the calories (energy) burned by the effort on the bike. The rule of thumb for nutrition and hydration on the bike has always been, “Eat before you’re hungry and drink before you’re thirsty.” And while the violation of this maxim typically leads to the dreaded bonk, sometimes the body just does its own and peculiar thing and doesn’t respond, even when it is properly nourished. Everyone bonks. Even seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. He bonked while climbing the Col de Joux-Plane in the 2000 Tour. It got so bad that day that his vision began to blur and he almost fell off his bike. He did, however, make it to the top and ended up winning his second Tour.

Lance Armstrong bonks. Jon Bartlett bonks. Lance does it at the end of a grueling mountain stage in the most reknown and difficult bike race in the world. Jon Bartlett does it a couple miles into a relatively short ride in Denton, TX. It’s practically the same thing, right? Today was terrible. I only went a little over seven miles and managed the most pitiable average speed. I was going so slow that a small child on a tricycle could have passed me. Heck, a fat guy on a Segway could have burned me. I was miserable. Legs felt awkward in their cadence. My heart was tapping an irregular samba beat at a panicked pace. My stomach churned and wrenched, like I hadn’t fed it in days. My neck hurt, my back hurt, my arms hurt, my hands hurt. Dreadful. I would have stopped in the middle if it weren’t for the fact that I had to get home. At least at home, I could die in the comfort of my bed.

Today was so bad that I had to confess it to you; that’s the best-case scenario. The opposite scenario would consist of me getting discouraged, angry even, setting my bike in the corner of my living-room and giving up on the whole thing for the next little while, convinced that I will never become a fit and happy cyclist. Then, after perhaps months away from it all, I would get inspired again, wipe the dust off my bike and set off, only to feel the effects of my physical neglect, bonk, and start the whole maddening process over again. I refuse to do that. I must remind myself that building a fitness base means exactly that. It takes time. It’s a slow and laborious process, a gradual expansion of my physical limits. I can’t be frustrated that I suck right now. Of course I suck, I’m a fat guy. But that won’t last forever, small degree by small degree I will improve. Now, that’s a fighting spirit! I’m going to try it again today, no sense in starting the day with failure and never attempting to end it with success.

 

~ by chubbyanddangerous on May 26, 2008.