The Bonk

I was reading a while back about a supplement for runners doing long distance running in which they described a situation known as "bonking".  I was reading this aloud in the car to my husband and Uncle Jonathan and I had to stop mid-article to go look up this term, "bonking".

It is something that happens to athletes frequently.  I was more familiar with the phrase, "hitting the wall," which is synonymous in meaning for the most part.  Hitting the wall sounds painful, bonking sounds more like you're jumping up and down on one of those bouncy balls we played with as children.    But at any rate, via either term, it's not fun.

Yesterday my neighbor and I were running in relatively hot weather that was very humid due to both our location in the southern United States and the recent down pouring of rain the prior day and night.  We knew it was going to be a tough run, but we were prepared with some Gu packets we'd take to help replenish our energy stores at certain points in the run.

What we realized part-way through was that we should have brought more Gu packets each.  Two each and we were struggling.  Uncle Bob and Uncle Brian biked past us in the park and we waved to them, knowing we had only four more miles to go, but even so, we were tired.

I had to walk on three occasions, twice due to cramps (most likely from a hydration issue) and once because I was just too tired to start running again when we exited the park and re-entered our neighborhood.

It was right before we stopped to walk for a bit in the neighborhood that I experienced some of the "bonking" phenomenons mentioned in the Wikipedia entry.  Yes, I was tired.  Yes, I needed hydration badly, but I could run that distance and I was okay in many other ways.  What was strange was that the world went a little psychedelic on me for a few minutes.  Visually, things weren't as the should be in and I felt sort of mentally strange.

I didn't feel in any way like I was going to pass out, it's hard to describe.  There was a story from one fitness expert who said he saw imaginary creatures at one point, knew they were imaginary and yet there they were.   It was for a very short period as the house was almost in sight, but for the time it persisted, it was, shall we say, "wild."

We're looking forward to cooler, less-humid weather in the weeks of training to come.  Yesterday, stopping to guzzle water on six different occasions, I still lost four pounds in water-weight by the time I was done running.

The Big Boy Update:  My son has an issue with the number five.  He used to say five a lot when he counted.  He would add in extra fives in the sequence of numbers.  Now, he mostly forgets it.  Last night daddy asked him, "what comes after four?" To which my son replied, "six."  Daddy said, "Five." and my son said without hesitation, "five it is!"  We both couldn't help laughing.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Remember the incessant singing of, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with her own variations of wording and ordering of lyrics?  Has she moved on to other, more complex or even just different songs?  Has she shifted her obsession to another song if for no more reason than to give mommy and daddy's ears a bit of a break?  Not a chance.

Fitness Update:  Weight management.  I've gained ten pounds from my original weight loss target.  I wasn't planning on gaining ten pounds, but it seems to be the proper weight with the additional muscle mass I've added.  I don't look too thin, but I also don't seem to be stopping gaining weight.  I'm not going to re-look at my weight until after the marathon, but I might need to trim back a bit then.  I have added muscles, but I'm not continuing to add pound after pound of them.  At some point it's just overeating and dare I say it?  Fat.