Kirby Krieger <
[email protected]> wrote:
: Does anyone work out first thing in the morning? What do you do about breakfast?
Yep! The bulk of my rides are 0630 to 0730 and I don't have anything to eat, just some water on the
ride. I do however, make a point of having muesli with fresh fruit and rice milk within 15 minutes
of getting off the bike to take advantage the glycogen uptake window.
I participate in a 1.5 hour early ride Saturday mornings and usually have half a banana before I
leave and again have breakfast as soon as I can afterwards.
On Sundays I have a 2.5 hour early ride starting with a full banana and I take a fruit bar which I
eat at the half way mark - breakfast as usual.
One of the hardcore vets I ride with never has breakfast before a ride, even centuries, and in the
annual Grafton to Inverell race (223km) he only consumes sports drinks - no food and he's come
second in his agegroup a few times.. This is a gruelling uphill event with many non-finishers so he
has my utmost respect and no doubt he has taken a number of years to fine tune what works for him.
As far as breakfast goes, remember that if you eat and then get into intense exercise you may
experience discomfort since body resources are redirected to supply oxygen and fuel to muscles
rather than digestive processes. So you'd probably feel a bit queasy and fart a lot! The fuel you
need is available as glycogen stored in muscles and the liver and is usually good for the first hour
or so. Breakfast won't become available as fuel until it is processed so energy bars, etc, are ideal
for keeping the supply topped up.
Hope this helps. Cheerz, Lynzz