I have experienced this on every century I've ever done, but I also experienced it at mile ~15 yesterday (which was after doing a very large hill ... and coincidentally after doing 30 greuling miles the day before). Normally when I'm biking, my heart is my "weakest link." I'm physically capable of pushing much harder, but I know if I do, my heart is going to explode, or I'll faint, or vomit, etc.
At some point, my legs become the weakest link, and I just completely lack the power to push any harder. Is this a sign that I'm undernourished? I know in Chris Carmichael's book, he states something to the effect that if your body is depleted of carbohydrate, you are effectively limiting your maximum energy output by 60% of maximum effort. My observation is that I can easily push myself to the point that my HR is at 90% (or even 95% if cranking hard up hills), but at mile 15 yesterday, I felt like my legs were at their end, and my HR was only at 80%. I suppose if I extrapolate (Resting heart rate is ~40% max, which equals 0% effort, then 80% max HR is actually pretty close to 60% effort). Although I was constantly drinking Cytomax (which is loaded with carbs), so I'm not sure if this is the answer.
Do you have any experience with this sensation? I wonder if there is any sort of specific training that I can do (besides losing more weight, which I'm already doing!) to prevent this, and increase the endurance/output of my legs.
-Matt
At some point, my legs become the weakest link, and I just completely lack the power to push any harder. Is this a sign that I'm undernourished? I know in Chris Carmichael's book, he states something to the effect that if your body is depleted of carbohydrate, you are effectively limiting your maximum energy output by 60% of maximum effort. My observation is that I can easily push myself to the point that my HR is at 90% (or even 95% if cranking hard up hills), but at mile 15 yesterday, I felt like my legs were at their end, and my HR was only at 80%. I suppose if I extrapolate (Resting heart rate is ~40% max, which equals 0% effort, then 80% max HR is actually pretty close to 60% effort). Although I was constantly drinking Cytomax (which is loaded with carbs), so I'm not sure if this is the answer.
Do you have any experience with this sensation? I wonder if there is any sort of specific training that I can do (besides losing more weight, which I'm already doing!) to prevent this, and increase the endurance/output of my legs.
-Matt
