# Flu like symptoms (the day after a long ride).



## fenlandpsychocyclist (29 Jan 2012)

Did an 85 miler yesterday in a leisurely 7hours and arrived home with energy to spare.
(Pushing towards the 100 milers).

Today i have been totally "seized" for want of a better word.
Symptoms today:

Shivers
Fast resting heart rate
Excessive thirst
Legs clicking and popping like bubblewrap
Legs getting really tired by lunchtime

The thing is, i always feel down the day after a 50+ miler.

Would a recovery ride this morning have helped, or have i just "overdone it".

I'm 5'6" weighing 200 pounds and tend to do no more than 30-40 miles on each training ride.


----------



## GrumpyGregry (29 Jan 2012)

You've either picked up a virus or, more likely, you're knackered. Or both. Anyhow stick at it, you'll adapt.


----------



## Crackle (30 Jan 2012)

So, how you feeling today?


----------



## fenlandpsychocyclist (30 Jan 2012)

Crackle said:


> So, how you feeling today?


 
Absolutely fine today ... virtually no aches or stiffness in the legs, and all the
shivers and hot flushes have cleared ... also the thirst has gone.

It's a case of "no pain, no gain" i suppose.


----------



## Crackle (30 Jan 2012)

fenlandpsychocyclist said:


> Absolutely fine today ... virtually no aches or stiffness in the legs, and all the
> shivers and hot flushes have cleared ... also the thirst has gone.
> 
> It's a case of "no pain, no gain" i suppose.


 
Interesting, must have been the exertion of the ride then. 85 miles is a good distance.


----------



## GrumpyGregry (30 Jan 2012)

Glad it was 'knackered' and not 'ill'.


----------



## lulubel (30 Jan 2012)

I had exactly the same the day after a long ride last summer. It was very hot and, although I drank plenty on the ride, I didn't drink very much for the rest of the day. I put it down to dehydration.


----------



## Arsen Gere (30 Jan 2012)

Before I start, I'm no expert in this area and the area is not fully understood and I understand it less than the experts. But here is my 2p.
When on your long rides the body breaks stuff down, this may produce arachadonic acid and then you get prostaglandins in reaction to inflamation. The prostaglandins carry the sense of pain to your brain so you feel unwell. Like a cold or flu ache. Paracetamol inhibits prostaglandins and should make you feel better quite quickly, but don't take them if you can cope. The body sorts iself out and you feel better the next day.

The good news is that this should stop as you get fitter and more used to the stress that the long rides create. So don't stop riding, maybe take it a bit easier, try eating and drinking more as the others point out, the problem should go away by itself.


----------



## tyred (30 Jan 2012)

I think you need to drink more water. At least it stops me from having problems like this.


----------



## IanT (30 Jan 2012)

Personally, I'm finding on long rides that it's just as important to take electrolyte. 

I use a CamelBak - which I use to keep hydrated on the go - and mix an electrolyte powder into my drink bottle - which I take at rest stops and afterwards. 

Did a fairly testing (for me at least) 55 miles at the weekend and using this method found I did not get the usual Sunday morning seized legs. 

There's some pretty good science behind it, too - you loose electrolyte through sweat, which you need to replace. If you just take on board water, the kidneys will want to move more water through you to restore the balance of electrolyte - so you simply pee more. 

Makes good sense - and certainly seemed to work for me.


----------



## Dave 123 (30 Jan 2012)

Drink more....
How did you feel before the ride? 100%? Bit of a cold? Tired from work?
I only did 35 miles on Sunday, felt great for the rest of the day.. felt awful riding to work this morning.
I work outside and I was pretty static all day on a cold hard surface. I think the body uses up a large amount of energy just keeping warm.


----------



## danger mouse (30 Jan 2012)

+ many for dehydration/recovery from excess training. 

Good way to check is the colour of your wee.


----------



## fenlandpsychocyclist (30 Jan 2012)

danger mouse said:


> + many for dehydration/recovery from excess training.
> 
> Good way to check is the colour of your wee.


 
Thanks for the replies chaps.
I should have pointed out in my original post that i had "pre-loaded" plenty of carbs the day before the ride, and during the ride i drank
just under 1 litre of pre-mixed "high 5" (2 tablets per litre).
Also i ate virtually every hour (peanut butter sandwiches/fig rolls/cake/wine gums).

As for wee ... that looked like beer during the evening. So i guess i should drink more isotonic during the evening after a ride
rather than plain old squash?

I intend to wind up the mileage further during these cooler months, even if the rides knock me out the following day.

As i see it if i don't loose the excess weight now, the excess fat will only hold the heat in more during the summer months,
meaning i won't want to cycle as much ... meaning i won't continue loosing weight.


----------



## fenlandpsychocyclist (30 Jan 2012)

Arsen Gere said:


> Before I start, I'm no expert in this area and the area is not fully understood and I understand it less than the experts. But here is my 2p.
> When on your long rides the body breaks stuff down, this may produce arachadonic acid and then you get prostaglandins in reaction to inflamation. The prostaglandins carry the sense of pain to your brain so you feel unwell. Like a cold or flu ache. Paracetamol inhibits prostaglandins and should make you feel better quite quickly, but don't take them if you can cope. The body sorts iself out and you feel better the next day.
> 
> The good news is that this should stop as you get fitter and more used to the stress that the long rides create. So don't stop riding, maybe take it a bit easier, try eating and drinking more as the others point out, the problem should go away by itself.


 
Thanks for the detailed reply ... i'll probably try some paracetamol next time i suffer post-ride fatigue.


----------



## Banjo (30 Jan 2012)

Only use paracetomol if you really need it. I would try drinking lots of plain water to flush out your system and rehydrate you. Personally I would drink much more than you on an 85 miler. I carry 1.5 liters in two 0.75 litre bottles and would have refilled one of them making the total more than double what you drink on the ride.


----------



## jowwy (30 Jan 2012)

less than a litre of fluid on a 7 hour ride - seems like you was dehydrated to me


----------



## Grizzly (31 Jan 2012)

If your pee was dark then dehydration certainly sounds like a source of some problems. Look up rhabdomyolysis and hyponatremia, just make sure that you consume a balanced diet when exercising at greater than usual levels.
*​*


----------



## ushills (31 Jan 2012)

jowwy said:


> less than a litre of fluid on a 7 hour ride - seems like you was dehydrated to me


 +1, one litre is nowhere near enough, I get through 1l for an hour I can reduce that to 0.5l per hour if not really going for it, which a sedate 7 hours woud imply but you need 3-4l for that duration/distance.


----------



## HLaB (31 Jan 2012)

I'm bad for not drinking enough, especially at this time of year. What does help a bit is prehydrating, sipping a pint or two of diluted juice before I set off and having some energy powder in my bottle (I find Torq is good) and I usually finish that off when I get home (its a good recovery drink) and drink more pints of diluted juice. Eating too is important if you are going any distance; on a sportive or a solo 100+ miler I like to have a banana/cereal bar every 20-25 miles whether I need it or not.


----------



## fenlandpsychocyclist (31 Jan 2012)

Grizzly said:


> If your pee was dark then dehydration certainly sounds like a source of some problems. Look up rhabdomyolysis and hyponatremia, just make sure that you consume a balanced diet when exercising at greater than usual levels.
> ​


 

Now you're just trying to scare me. 

I'm putting the whole epsiode down to plain old dehydration, which is surprising because the
weather only made 5 degrees when i was out on saturday.

Plenty of people with good knowledge on this forum though.


----------



## ushills (31 Jan 2012)

+1 on Hyponatremia, make sure you drink an electrolyte not just water or squash. Headaches while drinking plenty of fluids and exercising are a good sign that your salt levels are getting low.

Or eat a back of ready salted crisps


----------



## Gixxerman (31 Jan 2012)

Ketosis?


----------



## Grizzly (31 Jan 2012)

fenlandpsychocyclist said:


> Now you're just trying to scare me.
> 
> I'm putting the whole epsiode down to plain old dehydration, which is surprising because the
> weather only made 5 degrees when i was out on saturday.
> ...


 
Sorry I wasn't trying to scare you. I help out with the West Highland Way Race every year and I often see these conditions in people, mostly the symptoms are mild and relatively easy to deal with. Here is a wee article on the subject, although this is written for/about ultra runners anyone pushing themselves hard without proper fluid management will suffer these symptoms to some degree. As I said originally though, dehydration is probably your main issue but if you don't replace sweat with a drink that has sodium in it you'll will probably feel unwell. 

P.S. I also eat bananas for their high potassium levels, both sodium and potassium are needed for the muscles to work.


----------



## CapsCyclists (31 Jan 2012)

fenlandpsychocyclist said:


> Did an 85 miler yesterday in a leisurely 7hours and arrived home with energy to spare.
> (Pushing towards the 100 milers).
> 
> Today i have been totally "seized" for want of a better word.
> ...


 
Believe it or not but a great recovery drink after long work outs is chocolate milk. It has protein that you need for you muscle and the sugar help your body keep going plus whatever else it has that's good for you. Mostly likely you over did it since your not used to riding that distance. If your lactose intolerant you can try RegEn, which is a lactose free drink that is like chocolate milk.. it's just a little expensive.


----------



## 400bhp (31 Jan 2012)

I'm not too goot at taking on fluids and often suffer from headaches after rides of more than 50 miles. 

It sounds like dehydration and your body not used to such a long ride.


----------



## Old Plodder (5 Feb 2012)

I agree with the lack of fluids on your ride, 85 in 7 is pushing it. When you get back home, I would eat & drink within two hours, preferably one, to replenish that which your body has used. The one to two hour window after hard exercise is the secret. you'll still know it the following day, but nothing like what you described.


----------



## lulubel (5 Feb 2012)

Definitely dehydration.

I generally drink 500ml an hour, although I realised towards the end of today's ride that I'd barely had half that, and have been making a point of rehydrating since I've been home.

I'd recommend doubling the amount you drink during your ride, if that's all you can face, then drink 500ml every hour when you get back until your wee is straw coloured. It doesn't have to be water. Squash, fizzy drinks, even tea or coffee will help - the fluid in tea and coffee outweighs the dehydrating effect from caffeine being a diuretic. If you're eating plenty, I can't imagine you'd need to add electrolytes to your water at this time of year. I don't (although I use them religiously in summer), and it's still a lot warmer here than in the UK.


----------



## boydj (5 Feb 2012)

Even when it is very cold and you don't seem to be sweating a lot, you are losing a lot of vapour in your breath, so it is important to keep the fluid intake going - which can be difficult when your bottle is freezing up.

I find, though, that rehydrating can be difficult if you are dehydrated because your stomach is usually rebelling. + 1 on chocolate milk as a good start until any queasiness subsides.


----------

