Fw: [pct-l] Hyponatremia

[waynekraft at verizon.net (Wayne Kraft)]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Kraft" <waynekraft@verizon.net>
To: "Gary Wright" <at2002@mac.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 4:45 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Hyponatremia


> Gary, I was using the term "extreme carb depletion" (which I made up) 
> interchangably with bonk, which is a term of art.  I'm not sure low blood 
> sugar is the same thing, although it may be related.  As I understand it, 
> some people have problems with low blood sugar even when they don't 
> excercise.  The way it was explained to me is that when you are running 
> slowly at marathon speed or walking, your body is using mostly fat for 
> fuel. Burning fat is good because it doesn't produce lactic acid, a 
> byproduct of the carohydrate burn, that eventually ties up your muscles 
> and brings you to a halt.  However, your body can't run on just fat.  You 
> still need to burn some carbs to keep the fat metabolism going. Like a 
> pilot light in the furnace.  Everybody, even the skinniest guy, has plenty 
> of fat to run a marathon, but everybody, even a chubby fellow like me, can 
> run out of the carb energy needed to keep the fat burning.  When that 
> happens you bonk.  If you run too fast, lactic acid build up will get you 
> before you bonk.  In fact, that can tie you up in a really short race. 
> I've never been accused of running too fast in a marathon and I'm always 
> ready to chow down, but there are limits to what your body can do for you. 
> For one thing, it isn't too hard for a runner to burn more carbohydrate 
> energy than the runner can eat and digest.  This is especially true for 
> people who puke when they run hard.
>
> How this relates to hiking the PTC is an entirely different matter.  After 
> a few hours marathoners go home and eat and rest up and don't do another 
> marathon for a month or a year or ever again.  You thru-hikers get up each 
> morning and do it again and usually you don't eat enough to totally 
> replenish the calories you've burned.  You could run out of fat doing 
> that, although the body starts burning muscle for fuel before all the fat 
> is gone. But in the short term, day-to-day, it shouldn't be too hard to 
> avoid bonking if you stop for meals and eat snacks.
>
> Wayne Kraft
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Gary Wright" <at2002@mac.com>
> To: "Wayne Kraft" <waynekraft@verizon.net>
> Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 10:19 AM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Hyponatremia
>
>
>>
>> On Apr 21, 2005, at 9:22 AM, Wayne Kraft wrote:
>>> This was quite sudden and obvious.  I began to experience tunnel vision 
>>> and poor balance and was reduced to a  walk. I gobbled a gel pack and 
>>> was back to a jog in about 10 minutes and was able to finish the race. 
>>> A cheeseburger, fries, microbrew and nap returned me to normal within a 
>>> few hours.  This was clearly an example of extreme carb depletion, not 
>>> hyponatremia.
>>
>> So, is it correct to say that "bonking", "extreme carb depletion", and
>> "low blood sugar" are the same phenomena?
>>
>