Originally Posted by
slowandsteady
so, yeah, the fact that I am only eating 900 calories is what makes this even stranger. How can someone, even a person with a highly efficient metabolism, ride nearly 20 miles and feel fine at a pace they did before breaking a leg and being bedridden. That is why I posted. There is something about this mix of nutrients that is fueling me very well.
I think the key is that I must be using my fat stores very well. There is no other explanation that I can think of. The calories have to be coming from somewhere...and it isn't my mouth.
You may be riding at a different
percentage of your maximum-strength. That is, you may be putting out 30% of your maximum-output now to achieve a particular average-speed on your ride. Earlier, you may have been using only 15% of your max-strength. Your ave-speed is limited more by aerobic-capacity and FTP than pure muscle-strength.
During the later parts of the race season, I actually lose about 30-40% of my leg's strength due to overworking them and insufficient R&R time. This is especially bad if I've been going too many long rides & races that deplete my glycogen and the body breaks down muscle-protein for energy. Then, during the winter, I do a 8-week programme of weight-lifting to rebuild those muscles and get the strength back. Many racers can't affort that kind of power-loss and they have to incorporate strength/weight-training into their weekly training-schedule, just to maintain the same muscle-mass and strength.
Without knowing the exact distances and speeds of your rides, we can't say anything about how your body's working.