mrmatta

I just completed my first century last Saturday. My training was more than sufficient, but I'm still dialing in the nutrition. After reading the forums, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to eat enough, so I made sure to fuel up before the ride.

My breakfast consisted entirely of foods that I've trained with repeatedly. I had:
-1 bowl of Wheaties with soymilk (90 min. before ride)
-1 large whole-grain muffin (60 min. before ride)
-1 homemade granola bar with dried cranberries (20 min. before ride)

It was full sun, mid-South humidity, and temperatures climbing up to mid-90's.

Climbing hill #1 (a pretty steep 300 ft. climb) at mile 12, at a reasonable pace, I felt much weaker than I should have.

Climbing hill #2 (similar specs) at mile 22,at a very slow pace, I started feeling very weak and suddenly projectile-vomited from the saddle near the summit (without slowing down at all). I was really considering abandoning the ride, but over the next few miles I started feeling much better.

After that, it was smooth sailing. I never felt hungry at rest stops, but I ate a little at each one and took in plenty of water. I felt strong on all of the later climbs. Weird, though, even after getting rid of most of my breakfast, I never felt that primal hunger at later rest stops like I usually do on rides >40 miles (at a really flat metric recently I ate Doritos and 2 hotdogs at a rest stop and a full spaghetti dinner with an ice cream sandwich at the finish an hour later).

Even at dinner after the ride, I had a moderate appetite. I ordered a normal amount of food and didn't finish it all. Two days later I still feel great. A tiny bit of stiffness, but nothing out of the ordinary.

My (hurling) theories:
-While all of my breakfast foods were familiar, I normally only eat one of the three. I simply ate too much before the ride.
(and/or)
-The heat and direct sun affected me more than I realized.
-It definitely WASN'T related to a fast pace or too much effort, I never even came close to hopping on the weekend-warrior-fat/old-guy-take-it-out-WAY-too-fast-only-to-pay-later train (and there were several passing through the station).


I'm still freaked out by how little I needed to eat (post-hurl) to feel OK without bonking. Even post-ride I never felt terribly hungry or got that sinking low-blood-sugar feeling. After nearly 8 hours in the saddle!

My theories on that:
-I consciously, compulsively, hydrated for two days before the ride. I'm normally not very good at keeping up the water intake. Is this enough to feel that much better/less desperately hungry??
(and/or)
-My training program was perfect and, after recent consecutive charity rides of 31, 50, and 62 miles, the century was actually anticlimactic.

Any thoughts from those more experienced than I???