Can anyone explain why this might be? Anything that takes 1 - 1.5 hours, I’ll want to eat like a horse for the entire day. But for endurance workouts 2+ hours, the thought of food will be entirely unappealing for about a day and a half. I know I need to refuel, so I try to get some carbs and protein in, but it’s an effort to even hit my TDEE. Any tips for getting appetite back up when this happens?
What sort of temps are you training in? I ask because I often struggle to eat when I’m hot and simply taking time out to cool down can help.
I also fall into the trap of having a coffee for breakfast and not eating until mid afternoon. From memory, caffeine is a hunger suppressant and the stomach being empty most of the time has the same outcome.
On the days I do the above, I tend to eat something simple like a banana to get things going again. Leave it 15-20 minutes and try again.
YMMM.
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90-100 degree Texas summer weather, and I drink far too much caffeine… you might be right. I’ll try a cold shower or swim next time and see if that helps.
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I know this well, after long endurance rides, even if I don’t fuel enough on the ride I’m not hungry at all, even the next day. I don’t mind for the lower intensity long rides, but after marathon events at high intensity I feel more food could aid recovery. Either way, I still try to eat quite a bit of fruit, even if I’m not hungry to get the recovery benefits of food.
If they truly are endurance rides it’s the energy stores being used. Short high intensity stuff burns through glycogen which needs to be restored and can make you want to raid cupboards. Low intensity endurance is all fat burning and doesn’t give you the same hunger pangs (in most).
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