Beyond the What?

What does it mean to bonk? Unfortunately for me, the word is used more often in reference to having sex nowadays but I use it in the context of cycling and other endurance sports. (So that's where I'll explain it) I'll start with the definition!

Verb

bonk (third-person singular simple present bonks, present participle bonking, simple past and past participle bonked)

1.) To experience sudden and severe fatigue in an endurance sports event due to glycogen depletion.


Ok so that's what the word means, but I want to give you a true understanding of what bonking feels like. Because before you actually experience it for yourself, (you don't want to though) words will never do it justice. 


Have you ever traveled to a big city in Europe, walked all over to each and every single one of the tourist spots, just walked all day, all over, and finally collapsed in your bed at the hotel/hostel/train car/bus stop and remarked "Oh man I'm so tired"? This is not bonking.

Have you ever stayed up really late into the night, cramming as much as possible for tomorrow's exam, only to wake up the next day in exactly the same position and then realise that you must've crashed without knowing? This is not bonking.

Have you ever gone into a Beep Test/Multi-stage fitness test, hit your absolute limit while diving for the line as you try to make it across before another beep disqualifies you and you collapse on the sidelines feeling like you're going to cough up your entire respiratory system? Sorry, you still haven't bonked


In any of these situations, you'll give it a few minutes and then you'll get back up on your feet and you'll be good to go. Bonking doesn't work that way. Once you've bonked, it's going to be at least a couple of hours before you can even think about being able to strain yourself again. When the definition says depletion, it means absolute and total depletion of any energy source your body has to burn. Sometimes people think they can will them selves on, push themselves just a little bit more and keep going. No. You can want to go all you want but there is no willing an empty tank in a car to keep the engine running. When you bonk there is literally nothing left for your body to use to make your body go.

So cue the severely reduced pace. If you pushed on, you'd be going so slow you'd be embarrassed, if you even realised what you were doing. You'll be so out of it mentally you'll look like a zombie to other people. Speech becomes difficult. Holding your head up is a chore. I think the only thing that keeps me moving in a time like this is muscle memory, the body moves on its own without any input from the brain. You automatically seek out food sources and try to gorge yourself on whatever is available. Even thinking is difficult as your thoughts come in waves of gibberish and ravenous pleas for energy but answering those pleas is too taxing.

Some people wonder if it's like some kind of out of body experience, where you're just kind of floating, looking down on yourself and unable to really experience your body like you normally would. To that I say wrong. Instead you are all too aware of every since inch of your body and how it's all screaming at you at the same time. You can feel your stomach and how it feels like it's the size of a walnut on the verge of consuming itself and imploding. You feel like the bones in your legs have turned to wet, soppy noodles surrounded by the pulverized meat that are your muscles.

Maybe once you have consumed twice your body weight in food you'll see some semblance of normalcy. But hopefully after reading this, you won't want to ever bonk and you'll eat a freaking granola bar before it's too late.

You don't want to be like me in this picture