Yeah, I'm excited...
You may recall reading of my struggles to finish the longer and hillier 14-mile bicycle route from my home to my business during Induction. I kept bonking at about 11 miles, and my times were getting slower and slower. Anyway, after reading in NANY that it takes "elite cyclists" about 4 weeks to fully adapt to fat-burning when they switch from hi-carb to hi-fat diets, I decided to take a week off from riding at all, and 10 days off from the long course.
Fast-forward to last Friday, and I rode the easier short course to work, which is 10 miles and almost perfectly flat. I felt so good that I nearly set a new PR on the ride without even thinking about it, so decided to take the long course today. I also consciously decided not to try for any kind of PR today. To that end I rode the first several miles very easy leading up to the first of the three hills on that route.
I topped the first hill feeling fine, and the second as well, then started the 3 mile flat section leading to the third, and highest of the three hills. My first clue that things were going well was when I hit the bottom of the third hill in 23:30. That's about a minute faster than I've reached that point before, and I felt fine. I was giving myself a solid workout, but not out of breath or feeling like I was overdoing it.
The second surprise came when I reached the top of the big hill, and went to select tall range only to discover that I'd never shifted down to mid range. Instead I had powered up to the top in the tallest gears my bike has. Down the back side of the hill I went to join the city bike path leading to within a few blocks of work.
I didn't look at the clock. I simply rode at a sustainable pace that was giving me a good workout without chancing a "bonk" prior to reaching work. The bonk never came, and I was able to lean into the pedals all the way. When I stopped in front of the door I was pleasantly surprised to see a time of 53:19, a new PR by 47 seconds. I had left with enough time to take an hour and 10 minutes before needing to open the shop "on time", so was so early I had time to make coffee and open the shop doors to let it cool off in there before my wife and the other employees showed up.
Since I am now three weeks into a very LC diet, normally about 12-15 grams of carbs a day...never more than 20, there is only one possible explanation: my muscles are burning fat. This is a great day!