Re: RC: Re: Re: water weight

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/23/99 9:27:54 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
ralston@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU writes:

<< >So 10.7 lbs glycogen for a 1000 lb horse per hour.  How does that sound??
 
 Like an awful lot-Glycogen's formula is officially (C6-H10-O5)n-it is
 basically 
 a bunch of glucoses linked together, so I'm not even sure what a "mole" of
 the stuff
 would consist of: Beth?
 
 Ti will be ecstatic. But I still maintain that normally endurance horses do 
 not run on pure glycogen and glucose as he would like to have us believe. 
 Sarah >>

I would wonder, too, if the horse is "manufacturing" all this glycogen along 
the trail, rather than using substrates at hand (glucose and VFA's).  Let's 
look at post-ride weight loss.  I don't have the "moring after" figures for 
any but the winner at Tevis, so I'll use him as a "one-ratter" here, and add 
that while he was one of the better among the top finishers for lack of 
weight loss post ride.  Aurber only lost 40# on Tevis.  (His start weight I 
don't have--just the overall loss figure--but he's not a big horse and was 
likely between 800# and 900# at the start.)  After eating and drinking 
overnight, he was back to within 20# of his pre-race weight.  Since it takes 
about 48 hours to entirely recoup glycogen losses (that "Monday-morning 
post-ride weight gain" that we riders experience) it's pretty safe to say 
that he has only replaced a part of his glycogen loss, and that most of what 
he has recouped on Sunday morning is fiber fill in his gut and water loss.  
So his "net" loss for the entire Tevis is only something slightly more than 
20#.  Tom tells us that glucose being utilized directly, so any simple carb 
that he is taking in during the ride is not becoming glycogen.  He had a 
riding time of 12+ hours--so if glycogen were what he was running on, even 
adjusting for his body weight (let's say 8.5# of glycogen per hour, since 
he's a little horse, x 12 hours), he'd have to burn over 100# of glycogen if 
that was his only fuel source.  Nope, don't think so--not with a net weight 
loss of only 20#.  Did he consume that much carb during that time?  Nope.  I 
wasn't on his ground crew, but I know the horse from other rides and I'd 
imagine he ate SOME carb in the form of grain.  So we're back to having 
gotten at least SOME benefit from that nasty old sludge in his colon, 
percolating out VFA's as he continues to eat roughage and push the whole 
nasty mess along.  It takes more than one instrument to make an orchestra--in 
this case, a Krebs cycle that is willing to use carbs, VFA's, fats, and even 
a few chopped-up proteins to keep everything in harmony.

Heidi


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