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marathons & vomitting
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apologies in advance for the details, i've tried to include every factor i can think of... any advice appreciated!
last sundays nottingham marathon, and previous experience tells me i have a big problem with hydrating & fuelling on the move.
i've always gone with the idiom that if you get thirsty then you're already partially dehydrated.. hence i do take on some water at every drink station and energy drink where available, the act of having liquid in my mouth & swallowing some seems to stop my thirst feeling for a short while.
in training i use SIS electrolyte.. similar to the SIS go drink at nottingham. and for convenience of carrying i use gels for fuelling (although only one on this occasion due to the energy drink on supply)
however on more than one occasion i get to 20+miles and start to feel nauseous. When i am eventually (and mercifully by that time!) sick my stomach empties itself of a huge amount of fluid.
my pit-stop at 20miles ish revealed pretty clear urine. I didn't go again until a couple of hours after the event when it was much darker (comparable to a day of dehydrating at my desk).
since it first happened to me i have consciously tried to reduce my fluid intake over this distance. my thirst tells me i need fluid but it just doesn't seem to get absorbed.
should i drink even less and risk dehydration? (it was fiercely sunny & 24degrees+ on sunday)
should i experiment with more solids for energy (energy bars etc) to soak up some of the fluid ?
should i resign myself to vomitting at 22miles and being dehydrated for the next 4miles?
hundreds of other people seem to manage to finish marathons without this problem! what's wrong/different with me?????
i'm going to consult some books but any opinions/experience from the RW collective would be welcome!
last sundays nottingham marathon, and previous experience tells me i have a big problem with hydrating & fuelling on the move.
i've always gone with the idiom that if you get thirsty then you're already partially dehydrated.. hence i do take on some water at every drink station and energy drink where available, the act of having liquid in my mouth & swallowing some seems to stop my thirst feeling for a short while.
in training i use SIS electrolyte.. similar to the SIS go drink at nottingham. and for convenience of carrying i use gels for fuelling (although only one on this occasion due to the energy drink on supply)
however on more than one occasion i get to 20+miles and start to feel nauseous. When i am eventually (and mercifully by that time!) sick my stomach empties itself of a huge amount of fluid.
my pit-stop at 20miles ish revealed pretty clear urine. I didn't go again until a couple of hours after the event when it was much darker (comparable to a day of dehydrating at my desk).
since it first happened to me i have consciously tried to reduce my fluid intake over this distance. my thirst tells me i need fluid but it just doesn't seem to get absorbed.
should i drink even less and risk dehydration? (it was fiercely sunny & 24degrees+ on sunday)
should i experiment with more solids for energy (energy bars etc) to soak up some of the fluid ?
should i resign myself to vomitting at 22miles and being dehydrated for the next 4miles?
hundreds of other people seem to manage to finish marathons without this problem! what's wrong/different with me?????
i'm going to consult some books but any opinions/experience from the RW collective would be welcome!
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Comments
I get nauseous after long run too (although it starts earlier for me - about 10-12 miles), and it doesn't seem to matter whether I drink a lot or a little. I do find that I am slightly better with sports drink or even normal squash than just with water.
From what I've read, the body finds it difficult to absorb water alone, (hence the amount of isotonic drinks on the market) and after a certain quantity, the stomach shuts down and just doesn't let any more through (probably as a defence mechanism to flushing to much salt/minerals out of the body). What is left in the stomach, sloshing around as we run, will eventually cause you to up-chuck. There is a particular mix of fluid and salts that makes a drink "isotonic", i.e. most easily absorbed, and if you are running a marathon and taking on a mix of iso drinks and water, this balance is not going to be 100% right. Also, the stress on the body of running 26 miles will probably upset the balance anyway, so it will be very difficult to get it spot on. Elite runners have their own bottles in major races - and probably have a team if scientists to work out the exact mix and quantity. For the rest of us it is a bit of guess-work.
There’s also the build up of lactic acid. Apparently some finds its way into the stomach (didn’t do biology, so I don’t know the mechanics of this) and can cause nausea. Again, probably not much to be done about this, unless you want to slow down a lot!
Hmm, so what does all this mean? Probably experiment with the strength of your sports drink, and the proportion of sports drink to water you take on during a race. Gels might be more concentrated, and allow for higher water consumption before being diluted beyond the optimum mix level.
That’s my view on it anyway. Now to wait for an expert who will contradict it all………….
If you're doing the Abingdon, kindly post your number so I can stay out of range of you at 22 miles. I'll do the same for you
I recommended same tablets to a friend who feels progressively more nauseous towards the end of a marathon and is usually unable to eat for the rest of the day. After the last marathon he did, we all sat on the seafront at Douglas eating fish & chips in the evening, and he was so pleased to be feeling OK.
certainly putting some proper food in at the end (a couple of sausage rolls) settled things down greatly
I find that sports drinks and gels don't agree with me. I would generally use some sports drink a couple of hours before a long race or run, I then rely on water and maybe something like an energy bar - normally the Hi5 ones.
Do you do the carbo loading thing the day before? A big meal eaten the night before - especially on top of a big lunch can cause stomach problems on a run the next morning, as can a high fibre breakfast.
Nessie, you are right in thinking that no manufacturer can know what constitutes isotonic for you in the middle of a race. However I think I'm right that nothing should hydrate you faster than pure water in any circumstances.
Gut trouble is not, alas, an uncommon problem.
Saturday took antacid tablets with me for the first time on a run, and they did seem to help.
will allow your tum to empty
i think most peeps drink too much while racing actaully
I needed to wee at 22 miles, and thats not right
i normally go at least 10 hours without weeing
im lucky to manage 1500 mls in a day
I try and remember that you don't drink s much at night which means fewer carbohydrates. That needs to be compensated for if you're going to keep your pace up. The drink needs to be more concentrated or you eat.
theywere good on trailwalker
i still swear by boots energy bars
i think
nice diversion of my thread going on above.. but interesting nevertheless.
the bit of noakes i read yesterday implied that the 'purity' of your carb intake was less important in ultra distances (i.e. with proteins & fats)
re the original topic.. for me it's def related to hitting the wall, which is something i've only really achieved once or twice in training by back to back long runs.
looks like i have quite a few variables to check out, luckily i have some long runs coming up to test them out on.
i) reduce fluid intake
ii) reduce starchy carbo loading prior to
iii) refuel on solids
iv) stomach settling potions
anything else ?