I am having trouble with keeping things down after 25-26 miles and I am concerned because of my first 50 is coming up on May 3rd at Collegiate Peaks in Buena Vista. If this happens at this point in the 50 I don't know I can finish, there is a big difference between forcing myself through another 6 miles or another 25 miles while puking. Here is a breakdown of what happened. It was pretty warm in the upper 70s to lower 80s and very windy with gust around 30mph on Saturday also. The course is basically 4 laps with about 500-600 feet of climbing and downhill in each lap.
Started the race with 2 bottles of Heed in my waist pack. The goal was to get used to waist pack (just bought it) and try to drink one bottle or more per hour.
Lap 1: Time 1:02- I just settled into a pace that felt comfortable and just cruised along with the people around me. Took in 4oz water at 3.5 miles at aid station. Took gel at 40 mins. At end of 1st loop took in 4oz of Heed at aid station and both bottles of Heed were 1/2 gone. Took 2 salt tabs at 1 hour.
Total input for lap: Heed- 1 bottle and 4oz
Salt tabs- 2
1 gel
Water- 4oz
Lap 2: Time 1:04- Refilled one bottle that was gone at 1st aid station and took 4oz of water. At 1:30 took 2 Cliff Blocks. At the end of 2nd lap refilled the other bottle and took 2 salt tabs and 4oz of Heed.
Total input for lap: Heed- 1 bottle and 4oz
Salt tabs- 2
2 Cliff Blocks
Water- 4oz
Lap 3: Time 1:17- Same as Lap 2 but picked up some M&Ms at halfway point of the lap because I was hungry but there really was nothing to eat at the aid stations, all they had was candy. I was hoping for bannas or bagels. Walked some of the uphills after the aid station at halfway mark and ran all the downhill/flat.
Total input for lap: Heed- 1 bottle and 4oz
Salt tabs- 2
2 Cliff Blocks
Water- 4oz
Handful of M&Ms
Lap 4: Time 1:43- Started having stomach issues at mile 25, threw up halfway between start of lap and aid station. Forced some Heed into me while walk/jog to aid station. At the aid station I took 8oz of Coke, filled one bottle with water and walked most of the uphill while drinking the Coke. After going over the top I started running the downhill but stopped and puked again just on the other side of the highpoint of the course. This sounds gross but the Cliff blocks from the last lap were still in my stomach and came up. From this point on I walked/jogged sipping on water because my throat was raw from puking. Every time I started feeling sick while jogging I would stop to a walk. When walking I was watching my GPS watch to make sure I was staying around 4mph. The last 0.25 miles I ran in because my buddy Clyde was cheering for me to run it in and I did not want to finish on a walk and puked a 3rd time 30 seconds after crossing the finish line.
Total input for lap: Heed- 4oz and 1/4 bottle
Water- 1/4 bottle sipping
Coke- 8oz
Note-- All of this and some more came back up.
Total time: 5:06
My girlfriend who is a paramedic was concerned because I basically had no fluids for almost 2 hours and was more covered in salt than she as ever seen me so she pumped an IV bag into me, great to have easy access and not have to bug the race EMTs. A few mins later my stomach calmed down and I was drinking/sipping again.
I just can not seem to get this figured out. Was I not taking in enough electrolytes? To many electrolytes? Fluids? Food (I was hungry on lap 3 but aid stations had no real food)?
Was I running to fast for me? I felt great in the legs, lungs, head even after puking. I was able to keep going without any problems, it was all not being able to keep fluids down. Every time I started running, especially downhill I started getting sick to my stomach and would puke shortly after that.
If I would not have had the issues that I did on the 4th lap I would have had an awesome time, maybe around 4:30-4:45.
Anyway any ideas/advise from people out there would be great.
Here are some pictures that were taken at the race. Enjoy.
Hey Shad!
ReplyDeleteI read your blog. I have had similar issues in the past, but thankfully have gotten it under control. I used to do mix-and-match fueling--a handfull of m&m's, Shot Bloks, gels,oreos, soda, etc. I finally figured out my stomach was too senstitive to try and handle all the different foods for extended periods of running. I went to ONLY Hammer products and it has made a WORLD of difference! I drink Perpetuem only during the run and take Hammer Gels. I skip everything else. I found that I am not hungry and feel energetic the entire time. I no longer bloat or have bathroom issues during the race. Maybe going to one thing would help you too. I would try it during training first. I wish you luck. Please let me know how it goes!
Shad - Nice blog; I saw your comment on mine so here are a few of my thoughts for you; best to try any of this on a training run rather than waiting till the CP 50....
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'm not sure what is in Heed, but overall I think you were taking in an awful lot of calories and probably not enough plain water. As you noted, it was a hot windy day. After a lot of experimenting, I have settled on using water for fluid, and gels/salt pills for calories and electrolyte replacement. The reason for this is that you will need to drink more or less depending on the weather, and you'll need varying amounts of electrolytes, but you always need the same amount of calories. I feel that 250 calories per hour is as much as you can process; anything more and you'll get a sloshy belly and just start to feel like crap.
So, you might want to try on your next long run a plan like this: Drink as much water as you feel you need (like 16 - 22 oz per hour for normal conditions), take 1 gel every 25 - 30 minutes, and use salt pills as needed. I generally take 1 every 45 minutes or whenever I start to feel any pre-cramping.
Hope that helps,
Paul