Post LSR Nausea

az2wp0sye65487

Just wondering if this is a common experience among runners or am I doing something wrong?

I'm new to the longer distances tbh so I've no previous experience.

Did an 18 mile LSR on Saturday and a couple of hours afterwards I started feeling horrible.... Is it down to poor nutrition, or dehydration? It took me 2hrs 50mins if that makes a difference (had to walk a couple of times) - so it's not like I was sprinting or anything.

Saturday morning I filled up on a big breakfast - 2 slices of toast, 3 eggs (scrambled), beans & 2 pieces of bacon.

During the run I drank approx 1.5L of water, 500ml of Lucosade sport, & 1 energy gel - so I think I was well stocked from that point of view also....

Maybe I'd consumed too much rather than too little?

RayCun

How long before your run did you eat, and what did you eat afterwards?

misty floyd

I was getting that after most LSR's when training for DCM last year. I didn't know what it was. For the next marathon training block I didn't get that sick feeling and I put it down to not running too fast during the week. I had increased mileage for the next time but lots of easy running and didn't experience that post LSR sickness/weakness.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a heavy week with fast running (for me) and by the end of the week when I went to hit a 20miler, I was running on empty and had to walk...out of glycogen I think, as it felt like how it felt like when I hit the wall in DCM. Horrible feeling.

It might not be that steviecakes but are you training too hard? How many hard sessions a week are you doing? How fast are you running the LSR's?

Krusty_Clown

It may not be in any way related, but it sounds like a very unusual pre-LSR breakfast to me (lots of proteins and fats, and not a huge amount of carbs).

My typical pre LSR breakfast would usually consist of something like:
Porridge - low fat milk, with banana, honey, seeds
Toasted Bagel with nutella/peanut butter etc
Coffee and lots of water/fruit juice.

You don't have to be that extreme, but perhaps you could experiment with a higher carb breakfast, with a lower mix of protein and fats?

I suffered from nausea once or twice after a marathon/ultra, but it was typically immediately afterwards and was the result of taking on too much sugar (e.g. mixing gels and sports drinks) etc.

Also make sure you are hydrating properly after the run. It takes me liters and liters of water before I'm rehydrated properly.

az2wp0sye65487

RayCun wrote: »

How long before your run did you eat, and what did you eat afterwards?

I ate about 3 - 4 hours beforehand, and had a big bowl of spaghetti bolognese afterwards...

misty floyd wrote: »

I was getting that after most LSR's when training for DCM last year. I didn't know what it was. For the next marathon training block I didn't get that sick feeling and I put it down to not running too fast during the week. I had increased mileage for the next time but lots of easy running and didn't experience that post LSR sickness/weakness.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a heavy week with fast running (for me) and by the end of the week when I went to hit a 20miler, I was running on empty and had to walk...out of glycogen I think, as it felt like how it felt like when I hit the wall in DCM. Horrible feeling.

It might not be that steviecakes but are you training too hard? How many hard sessions a week are you doing? How fast are you running the LSR's?

Don't think I'm training too hard... 2 short and 1 medium length run during the week (ie. Tues = 8km, Wed = 13km, Thurs = 8km) then the 29km on Saturday.

The midweek runs are at an average speed of around 12km/ph - 12.5km/ph

I should mention however that last week was my first full week back training after 3 weeks off due to injury (IT band & I hurt my back!)

Maybe simply a case of over-doing it?

opus

Only time I felt really bad after an LSR was cause I didn't drink enough but you look to have had that well covered. Similar to what KC said, I'd be a fan of the higher carb breakfast as well, in fact that's what I'd normally have in the morning anyway so maybe worth trying that approach to see if it improves things for your next run.

theboyblunder

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It may not be in any way related, but it sounds like a very unusual pre-LSR breakfast to me (lots of proteins and fats, and not a huge amount of carbs).

+1 Protein takes a while to digest (a lot longer than most simple carbs) and doesnt provide as much energy on the run.

I have a very similar breakfast to Krusty's before LSRs and on the odd occassion where Ive had something with less carbs - the run usually didnt go so well in the latter stages.

az2wp0sye65487

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It may not be in any way related, but it sounds like a very unusual pre-LSR breakfast to me (lots of proteins and fats, and not a huge amount of carbs).

My typical pre LSR breakfast would usually consist of something like:
Porridge - low fat milk, with banana, honey, seeds
Toasted Bagel with nutella/peanut butter etc
Coffee and lots of water/fruit juice.

You don't have to be that extreme, but perhaps you could experiment with a higher carb breakfast, with a lower mix of protein and fats?

I suffered from nausea once or twice after a marathon/ultra, but it was typically immediately afterwards and was the result of taking on too much sugar (e.g. mixing gels and sports drinks) etc.

Also make sure you are hydrating properly after the run. It takes me liters and liters of water before I'm rehydrated properly.

opus wrote: »

Only time I felt really bad after an LSR was cause I didn't drink enough but you look to have had that well covered. Similar to what KC said, I'd be a fan of the higher carb breakfast as well, in fact that's what I'd normally have in the morning anyway so maybe worth trying that approach to see if it improves things for your next run.

theboyblunder wrote: »

+1 Protein takes a while to digest (a lot longer than most simple carbs) and doesnt provide as much energy on the run.

I have a very similar breakfast to Krusty's before LSRs and on the odd occassion where Ive had something with less carbs - the run usually didnt go so well in the latter stages.

OK - So I'll try a more carbilicious breakfast this weekend... what's the general opinion regarding pancakes? - (1 mug of fluor, 1 mug of milk, 1 egg) - normally makes about 5 or 6 pancakes... would any of you recommend pancakes or are they a no-no??

Also, when you're planning your LSR for early morning, is it OK to stock up on carbs the night before, and just have something very light when you wake up?

BeepBeep67

Personally I would go with a slower release carb than pancakes. Bagels or granary toast with peanut butter and jam for me if I'm stuck for time.

misty floyd

Romeo Ugly Cobbler wrote: »

would any of you recommend pancakes or are they a no-no??

Also, when you're planning your LSR for early morning, is it OK to stock up on carbs the night before, and just have something very light when you wake up?

Porridge for me. Great stuff.

I'd always eat a good meal the night before. Not that early either, maybe 8:00pm. That for me is more important than the breakfast.

ger664

Given the tempatures yesterday and the fact you took an energy Gel 1.5L of water is not enough.

How much water did you drink the day before and what did you eat for dinner the evening before ?

misty floyd

ger664 wrote: »

Given the tempatures yesterday and the fact you took an energy Gel 1.5L of water is not enough.

it wasn't that warm and 1.5L of water is way more than enough IMO.

Oisin11178

misty floyd wrote: »

it wasn't that warm and 1.5L of water is way more than enough IMO.

Id have to agree. combined with the lubozade he had 2 litres. maybe something as simple as salt depletion. this happened to me a couple of times this year and i had very similar symtoms.

sideswipe

My typical pre LSR breakfast would usually consist of something like:
Porridge - low fat milk, with banana, honey, seeds
Toasted Bagel with nutella/peanut butter etc
Coffee and lots of water/fruit juice.

Thats pretty much what I would call the perfect pre LSR/race brekkie. I took the Bagel-nutella advice from Krusty on a thread last year and find my energy levels much improved in the later stages of a long run.

az2wp0sye65487

sideswipe wrote: »

Thats pretty much what I would call the perfect pre LSR/race brekkie. I took the Bagel-nutella advice from Krusty on a thread last year and find my energy levels much improved in the later stages of a long run.

I must give it a try this weekend so!

With the half marathon in 2 weeks, what are other people's rituals the night before or the morning of a long-ish race to make sure you've taken enough food & water...

I'm lucky in that I live close enough to the Phoenix Park, so I won't have to wake up mad early to get to it! But I also don't want to risk eating too close to the start time.

Krusty_Clown

I eat a good two to three hours before the race, even if it means getting up very early (for a very big race, I'll usually be awake anyway). A good strong cup of coffee helps to make sure that things are *ahem* moved along. I would drink a mixture of water and fruit juice (1 - 1.5L) but stop drinking at least an hour before the race, and just sip water as required.

Condo131

Hi Stevie,
I'd go along with everything you've heard to date regarding eating before your long run.

What I didn't see much was when to eat afterwards. It's VERY IMPORTANT to get food in within a SHORT period of finishing, ideally within 15 mins. If you first eat quite a while afterwards, your body, apparently, goes into a type of shutdown mode and the food will sit in your stomach. So have some thing like a banana/mars bar/whatever asap. I now have a banana straight away after mine.

opus

Spotted a possibly relevant article in an email from Runner's World this evening.

Performance Provisions

az2wp0sye65487

Thanks Opus, very interesting article.

I must sign up to RW! I've looked at the website a few times but getting emails from them regularly with tips would be handy.

az2wp0sye65487

Thanks for the tips everyone!

Just a quick update: I made sure to eat more carbs towards the end of last week; and had a breakfast similar to the suggestions the morning of my LSR.

Myself and a friend who's also aiming for DCM set out to do 30km on Saturday afternoon. The first 20km went without incident but unfortunately my friend picked up an injury at this point. So from 20km - 25km was spent doing a mixture of walking/jogging; and the last 5km was just a painful (for him) walk.

Anyway, I felt fine afterwards - no nausea or any strange feelings to speak of!