Vomiting half way through bike and through run !

I'm NO expert. I'm gonna ask out of my own curiosity, because I have a HIM coming up.....

Where is your HR, while you're ingesting your nutrition?

Could be a lot of things, but more than likely, it's a combination of too many salt pills (do you really need them?!) plus maybe eating something you weren't used to.

The couple of days before the race, make sure you drink plenty of fluids, but also make sure you have enough electrolytes in there. Just water will deplete the electrolytes reserves and really screw up your race. Also, pay close attention to what you eat the days before. Nothing new, nothing that may upset your GI, etc. Boring, familiar and bland is the way to go.

On the bike, you should try to eat something solid. An entire 1/2IM on nothing but pills and water is not going to work. Again, make sure you have tested whatever you decide to eat on long training rides before. You need to find what you can tolerate and digest. Some goes for anything you take in during the bike and run... Personally, I can't handle artificial sweeteners (I'll puke like a freaking fountain from it), so I won't take anything but water from the race course, but I do make sure I have my own liquids on the bike that I know I can handle. For longer and warmer races, I also grab a couple of NUUN tablets to add to a water bottle on the run. That way, I can get the water from the stations and get the electrolytes I need without compromising my race.

You should have this worked this out before the events.
Working out you nutrition during training is important( as you have found out).

Lots of people use salt pills because someone told them you should use salt pills. who is this someone and what do they know?
Salt is an electrolyte however it is only one and will not be absorbed if you body does not have enough potassium(another electrolyte). My advice is to stop using salt pills and use gels or Gatorade. Something that already has a balance of electrolytes in it.

What happens when you in the ocean and you drink some salt water-- you get sick you your stomach. That's the same as taking salt pills and drinking water.

I race on liquid calories only.

All my bike nutrition comes from sports drink with electrolytes, carbs and a tiny bit of protein.

On the run I drink coke and water at every aid station and nothing else (notably, no electrolytes for 26.2 miles on multiple occasions).

When I used to take in solids while racing I would inevitably develop GI distress at some point during the run.

I take no additional electrolytes except for what is in my sports drink and absolutely none on the run and I never cramp (admittedly some people are "crampers" and others are not but I am not sure that your salt tabs during the race are going to make a significant difference).


It has been pointed out in the past that most GI distress while racing is a result of overreaching on your fitness; either going longer or faster than you are trained for. It is easy to do on race day and one of the first things your body does is shut down blood supply to your gut in favor of muscles, making absorption of nutrition and hydration very hard.

As others have said, nutrition plans need to be worked out and tested in training. You should KNOW how your gut is going to react to your nutrition well before race day. Yes, things happen to screw things up but it sounds like you are flying by the seat of your pants.

I know exactly what I need to take in for a race. No guess work. I have tested it in training over and over (and by now in multiple races). I have posted my complete race nutrition plan on this site several times in the past. It works for me but you need to figure out what works for you.

If you train hard with the same nutrition and have problems on race day only, I have heard of a couple cases where some one has swallowed something during the swim that had them puking the rest of the day. just another possibility. I agree most likely getting the salt and nutrition right is most likely the remedy.

i try to stay approx 150 HR ... i am 44 year old ... (80% Hr)
thanks

Thanks guys some good comments ...

sorry to make myself a bit clearer i do come prepared and test during training ( training and race always in the hot weather) ... i do panic when i get a inkling of cramp during race day and pop a extra few salt pills or a extra mouthful of electrolyte (bought by myself) ....
The situation in Vietnam last week after listening to the race brief was to increase our intake due to the extreme heat (sounds stupid to me now but thats exactly what i did ) ...

I am guessing the vomiting of fluids would be now taking in to much electrolytes and salt tablets .....

BEFORE
slow intake of food such as rice (what i usually eat) , potato and pasta .. plenty of fluids ..
DURING
(Dried dates to snack) ... every 20 min intervals either a gel , banana or energy bar washed down with gulps of water ...
gulps of electrolyte ready mixed drink every 10 min ....
** salt pills x2 every 30 mins ( if i don't consume these even on just a marathon run my quads will cramp )

..............

FINDING THAT LINE BETWEEN CRAMPING AND TAKING TO MUCH !

Edited by billyLF 2016-05-09 4:29 PM

Hi .. thanks ...
I am a fitness coach so train pretty much all the time in the gym and on the road and training programme is certain days at race pace ....
must be down intake ( panic sets in i am guessing and overload )
Less is More - just feeling confident to do so

Thanks Yes Totally Makes Sense !

Way too much salt, magnesium often resolves cramping..supplement

Wow--another Vietnam "Veteran"! I take it you are referring to Belinda Granger and Lance Watson's talk? I was there as well. My thoughts....

*You are bound to have more GI issues when training/racing in extremely hot/humid conditions like Vietnam 70.3. In general, I find I can tolerate fewer calories, need a lot more fluids, and somewhat more electrolytes when racing in tropical conditions.

*Dates have a lot of fiber. Nice snack for long rides when you can make potty stops, not so much for racing, particularly in Vietnam where as I recall, there were no potties except in transition!

*When Belinda was talking about eating every 20 minutes, she didn't necessarily mean eat the whole thing. Maybe just part of a gu or a banana. Then again, if you are a guy, you re probably bigger than she is and might need more calories. At 115-ish pounds, I am probably close to her size (maybe a bit smaller) and that works for me--if every 20 minutes, it would be only half a gu, or two squares of my lucky race chocolate. (I tend to get nauseous if I have too much gu in a long race; my personal solution is a dark chocolate bar broken in chunks and rolled in sea salt. It works for me--not sure for others!) Plus if you hadn't trained that way, I wouldn't try it for the first time in a race, regardless of what Belinda said!

*Salt tabs may or may not be the answer. I have never used them (since I've never seen them here) and never had serious issues with cramping in tropical races. I do roll my chocolate in salt, use Nuun tablets, and take in gu with 200mg of sodium (Power Bar tangerine) on the run. I'm a heavy sweater but not a salty one; your needs may vary.

*You might want to test different sports drinks. As someone mentioned, some people don't tolerate artificial sweeteners well. In my cases, drinks that are too concentrated or sweet make me nauseous. I rely pretty much on my own Nuun and bring extra tablets to put in the water bottles I get off the course.

*That "Number 1" drink they were serving on course was NASTY--very concentrated, lots of sugar and additives. I did not touch it, except for some after the race. Even the locals on recreational rides here do not tend to drink it. Doesn't surprise me it didn't go down well. I mentioned that in the race survey-- they really need to go with an internationally known drink that people outside Vietnam can experiment with in training, or at the very least offer Revive, which is a bit lighter.

*You might want to look at your pre-race meal. Sometimes if you have a borderline intolerance, you will only notice the effect if you take in the food before a high-intensity workout or race. Rice and potatoes should be okay, pasta can be an issue for some people. Personally I cannot run or race comfortably after having wheat products within a few hours before. Dito for dairy products. At other times I am fine with wheat and most dairy.