Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

Puking in high heat
Quote | Reply
Hi Folks,
I'm new here, and hoping to get some advice / pointers on a problem that has marred my season this year and I need to fix by next year, namely that I am prone to vomiting in high temperatures and it's ruining all my races.

I'll go into the details of 4 events shortly but in short when I am at Z3 or above in temp of 35 degrees or more it seems to result in my vomiting lots of fluid, unable to hold down fluid or foods which quite quickly results in me having to stop, here is how my season has panned out (I'm a beginner, but this is not my first year of Tri so I don't think nerves are an issue)

Mallorca 70.3, ate quite a big breakfast and probably drunk too much coffee then had a drama trying to source a new transition bag after getting done for bag marking (I know, I know). Felt mildly sick before the swim but pulled it together on the swim which resulted in a significant pb (by over 4 mins). I had myprotein tricarb in the bottles on the bike (I use this stuff all the time), had a gel abut 10 mins into the bike then part of a powerbar at the bottom of the climb. Started feeling sick on the climb, was sick. Suffered Di2 failure after the climb which resulted in me doing the rest of the bike leg with two gears, but wasn't sick much after. Total consumption was 1x gel, 3rd of a powerbar and 3x bottles of tricarb

A few mins into the run was feeling the heat and feeling sick, after the first aid station i was sick (lots of liquid) and the remainder of the run was spent sipping coke, feeling the heat and feeling thirsty and stopping to chuck up loads of liquid, my run time was about 20mins off a reasonable time for me to give an idea of the extent of the problem. Heat on the run upwards of 36deg

Rappi 70.3, lighter breakfast, no nerves, no bike issues, another swim blitzing last years time. 3x bottles of tricarb on the bike, started to feel sick around 70km and started to actually be sick on the run, again trying to get coke down on the run as this was all i fancied and felt like i needed the sugar. Pretty much the same result as Mallorca, time 20mins below what it should have been on the run and stopping every few km to be very sick, lots of liquid coming up. Temp was again in mid to high 30s. By the time I finished I was feeling desperately thirsty, tired to drink afterwards but kept on being sick, ended up on a IV saline drip in the medical room to sort me out.

Etape du tour, more heat but this time I decoupled fluid and food, I was on electrolytic drink and torq gels. I'm ill with some kind of chest infection and taking it easy, everything is going ok but on the Glandon I leave the gel a little late and instead drink quite a lot of coke at the top, it's at this point it's getting very hot too. I run out of torq gels and at the bottom of the last climb up to la Toussuire have the events gel. I'm sick about 20 mins into the climb and again have to keep stopping, being sick with lots of fluid coming up. I'm not so worried about time on this event so the last climb is predictably grim seeing as I can't take on any food at all. After I finish I sip a coke and am not sick again.

Swiss Alpenbrevet (another bike event), I have nuun electrolyte drinks, home made pies (scratch labs book) and salt sticks caps. Everything is going textbook well for about 7 hours, make the cutsoffs, pacing spot on, I feel fit. Have about 150ml of coke in two stops, still feel good, have a saltstick cap with each so I'm not too heavy on the sugar. We descend into a valley which goes down to about 300m above sea level and it's getting very hot, about 36 degrees. I start to climb the Lukmanier pass and start to feel sick, I stop for water and am slightly sick. 20mins later I stop again for a sprite because I can't stomach the idea of any kind of food, and I'm sightly sick again. Another 20 mins I stop again, no food for 2 hours at this point and am sick. I have another hour of climbing to the top and at my current rate will not make the next cutoff so I abandon. It's 40 mins back down to the valley and the train station, I'm still slightly sick as I get on the train. About an hour later I've recovered and am no longer sick. This was my main event this weekend, and the first I can remember a DNF, so I obviously don't feel very good about it.

So as you can see through my change of approach, my early theory was that carb drink + heat was a problem for me, later theory is that too much sugar vs salt was the issue, now I'm really not sure what is causing it. I can't reproduce this in training, but there are two things I want to achieve:
1. Prevent this from happing in short high intensity events like a 70.3,
2. If this occurs during long events work out a strategy to recover it in a known amount of time (ideally 30mins or less).

I'm hugely grateful for any advice that can be offered to get to the bottom of this.
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
You might try reading up on what is colloquially called gut leakage. I have had GI issues for most of my career, including plenty of vomiting, but I could never fix it with different hydration or nutrition strategies. I did some research and, admittedly the evidence is a little thin, but prolonged exercise may increase expression of heat shock proteins and weaken the tight junctions in the intestinal lining, causing leakage into the blood stream. I have been taking a cocktail of supplements for the last year or so and my GI issues have all but disappeared. I don't really care if it's placebo to be honest :-).

Coach at TriForce Triathlon Team: https://www.triforceteam.com
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Sometimes there's no magic elixir. Sometimes it's just as simple as slowing down. That piece of advice is apparently something many athletes do not want to hear or do but slowing down works wonders.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [GMAN19030] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Thanks both, I should add that it's not simply a matter of slowing down, this can occur at z2
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
A couple of things to consider (I have a similar problem):

Some people (many?) can not absorb fluid efficiently in the aero position. Standing up works, bending over or laying out does not. Those people can water log themselves on the bike leg if they drink the calculated amount and then on the run they get sick.

Heat means sweat which mean dehydration. I learned early in my military career that I dehydrate quicker than others - a lot quicker. If I did not take actions early to prevent it I could still function to a point, actually for a long time in many cases, but when things went "south" they really went bad. At that point attempting to rehydrate only made me sick. I would actually vomit water that was still cold.

Based on your description it sounds like a combination of these problems, and the solution is not the same for everyone. For me it has turned into this routine: (for a hot 70.3)

Out of the swim I gage myself to get all the water I swallowed during the swim out of my system - don't draft off me for the first mile, it won't be pleasant. Then about 20 minutes into the bike I drink Gatorade and take EFS Liquid Shot (consumed in 3 or 4 squirts over the next 40 minutes. I try to drink a full bottle in the first hour. The second hour is the same EFS-LS but water with Nuuns in it. The last 30 minutes I stop drinking on the bike and back off slightly. I usually have a lot of gas from both ends and that allows me to "deflate" some before I try to run.

On the run I drink small amounts at each water stop and simply tough it out. After the finish is where I still haven't figure it out, but I try to control my water intake so I don't get sick without feeling like I'm about to die of thirst. I hit or miss on this one and still vomit once in a while, but I'm getting better.

"...the street finds its own uses for things"
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I've found the ratio of water to fuel needs to be far higher than you'd think on race day in higher temps. Try less fuel, way more water to dilute that fuel, and slowing down a tad.

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com
Last edited by: ZenTriBrett: Sep 2, 15 6:09
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Have you ever had these symptoms occur during training rides/runs?
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [alfonso132] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Yes twice, both times several hours into a bike ride in 30 deg +
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
in 30 degree plus?

What exactly type temp are you talking when you say "heat"?

Reason being - I started triathlon in South Florida - trained for my first marathon there as well. I purposely trained mid day (was in college) during summer. It was 98-105 degrees depending. Few days the heat index was 107. Was pushing out 12-13 miles those days. I did not get sick at all. I do not use fuel - I use water and that is it. That may be a reason I do not get sick.

That being said - I did a race that was around 70 - and it was a sprint tri with a swim in salt water. I almost puked 20+ times on the bike and about the same in the run. My discovery was that since the river was choppy - I swallowed large amounts of salt water.

So it may not really be "heat" - but some other hidden underlying factor.
Last edited by: ou8acracker2: Sep 2, 15 6:47
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [ou8acracker2] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Sorry, I'm European and talking deg c
Quote Reply
Re: Puking in high heat [peachy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
aww then yea - above 30c is pretty hot.

I would try messing around with fluid/fuel. The only time I ever feel like puking is when my blood sugar is super low and drops. Say I do a long hard ride on the bike but do not eat beforehand - fasting type session - then I stop...for about 10 minutes I feel like death after I stop. During the ride I am fine.
Quote Reply