Im curious as to whether anyone else got sick after IM COZ this year? I heard there was a rather high dnf rate of 9%.Im trying to figure this one out bc I starting spitting up at the beginning of the run and lost 12 lbs during the course of the race. Im not sure why bc this was IM number 10 for me and I used my normal nutrition of two bottles of water and 400 calories an hour mixed with salt on the bike and tried to drink water/ Gatorade and pepsi throughout the run. I also took a few salt tabs on the run.I always spit up some during a race but never have dropped so much weight. Urinated once on the bike and twice on the run. Urine was more clear than I expected. After the race I was light headed , threw up at the hotel an hour after the finish but began drinking orange juice right after the finish line. I felt exceptionally bad about 5 hours after the race ended with upset stomach and what felt like an gastric ulcer. Slight relief with ensure and pepto but even today Im still a bit light headed along with mild nausea. Im still around 8 lbs down but have been able to keep down food.
Im wondering if 1. I exerted too much on the bike for my level of fitness, 2. Got some bad water along the course(salt intake during the swim, water bottles handed on the bike or cups on the run)3. Not enough sodium and became hyponatremic 4.Weather conditions blasted everyone and no way to avoid it.
BTW, I heard about those really cool bags of water on the run and all aid stations but one had Dixie cups filled by local volunteers. Ive heard of GI problems especially after IM COZ however Ive been to mexico a lot and was there a week before the race and have always felt fine.
I heard there was a short-term GI bug going around before the race - you may have fallen prey to that
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My GI issues started mid day Saturday. No throwing up but a lot of bathroom visits and lasted throughout the race.i was ok on Monday.
No such problems in our group if 35. A few have been sick before the race, though.
400 calories an hour … that’s like, what, 4 Gu packs an hour? So for a 5 hr bike that’s 20 packs of Gu? Holy crap … if I ate 20 packs of Gu in 5 hrs I’d be throwing up and would never want to open another pack of Gu in my life. Do triathletes really eat that much on the bike?
This thread comes up every year after IM Coz.
400 calories an hour … that’s like, what, 4 Gu packs an hour? So for a 5 hr bike that’s 20 packs of Gu? Holy crap … if I ate 20 packs of Gu in 5 hrs I’d be throwing up and would never want to open another pack of Gu in my life. Do triathletes really eat that much on the bike?
And two bottles per hour with salt taps…20 gu’s, 10 bottles of water or power aid plus salt…I’d puke halfway thought the bike. Kind a like the beer mile 
is 9% dnf really that high?
Also, those water bottles on the bike course looked fishy to me. They were basically reusing the same bottles others threw back.
On the run course, I didn’t see any of the water bags they used in previous years. Just the regular Dixie cups.
I am followed my nutrition plan of water, sustained energy and salt, but with bike longer than expected I grabbed 1 fuel2go and 1 orange on the run. Mile 10 on the run got sick and couldn’t take anything in for the rest of the night and had GI issues until Monday afternoon! I wonder if they were re-using the water bottles that were thrown back to the ground, hope not but think it is what got me!
With this being my first IM, I was not sure what to expect regarding GI issues. Surprisingly, I had none. Nutrition plan was taken from Trevor Wurtele: 3 bottles EFS concentrated into 400 calories\bottle. 1 per 2 hours. In between, 1 bottle EFS liquid shot at hour 3 & 5 on the bike, washed down with lots of water. 2 salttabs at the top of every hour on the bike. 12 total taken during the bike.
On the run, I took 2 salttabs every hour, water, ice, and Gatorade at every aid station, 1 EFS liquid shot per 13.1 miles (washed down with lots of water), and then switched to Pepsi the last lap of the run. It took me a mile or two too adjust to the Pepsi, but overall, not too bad.
I did pee 3 times on the bike, twice on the run, and one #2 on the run. I guess my system was not too happy with my liquid diet for 12 hours.
But, no cramping, or stomach lock up.
lastly, I did take 6 Motrin on the bike and 4 during the run.
This thread comes up every year after IM Coz.
This subject comes up every time people visit a somewhat less-civilized foreign country. Send any group of 3000+ people to Mexico on vacation and expose them to different food choices and water you’re “not supposed to drink” I suspect you’d be hearing the same thing.
I had GI issues bring me to a halt at mile 3 of the run, I started feeling it at about mile 85/90 on the bike; it took me until mile 9 to settle down and actually start running. I used the bottle hand offs extensively and went through nearly 60oz of water per hour. I “THINK” they were reusing the bottles we threw back on the road, but I have no way of knowing this. I feel a bit more confident about the water on the run course, they had the giant 20L bottles they were using to fill them.
I had GI issues bring me to a halt at mile 3 of the run, I started feeling it at about mile 85/90 on the bike; it took me until mile 9 to settle down and actually start running. I used the bottle hand offs extensively and went through nearly 60oz of water per hour. I “THINK” they were reusing the bottles we threw back on the road, but I have no way of knowing this. I feel a bit more confident about the water on the run course, they had the giant 20L bottles they were using to fill them.
No doubt that the bottles were reused. Having not raced this year, In past years I have seen many picked up and refilled in the grim ice chest filled with water.
last year water was in plastic closed bag you had to open ( you can immagine how nervous you can get) and then for cola etc there were glasses. the problem is in Coz it’s hot and humid and during the bike leg you must drink drink and drink and take salts .As it’s windy and you are speeding you don’t realise how many fluids you are loosing. When you arrive in T2 …you are a dead man walking. it’s too late. Hydratation in coz is the key issue
I’m sure some bottles were being re-used but even on my 3rd loop I saw new boxes of bottles being opened and filled with water from 5 gallon ozarka style water bottles.
I was warned about bottle reuse and mainly drank gatorade / my own water but eventually I just needed plain water.
400 calories an hour … that’s like, what, 4 Gu packs an hour? So for a 5 hr bike that’s 20 packs of Gu? Holy crap … if I ate 20 packs of Gu in 5 hrs I’d be throwing up and would never want to open another pack of Gu in my life. Do triathletes really eat that much on the bike?
400 is high but normal. So yes, it’s normal.
I’m guessing that long distance is something you have not done.
well I’m a bike racer, so ‘long distance’ is relative I suppose. I’ve done 100 mile road races at way higher intensity than folks do in triathlon and eat maybe half that much. Or 6 hr training rides with even less. I have had a couple of occasions in road races in the summer (2 that I recall), when it’s been very hot, and I had too much in my stomach and it did not end well.
I’m a bike racers also (and will always be one), but have done a bunch of IM’s and HIM for fun…I’m always amazed a the amount of food and drink people carry for these things.
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lastly, I did take 6 Motrin on the bike and 4 during the run.
Be careful with the motrin/dehydration issues.