I did CDA on Sunday and during the run, I was peeing, but it was very brown in color. I didn’t feel de-hydrated, but the color of my pee made me think that I was and I was getting kind of nervous. I was also worried that it was blood. It was confusing. I read an article in Triathlete that says that the brown color can be myogloban which is broken down muscle cells that the liver (or was it kidneys) can’t process and have over-flowed into the urine. It also said it could be red blood cells that have come from internal bleeding. Yikes. Anyways, what should you do if your pee is brown? Has anyone else had this happen?
Yes, this happens to me a couple times a season. In my case it IS blood, and even though it repairs itself quickly (3-8 hours or so) it is still disconcerting. I can usually trace it to some combination of the following - intense efforts (tempo runs and beyond), hot days, poor hydration. My doctor says it is the result of the rupturing of small veins and capillaries lining the bladder, which is less worrisome than the liver/kidney connection. He tells me I shouldn’t be too alarmed so long as it doesn’t persisit. So, I try to work with that — but like I said, it is ALWAYS disconcerting. In fact, it is so disconcerting that I usually try to postpone peeing for as long as possible just so I don’t have to observe my condition in case the urine is still bloody! I guess if your case cleared up quickly, it’s probaly just the internal bleeding thing. Not to worry! (I hope I have helped a bit.)
You need to see a Doc and have that diagnosed. Now. Brown urine is never a good thing.
Your highly trained body is just shedding itself of innefficiences. Stand back and relax as all your formerly bothersome bowel movements are effortlessly released through your urethra. Stay away from corn though!
Does it hurt or tingle a little when you pee? I mean most of the time, and is there a little discomfort or a little odd feelling. I had some issues like this just a few months before delivering a kidney stone.
Blood in the urine comes to mind. This can be caused by a number of things, some less serious than others. Go see your doc for an opinion.
Oh it is blood, from the kidney or bladder.
If it has been that way for a while, it could be bile. If it is bile, you could have hepatitis. No, I’m not an endocrinologist, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I have also had hep A and B, so I know the coffee colored urine thing. Not saying that it is, just that it is a possibility to consider after RO the other, less severe conditions.
It didn’t hurt to pee and it cleared up within 2 or 3 hours after the race.
No, it only happened in the race and then cleared up within a few hours. I don’t think I have any outstanding condition that would have caused it. I believe I was de-hydrated coming off the bike and was never able to catch up with the hydration during the run. Just curious if anybody else has experienced this during a race.
Maybe a misguided terd just went down the wrong pipe and came out your pee-hole.
Seriously, though. Get it checked out. Better safe than sorry.
SeattleS,
I would suggest you ignore comments like ‘it will be fine no problem’…brown urine can be sign of pretty bad stuff. It very likely is due to the race etc. but you should really have it checked…
kidneys are important…
This is common, and usually benign. There is a discussion of it in the Lore of Running if you have this. If it went away that quickly, it is not myoglobinuria.
Deke
“…it’s probaly just the internal bleeding thing. Not to worry!”
Don’t worry about internal bleeding. No big deal. Signiture line material!
The evening and day after a hard effort, say a Century of 40K TT, my urine is darker than normal.
Yeah, be very careful. Anything other than normal pee going through your kidneys can be very hard on them. Go see a doctor. PUSH FLUIDS.
Another vote for seeing a Doc. I had brown urine in College, it was hepatitus, from mono going untreated. See a doc, you have nothing to loose by getting checked out. They will prolly take a blood sample and test your billy-rubin (sp) count. Its a simple test.
Good Luck,
RF
I had the same problem at CDA last year, except it did hurt to pee. Cleared up quickly, and I’ve had no problems since. I had a really bad race and felt sick for the whole “run” (walk for me). Just figured I had made some nutrition mistakes.
At IMFL, I met a bike mechanic who travels to all the IMNA events, and he said that the water in Lake CDA makes a lot of people sick. My friends who lived there also told me the water is pretty bad; the water flowing into and out of the lake is nasty, but the lake itself is not classified as a cleanup site (the streams are) because of its depth.
Not sure if there is any validity to all that, but it made me wonder if it had an affect on how I felt that day.
SeattleS,
I would suggest you ignore comments like ‘it will be fine no problem’…brown urine can be sign of pretty bad stuff. It very likely is due to the race etc. but you should really have it checked…
kidneys are important…
Sometimes you gotta be Safe and not sorry.
While it is probably nothing – you should go to a doctor and make sure it is nothing.
After all – you want to race for many years to come and be healthy for many years to come.
Simple advice… go see a doctor. No more advice needed.