Human Potty process

Triathlon Forum
1

I know this is kinda gross…but hey…the women started it with this whole bodily function stuff…

Okay…somehow my body knows when I have a race or big training day. I am a once a day pooper…sometimes every other. Often after lunch that is that. Go to lunch, go home, go potty. BUT…every time I have a race I get up and for some reason my body knows to empty. Every time, soon as I get up I empty…and it is not like “usual” everything goes.

Am I the only one that does this? Is there some physical process that will match the mental process of race morning prep?

2

Same here.

I am once a day or every other day as well. I wake up the day of the race and it’s non-stop from the time I wake up until about 45 minutes before the race.

I was like this in college and highschool at swim meets to.

I’ve always been curious about what causes it.

3

A little anxiety is good for the “process.”
.

4

genetic hard-wired “fight or flight” response.

I pee and dump more the am of a race than I do in the whole week prior, it seems.

Your body is trying to shed weight before you have to do the F or F thing.

5

As others have said, it’s the nervous system that does it. Me however, I am a 4-5x a day person anyway (colitis is a wonderful thing… yeah, right).

6

this is too good…

i’m a pretty regular kinda guy until event morning…then i’m kinda spread out for several visits up until about an hour or so before start time (wetsuit warming process aside).

i consider myself additionally fortunate that once we start, i otherwise stop. no function urges until after finishing, including marathon and 1/2IM distances.

7

I am hit or miss (normally 2xday - am/pm) but usually up the caloric intake slightly day before and day of race so the added calories might be mucking things up a bit in my case. Yesterday, in the 2-hour period before the start of the weekly evening criterium, it seemed like I had to take a pit stop every 15-minutes to empty the bladder!

8

alway run on empty

after breakfast
after lunch
after dinner
after large snack

my body alway has had a fast metabolism so I process everything as I put it in, so i also have to eat a higher calorie diet. it’s a blessing so I never have problems racing as long as i eat well my DT is like a finely tuned racing machine

9

Is there some physical process that will match the mental process of race morning prep?

Adrenaline
.

10

Funny…the things we learn is shocking sometimes. Glad I am not alone…I would love to know what the real root cause of this is, as it is obvious that it is common. Neat.

11

Sadly, I am just the opposite. Usually I’m damn regular, 1-2 times per day. But if my sleep process gets disrupted (e.g. I need to get up at 4:30am for a race), then my stomach doesn’t work at all, and I’m out of whack for several days. So I’m usually racing with a full load. Sadly, I don’t drink coffee ( don’t like it), which I have heard helps the process along. Lately I’ve been trying to overhydrate on race morning, needing to pee A LOT seems to help other things through.

-Colin

12

What? Dont like coffee? This I just dont understand…

13

Yeah, I know, I’m a freak.

-C

14

I guess I’m very fortunate. On a ‘normal’ day I go 2-3Xs but ALWAYS within 15 minutes of waking(unless the newspaper is late, then I ‘hold it’ until it arrives). This is great for race days or early morning workouts. I ‘void’ myself and don’t have to worry about having issues during the workout.

Digger

15

If the lines for the portos are long on race morning, there has been more than one occasion where I’ll finish with one “session” and then get right back in line for the next one…I’m usually most pumped when I can time the final visit to be within just a few moments before race start.

So, me too!

16

Nerves! A little too much anxiety and before you know it, you’ve got IBS, too.

My body empties out before a race, too. I know a few pros who down a dose of Immodium before the start of a long race. In fact, I know one who takes an Immodium for the lower half and a Zantac for the upper part, as she gets both the craps and heartburn at long distances.

I tried the Immodium thing, and report that life, indeed, can be beautiful.

17

I don’t drink coffee ( don’t like it)
Well that makes two of us! I wonder if this could also have something to do with the duration spent in the room or is it all the bike porn in the form of catalogs and magazines that the room seems to accumulate?

18

If you are a guy, then you should under no circumstances ever, ever use the term “potty”. Either in writing or verbally. I cringe anytime I hear a dude say this word.

That is all.

19

I prefer “Big potty” and “little potty” as opposed to a manly “gunna take a dump”…maybe thats just me
.

20

I am 2x per day. Once in the morning when I get moving and once before I go to bed. What a way to start and end your day! Race morning is a cleansing moment which usually comes on quite suddenly. Then all those darn little pee breaks up until the start of the race. After that - forgetta about it…