I’ve always had sensitive stomach when running. This weekend completed my sixth IM in hot/humid conditions and again my stomach was the limiting factor. I feel I could have dropped a good 10 minutes from the run if I was not in so much pain. My legs felt fine, my HR was spot on, I wasn’t working very hard.
I reduced my race food intake over the years trying to address this; this year it was pasta dinner night before, 3 Ensures (350cals each) at 4 am, about 900 calories on 5 hour bike (banana bread and gels) and only water on the run. I’m at fatmax @190np so not digging into glycogen stores too much and good with energy level throughout the race (this is third IM where I take no nutrition on the run and I’m not close to bonking). Felt good on the bike but my stomach hurt badly on the run and I could barely even get water in.
The standard advice (train your gut for 300 cals/hour), just does not work for me. I eat the same as race day with no issues on long training days, don’t see any “training” happening.
Anyone has similar experience or ideas how to fix this, or should I just accept the fact that I don’t have the stomach for long distance racing?
You can try all fluids. Some have success with switch to Tailwind or Perpetuum. You might also want to experiment with Pedialyte. I have used this for super hot races with success. Pro tip: you can use your HSA/FSA dollars to buy Pedialyte.
Have you tried making your own from CarboPro or something similar? Maybe it’s the makeup of the gels. I find that the brand really makes a difference for me, GU are ok, Hammer is an absolute no-go, and Clif Bloks work ok.
Thanks.
I did try all fluid with different brands, I had more bloating/sloshing during the bike and similar painful results on the run.
Combination of solid food (home made banana bread) and gels feels really good during the bike, but when I get to the run I’m having the same stomach pain issue.
I am also thinking it may be the ensure at 4am; its the one thing I have not changed as I figured it will all be gone by the time I get to the run.
I have a very sensitive stomach as well, and I cut out all fiber starting about 3 days out from a race, and the day before the race I eat some easy to digest carbs in the a.m. (usually just some short grain rice, saltines and/or white bread) and then liquids only until after I finish the race. I’ve tried Ensure and Boost and my stomach cannot handle them. I now go with Carbo Pro and SIS. I can’t handle more then about 600 liquid calories race morning, and on the bike I found that 150 calories/hour is all I need. When I aimed for 200 calories/hour on the bike I would end up vomiting before I even got off the bike. I cannot tolerate any solid food on race day.
I’ve always had sensitive stomach when running. This weekend completed my sixth IM in hot/humid conditions and again my stomach was the limiting factor. I feel I could have dropped a good 10 minutes from the run if I was not in so much pain. My legs felt fine, my HR was spot on, I wasn’t working very hard.
I reduced my race food intake over the years trying to address this; this year it was pasta dinner night before, 3 Ensures (350cals each) at 4 am, about 900 calories on 5 hour bike (banana bread and gels) and only water on the run. I’m at fatmax @190np so not digging into glycogen stores too much and good with energy level throughout the race (this is third IM where I take no nutrition on the run and I’m not close to bonking). Felt good on the bike but my stomach hurt badly on the run and I could barely even get water in.
The standard advice (train your gut for 300 cals/hour), just does not work for me. I eat the same as race day with no issues on long training days, don’t see any “training” happening.
Anyone has similar experience or ideas how to fix this, or should I just accept the fact that I don’t have the stomach for long distance racing?
thanks
Eat normally on race week.
Eat your final supper no later than 5-6pm the day before the race. Forget the pasta dinner, just give you the carbo shits. But get some solid protein in so you’re not hungry.
Ditch the bread and gels. Both are bad for racing.
Isotonic gels are ok.
water and solids until later in the bike.
Coke and water on the run.
If it’s cold, eat more solids. It’s it’s hot, drink more liquid.
ucan has been a game changer for me. i mix a concentrated bottle for each loop and have water in my aero bottle. works really well for me in all conditions. good luck!
ucan has been a game changer for me. i mix a concentrated bottle for each loop and have water in my aero bottle. works really well for me in all conditions. good luck!
Try Hammer Perpetuem - it’s like chalk. Flavoured chalk, but bland and easy on most stomachs. I mix up two sludge bottles with 1200-1500 calories each and those get me through 180km of moderate-speed biking.
800 in each bottle… 2 bottles for the whole course. I also carry a few picky bars in case I need some more calories. I’m a small rider…125lbs. I mix a few scoops of the unflavored, and a few scoops of a flavor. Only water in my aero bottle, and base salts if hot/humid. Good luck!
A really, really, really thick mix in a water bottle. So thick that I can only take small sips during the event and have to chase them down with water.
I freeze the bottles the night before the event, then put one on my bike in T1; the other goes in my special-needs bag.
I reduced my race food intake over the years trying to address this; this year it was pasta dinner night before, 3 Ensures (350cals each) at 4 am, about 900 calories on 5 hour bike (banana bread and gels) and only water on the run.
I think you should look into some probiotics and also boost your immune system. I’d recommend 10,000IU of D3 to boost the immune system each day and Goat Milk Kefir for the stomach.
“Our goat milk yogurt and kefir are fermented with live and active cultures, resulting in hundreds of billions of probiotics per serving. Eating probiotic-rich foods like yogurt and kefir is an important strategy for overall health, according to Tamara Duker Freuman, MS, RD, CDN. Bacteria in our guts play a significant role in immune function, helping to protect us against disease and infection”
I also have stomach issues and finally hired a sports nutritionist to help me. After testing my sweat rate and composition, she recommended this stuff: https://www.precisionhydration.com/
I was skeptical, but I gave it a shot and now I love it. It has a super mild taste and zero impact on my gut. It’s lower in carbs, so I add some honey stinger gels every hour or so on the bike depending on length. I use the PH 1000, which is based on my sweat rate apparently, and add an S-Cap if its a hot day. They have mixes with higher or lower doses of sodium, depending on your sweat needs.
Of course then I start the run and have to take that Endurance crap, but I train with it, so I get by with it.
UCAN saved the day for me. I started back in 2014 when my sports nutritionist recommended it (I had never heard of it). Prior to that, lots of GI distress and bonking (especially in my Full Irons). Raced IMMD in 2014, my first race using it and had zero GI distress, no bonking threats, 94c/hr, had a 51 minute PR to go 8:51 and win the race. Raced Kona 2015 and went 72nd overall (no GI Distress, bonked a bit since I got overly-confident with how little I could take. I had only 68c/hr). Full story here.
It’s easy on the stomach not just because people say it is. It actually is, based on the science. Dr. Krista Austin speaks to the osmolality of SuperStarch (the complex carb in UCAN)…it’s near 0 for pure SuperStarch (so clears as fast as water) versus a typical maltodextrin solution at about 280 and a typical simple sugar drink (i.e. Gatorade) at ~360. The lower the better - it means that it clears the stomach faster which means no sloshing or stomachaches. Big molecules don’t need as many transporters, and SuperStarch is a really really really big molecule (Simple Sugars = 180, Maltodextrin = 500, SuperStarch = 600,000)
**I love UCAN so much I actually work for the company now (started in January)
The UCAN Tri Starter Pack is the way to go if you want to try it (and it’s here for 50% off). The product speaks for itself so it makes my job easy
Thanks Matt
I used ucan for a season a few years ago - it tastes like shit and is super chalky.
but the problem was I could not get enough energy from it, it required crazy concentration to get reasonable calories and there’s a limit to how much liquid chalk I can swallow.
But it may be good for other people. Good luck on your job there.
Try Hammer Perpetuem - it’s like chalk. Flavoured chalk, but bland and easy on most stomachs. I mix up two sludge bottles with 1200-1500 calories each and those get me through 180km of moderate-speed biking.
Perpetuem goes sour if it’s out too long in a hot race.