Immediately after the race my wife got chilled and started feeling sick. She went to bed and woke up fine (no chills). Chills hit me last night as we were driving home from WI. Woke up feeling better but even today not feeling great. At IM Coz in 09 I ended up getting sick after the race and instead of enjoying the last couple of days in mexico spent most of it in the room.
Am I doing something wrong? How can I prevent this? I expect the post IM fog but is depressed immune function and these chills related?
I have gotten them both times. First was much worse, about 45 minutes of shivvering, this time, about two minutes. I am sure that it was a dehydration/salt deficiency/nutrition issue.
The last 2 years I’ve volunteered for the Med tent at IMC. I get to see lots of folks with those symptoms. I know, hitting temps over 100F on the course and then getting chilled after you stop just sounds weird but it happens frequently. Generally due to low hydration combined with low glucose levels.
The fix is to really make sure you are hydrated enough. If you are not peeing every 3 or 4 hours or more, you are not hydrated enough. And it should be relatively clear or light yellow.
When you finish an IM, your body has to go through a very difficult transition from massive power output to nothing in a few paces.
Get a space blanket to wrap around yourself and get out of your wet gear as soon as possible. Do NOT chug a large quantity of water or electrolyte - just small sips and keep going with the small sips. Large quantities “bounce back” and the smell of slightly warmed poweraid is not pleasant.
If you had an old fleece on prior to the swim and managed to stow it in your transition area, grab that otherwise figure out how to get one.
most of the time when I have run marathons I end up shivering in the bed for about 20 minutes after getting back to the hotel. It usually is only after I finally stop moving. Figure it is just my body freaking out. The only time it did NOT happen to me was this year after LP. 8 out of 9 times it has though. No explanation but you are not alone.
No matter how hot/cold always get them (9x now)
Bring warm clothes for after including a hat no matter how warm the race
even if you don’t feel like it have something to eat/drink immediately—me I use slimfast (which is kinda funny! considering) after long races (usually I use chocolate milk but need to keep cold) or some recovery drink with sugar and protein
I also ALWAYS am starving in the middle of the night! so for away races (friend taught me this) I keep a bag of food next to the bed-like chips, snickers etc) and lots of water
I got the chills about 30 mins after IMC this year. Even though it was 90+ on the run and probably 75 when I finished I started to shiver while trying to down a slice of pizza in the recovery area. I was FREEZING! I had to immediately change out of my wet race kit and put on every piece of dry clothing I had. Felt better about 30 mins later.
My coach told me the chills can be a symptom of heat stroke / dehydration. I think that’s definitely possible given the heat that day. I did the best I could to cool on the run (2 cups of ice down the jersey @ every rest stop) + sponges + water but when its that hot, core temp will rise regardless.
Thanks for all of the responses. So, I’m not alone!
Definitely could be dehydration as it was way hotter than expected. Right now my pee is still a tad yellow. During the event I took in a bottle of Perform EVERY aid station on the bike. My day went south the second half of the run (shocker). I probably just didn’t take in enough calories or fluid on the run. I couldn’t stomach the apple or vanilla PowerGel and only took in a cup of Perform at each aid station. I did use the ice/water dumped on my head for cooling. In hindsight it was definitely not enough. I’ve always been an advocate of using on course nutrition but the powerbar stuff isn’t my favorite.
Post-race I guess I just need to force myself to eat. Plus, it was weird I was so jacked up after the race that I couldn’t sleep. Went to bed at 3:30 and woke up at 6, packed up the car and head home for a 12 hr drive at 9.
So, seems like my post-race chills could be attributed to numerous factors with nutrition/hydration being the primary culprit.
Me too, every single time. I am usually hydrated enough, but it happens anyway. I just bring warm clothes for the finish, eat (real food) immediately after, and ride it out. I haven’t had nutrition problems while racing, I got all my calories in and felt good the whole way through at IMC and was still chilled and shaky after finishing, so I attribute it more to the shock and exhaustion of finishing 10+ hours of serious effort, for me.
I’ve been getting chills and nausea after about 80% of my long runs and rides lately. This weekend I was nauseas after a 100 mile ride and very cold for about 2 hours. I couldn’t eat anything either or even drink water. On Sunday after a 12 mile run, nausea, diarrhea, and 20-30 minutes of chills. Again, I couldn’t eat or drink anything for at least two hours. Even the thought of drinking water made me want to throw up. The thing is when I did throw up (and it was a lot) it was just sports drink, water, and gel. I’m wondering if it is either what I’m eating leading up to my workouts or if I’m possibly not taking in enough nutrition during the workout. I try not to eat between 2-3 hours before I start the workout.
I get at least 22-24oz/hour fluid on the bike and try for 230-250 cals/hour in drink and food, and 400-500mg sodium/hour. It’s possible that I’m too low on the sodium as well.
After reading some posts on ST regarding peoples bike nutrition intake, it looks like there is a wide differential in calorie intake on the bike from maybe 220 -400 cals/hr. I’m going to up my calories on my next long ride and see how I come out.
I’m taking in only sports drink, water , and gel for calories on the run. I’m taking in 180-200 cals/hr on the run. I either need another alternative gel with more calories or some other food source if I’m going to up my calories here. If I take in more than 24 oz fluid, I’m afraid I’m going to get sloshing in my stomach, leading to nausea as well.
Anyway, back to the chills . . .I thought I was going to bite through my tongue I was shaking so hard this weekend. Hopefully someone who has had this problem and solved it will chime in and give us some feedback.
I finished IMAZ in 2008 and pushed myself harder on the run than ever… skipped a few aid stations as well. Got cramps immediatly when I crossed the line. Fell over and they stretchered me to the medical tent. There they left me outside on the stretcher, not in the shade but in the buring arizona sun. And I just remember shivering with cold for about a hour, even when they put the foil over me. 2 IVs later I was ready to do another IM
I got them after one of my two IM’s (the first one as it turns out) and after a half IM (which was colder than either IM) also. My hypothesis is that its from my muscles being too calorie depleted to maintain body temperature. I’ve felt similar effects from not eating enough while mountaineering.
The second IM I ate a lot more post race and was generally in better shape overall and I didn’t get chilled (also I put on more clothes as soon as I could).
I’ve gotten the chills after each of my IMs. It seems to not set in until I stop moving. After this year’s Lou I felt great across the line; much better than LP 08. Went and picked up my dry clothes bag and walked back to the Galt House. Still felt great. Sat down, recieved a call from friends already at the bar, told them I’d be there as soon as I took a shower. Wife offered to go get the bike (yes, she is the best). I got up to get in the shower and immediately got the chills and fely nauseous. Lasted until around midnight. When it was gone I ate and drank everything in the hotel room. I urinated 6 times during the race and at around 11pm. I don’t think I was dehydrated and my nutrition was pretty much spot on. I don’t know what causes it. I always say hydration/nutrition whenever someone has a problem in a long race, so I guess it’s more that than anything else, but I think I could have raced another several hours. It seems it’s something about stopping that sets it off for me???