I’ve had a few races slowed WAY down by, uhhhh, GI distress. I have heard of some people taking imodium before big races to avoid such problems. Has anyone here done that? Did it work? Are there any drawbacks? Health reasons not to do it? I’m considering giving it a try at the Mooseman 1/2 this weekend.
Thanks,
-Colin
Never heard of that, but i guess it makes sense. But for your race this weekend I’d caution trying something new. Might cause an unwanted surprise, save it for training.
As far as the GI stuff. Maybe look over your nutrition plan? Most likely theres changes you can make to solve the problem.
Goodluck at mooseman!
I took a half dose before IM Wisconsin in '04. Had no issues.
Yes, you are certainly right about the nutrition. I think most of my issues have been caused by too much fibre/too little water/too highly concentrated energy drink. I think I’ve solved most of that, but I guess I was looking for a little insurance.
-C
“GI distress” cost me 15 min in a sprint earlier this year. i’m taking it prerace from now on. its amazing how much time one stop on a bike and two on the run will cost you. you should have seen me cyclocross style bombing down the gravel hill off the side of the road b-lining for the forest service restroom. thank God it was there. ok, probably TMI, i vote for taking it.
Yes, don’t look for the cause of your GI distress, just take a pill. The american way.
Imodium is for symptomatic relief of GI distress. Know what that means? You take it when you have SYMPTOMS.
Yeah, I know, I know. But, as I said above, I think I’ve found the causes, but I was looking for a little insurance. I think this is the first time anyone has ever referred to anything I do as “the american way”. 
-C
I have used Imodium in three IMs and a handful of stand-alone marathons. I take one tablet in T2 (regular dose is 1 to 2 tabs); half a tablet might even be enough. It works great and I haven’t experienced any downside. And I haven’t found it necessary for shorter races.
Really, I would not even call it GI distress. In my case, after a couple hours of running, I just have to go. The only way for me to eliminate the “cause” would be to avoid food for 24 hours. Taking a pill to avoid the porta-potties may not be natural, but neither is running 26.2 miles non-stop.
Every race, every time. I take another at T2 in a full IM. It’s my savior, I couldn’t run more than 10 mi without getting ill before a friend suggested it. It has never affected me in any negative way, and taking it when symptomatic is much too late, at least for me. My doctor sees no problem with it… He explained it as the blood being diverted to your legs no longer being available to transport water away from your intestine - where it pools - and eventually makes you very ill. Pretty common in distance runners, from what I hear. I take one about half an hour prior to start of any race, even sprints.
Have a great race.
RR
Wouldn’t it cause bloating in the stomach when doing an IM?
A word of caution. I feel that I must share my experience from Imodium.
I have taken Imodium to calm my stomach during marathons without negative side effects so I took one at T2 at my last IM last year for the first time. I was fine up 28K and I got my nutrition on the run (Hammer gel with water) according to plan. However, at 28 I blew up and couldn’t run any further. My stomach felt like a water balloon and eventually I barfed like I’ve never done before. Judging from amount, content and “pressure” it was everything I had taken the last 28k.
After the race I investigated what Imodium actually does to your body. Imodium slows down the “bowl movement system” so you don’t get that acute need to go to the toilet. My theory is that it slowed down the system too much. My body did not get the return from the nutrition since my stomach was in slow mode due to the Imodium hence the blow up. Also the fact that I threw up so immensely shows that everything stayed in the stomach. I did finish (never been so close to DNF) on a diet of salty potato chips and cold spring water. IM is a totally different level of strain on your body compared to marathon so what works in a marathon may not work in an IM.
This year (Nice 24th June) I’m not taking Imodium at T2, I’m bringing one tablet with me on the run and will only take it if I need it.
/l-e
I’ve only ever used Imodium for the purpose for which I believe it was intended (no more details!) but when used then is has also left me feeling pretty bloated and gassy. I’d be very wary of using it in a race without trying it beforehand.
Also - unless a minute or 2 is really going to ruin the OP’s race (i.e. could cost a podium finish or Kona place) then is it worth the risk?
I’ve done it before 2 1/2’s and before a few marathons without problems…but I had tried it out beforehand in training during long workouts
.
Colin-
Does it happen only at the races, or does it also happen when you have big training days ?
White rice plugs you up real good, and its an excellent source of carbs. I used to think that my version of GID would be a sign of overtraining, which in some cases it is, but the more I look at my training notes, the more I think its caused by the times I don’t water down my Cytomax/CPro bottle enough.
I have a feeling most over- the- counter mix it yourself drinks are too acidicat the recommended dilutions, and when mixed with whatever the contents of your stomach are can either compound or stabilize.
I came across a site last year that listed some popular foods for athletes and divided it into two categories. Alkalinic and Acidic in pH.
Apparently foods like raisins and brown rice and highly acidic…so if your evening meal contained a decent amount of either, or worse as in my case both, the next day of training could have symptoms of GID or just an upset stomach when your drink on the bike is Cyto or Gatorade in too hi a concentration.
This is just my personal case, so pass the salt so to speak, but my last long ride proved to be the most nutritionally sucessful due to a simple dinner the night before of steamed white rice,chicken and veggies.
No more salads w/ dressings,dairy and milk or cheese. Those things I eat on non-big days.
IIRC you mentioned once that your diet consisted of a lot of dairy.
See you at Wellington.
Warning----------don’t read this if you’re eating right now.
CCF-
This is something I’ve been struggling with too and really working on as I had to shit 11 times on the marathon course at LP last year. This is what has been helping me and what I’m going to do for Mooseman. BTW—I’ve tried pre-race immodium it doesn’t work if your gut isn’t emptied as much as possible before the start—this is the key I’m finding (again all this is work in progress and it’s where I’m at now in trying to figure this out).----I may find I still have problems at Mooseman and will have to adjust again.
I wasn’t eating enough fiber in my daily diet so I had liquid shit during training runs and sometimes after. I’ve adjusted that.
I take psyllium husk (one teaspoon) twice a day-----works wonders. No more liquid shit—gets everything in your gut to stick together and come out as a nice dump (forgive the nastyness here).
No fiber the day before the race; finish carbo loading 2 days out and eat lighter day before, I like Boost as well.
A little bit of coffee upon waking on race morning to help get things moving in the right direction.
Shit as much as you can on race morning
John,
11 TIMES ! Considering how fast your finish time was, thats freakin amazing. Dude you would have Kona’d …easily.
You and Yoda must have been hittin the same p-johns right after the other.
Everything you stated in your protocol is dead on IMHO.,especially the eat lighter the day before part. Boost rocks race morning! and its non-dairy too.
Oh yeah- you’re quite the Shakespeare when it comes to essays of the bowel ; )
See you this weekend. Hopefully we stay dry or at least drier than last year.
I have not used immodium pre running but I almost always chew a few tums before long runs/races. They seem a lot less harsh than immodium and seem to calm down my stomach so that I do not have issues later on. I also carry a few with me in case my stomach starts feeling rough from along the way, maybe it is a placebo but works for me almost instantly. May be an intermediate step between nothing and immodium. Good luck, nothing worse than GI distress while running.
I did it a few times, with no problems. It gave me time to determine exactly what the problem was. Way too much liquid protein pre race. Problem solved. Also, very careful pre race meal selection.
I take it before every race, it didn’t work 5 days after I came back from Mexico when I raced, about missed the start and had taken 4 pills. Montezuma got it’s revenge…