I have come to this sport via a swimming background. Needless to say, there is always a toilet nearby when at the pool. What do you do if you are out on a run (or a bike for that matter) and you really really really have to take a gurgling, gross, huge dump? Lets say you have your shoes, socks, running shorts, running top, and a hat. Someone passes by every minute, fairly busy. Do you stop and walk (waddle) back to your house or do you go just off the path in a place that is still sort of visible and just “let 'er rip”? I ended up choosing the first option, but it was the most terrible death walk ever.
It has happened to me a few times. Get off the path quickly. Dump away. Use the cheapest piece of clothing as a cleaning device (usually socks). Continue run. This rarely happens to me anymore as I have trained my body to drop a duece as soon as I wake up.
It depends. Does this happen all the time? If so, plan your route to take you past a place with a restroom or porta-potty. My wife has this happen at around 3 miles into any run and plans accordingly. It doesn’t matter if she goes before the run or not either. When she is doing a race she takes Immodium but that messes her system up for a couple of days.
I have a friend who always has to shit when we run, he jumps into the weeds and goes. He also folds up some TP to take with him and tucks it into his shorts.
Ditto on the “planning” idea…I’m one of those that more often than not, especially in the morning, has to go about 3 miles in, regardless of what took place before the run. So almost always I will make sure that I have a place to, um, rest about 20 minutes in.
Another technique is to run a mile or so and make that end up at your house; for many this amount of time is enough to, um, loosen things up enough so that a quick pit stop in the comfort of your own surroundings is all that needs to happen. Resume run and it should go off without any further issues.
You guys have got to be sh****n me! When I run, #2 is the last thing I think of. Kind of reminds me of a buddy of mine who was in the Marine Corp. I had just seen Full Metal Jacket and I asked him how he took a dump when the toilets were out in te open. His reply was: " I was so shook up, I didn’t take a dump for 4 weeks".
I know we’ve all left steamy piles in bizarre places we’re not proud to admit. The worst is always pre-race and there is not enough portos so the line are long. Used to be the races (tris in particular) were the only places that the women’s bathroom lines were shorter than the men’s.
In training, like everyone has said, you just try to be near known pitstops.
When I was solely a runner and training for a marathon, I’d put TP in a zip-lock bag and tuck it in my shorts (no, not the whole roll). THere were many times when I needed it.
Riding it usually isn’t a problem, and I just make doubly sure I’m empty before I start running.
First, this is WAY*** TMI but still… I am reminded of the response the 2d woman of my dreams - Robin Quivers (Howard Stern sidekick) gave when running through the streets of SFO: “The urge came and it ran down my legs. I sprinted to a gentleman with a waterhose, rinsed myself off then ran into the hotel.”
Back when I was a high school runner we didn’t run in fancy sweat-wicking singlets - just cotton T-shirts. Since there was an endless supply of T-shirts from road races there was always something to wipe with in an emergency. And since x-country and track practice started at 3:00 PM sharp, which seemed timed perfectly for the plumbing system, there were many such emergencies. We used to call it “losing shirts on the run.”
Roll up some TP and put it in one of the little snack sized Ziploc bags. All my running shorts have a small pocket in them, so that’s where I put the TP. Sometimes I have no desire to ‘go’ at the beginning of a run, but an hour or so into it… holy crap! Just run for the bushes and hope no cars are coming… Yesterday I was in mile 9 of 10 and had to reallllly go. I was in town (not the country), so there was nowhere to go… but wait… what’s that in the distance? A Burger King? Needless to say, I made a stop… and it wasn’t for coffee and hot cakes. I guess Burger King IS good for something!
These are good tips (TP in Ziploc). As someone that runs at 4AM (during the school year), very few places are open. Occassionaly all the moving “knocks something loose” and it’s time to “rokk a duece” (yes loose and duece rhymes … I’m brilliant).
Yesterday I was in mile 9 of 10 and had to reallllly go. I was in town (not the country), so there was nowhere to go… but wait… what’s that in the distance? A Burger King? Needless to say, I made a stop… and it wasn’t for coffee and hot cakes. I guess Burger King IS good for something!