I seem to get a sore throat after raceing. It’s hard to eat food. After IM Arizona, a few hours after race, it hurt to even eat frozen yogurt. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s a full or a half. Does anyone know why this happens? Or how to avoid it? Thanks, Rick
exact same thing happens to me after a hard race.
takes about a week to recover completely, unfortunately.
Same thing happens to me. Lots of heavy breathing & a day long of sweet food & drinks surely don’t help. Seems way worse after an Ironman. Not sure of any studies on this with triathletes–but that is what I’m thinking. It’s stressful on the throat I’d think because the air & sweets (the one point that is keeping the body going all day long) pass through that hour after hour. If there are studies out there I’d like to hear/see them. I never had the same problem in distance nordic ski racing but then again, the races aren’t over 9 hours for the most part…maybe a couple hours +.
Is it the inside of your throat that’s sore? Like a sore scratchy feeling like the food going down your throat is hurting the inside of your pharynx/esophagus?
Or does it hurt the muscles in the whole forward part of your neck when you try to swallow?
For me, it’s inside. After finishing, it feels ok, until I try to eat. Then after a few bites, it hurts like hell.
Happens to me all the time after a really hard effort. It’s worse here in AZ, because the air is so dry. After races, we all stand around hacking like a bunch of high-school smokers.
I can reproduce this sort of sore throat with a night of track racing that consists of 30-60 minutes of riding a bicycle, perhaps how much mouth breathing one does and how forcefully one does it? 
Primarily the back of the throat–like a sugar burn. Last thing you want is a soda or more Gatorade afterwords to make it worse. A couple days later it is better. I don’t notice it usually during racing but after I stop & following day is worse. Doesn’t affect anything other than what I want to eat. Very bland & non-spicy foods are something I prefer afterwards because of this. Forget acidic things like spagetti sauce or super sweet like bananas. Water & tea, eggs, are all things I would consider as something to eat after.
Also a sign of dehydration.
Ron W.