I have a friend training for IMLP as well, who is in his second year of triathlon, long history of running and cycling. Last year, in his third tri race ever, he did IMLP in 10:54 something. He is currently building base big time which includes a lot of swim yardage, 5,000 – 6,000 yds for the big swim of the week. He is also working on bilateral breathing.
Currently, he feels he doesn’t get enough air breathing bilaterally, so he mixes up laps where he alternates breathing twice to one side to increase O2 intake. He exhales under water.
No real problems there, but several times lately, after he finishes the workout, he comes down with some severe stomach cramps and gastric distress, which are nearly incapacitating. To quote” About an hour after a hard swim
my stomach really starts to hurt. I think I am swallowing air when I take
a double breath stroke. My stomach is bloated and boy does it hurt. Last
night it was delayed but started hurting with 7 miles left to ride. I
could barely make it home. I was in such pain. Could not take a breath. I
got home and went to bed lying there moaning. I took a couple of Peptos
and about 30 minutes later I was okay. This has happened to me a number of
times in the past couple of months.”
His guess is that he may be swallowing some air. His last workout, he appeared to have pre-empted the cramping by taking Tums.
I am not familiar with these symptoms or causes. My guess would have been swallowing water and reacting to the chlorine. Anybody have experience or remedies as to how to prevent the basic underlying cause?