At IMLP I experienced what I have been told is referred to as heavy belly. It felt like my stomach was full of fluid and it was somewhat painful to run. It didn’t affect my time that much, because my legs really hurt…but does anyone have anecdotal solution to the heavy belly thing. I have been told it related to electrolyte intake.
Thanks, everyone.
could it be drinking too much, or drinking/eating too many calories?
just ideas, I don’t really know much about it but seems like electrolytes are not necessarily at fault.
I have been told it related to electrolyte intake.
Yes. Osmolarity. This can also lead to hyponatremia, which can be fatal. You take in fluids, but they can not pass through the walls of the stomach due to pressure differentials. The race ends, your system tries to catch up and processes all the fluid quickly, the pressure squeezes your brain, etc.
Do “the” google on it.
I hate “heavy belly”. It seems to happen to me in hotter weather more. But i’ve gotten some cooler heavy bellies as well.
One thing that can help with “gastric emptying” (making those fluids flush) is solid food rather than purely liquid nutrition. I’m not a nutrionist, I just play one in my bike shop, but I’ve been told by more than one nutrition expert with lots of letters after their name that some people need to eat solid food (CLIF bar, Hammer bar, something resembling real food that you chew) rather than relying on liquid nutrition alone.
Some folks do fine with bottle after bottle of Perpetuem or whatever, but there are those (like me) that need to integrate at least small amounts of solid food during extended endurance events in order to tell the stomach to do its thing and evacuate what it has sitting around. By this I mean move stuff down the pipe.
You didn’t mention what your race day nutrition schedule looked like so I’m just throwing out ideas. I get that sloshy stomach feeling if I overdrink without solid foods, so I try and eat a solid bar on the bike right before the run to promote gastric emptying.
Seeing a nutritionist is affordable and well worth it if your problems persist. Preferably find one with experience with ultra endurance athletes.
I drank probably 6 bottles Gatorade endurance + 6 gels on the bike, and drank G.E. at each run stop, with about 6 gels on the run. I went to the bathroom 3 times during the race (if that matters). I might have had a Clif bar during the bike (first lap).
It was about 60 degrees the whole day, but I was hot during the run.
I also had the stupid belly thing two weeks later in a HIM. Similar nutritional strategy that day (although I shouldn’t have been racing 14 days after to begin with).
It may be that you are taking in too many carbs in proportion to your water. It is the osmosis thing. The stomach uses water to absorb carbs thru its lining. If the carb/water ratio is too dense, your body pulls in water to the stomach to do the job. Try drinking just plain water. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but if it is too much carbs, water will flush your stomach righ out.
You need to drink plenty of water with a gel, like what Davesnothere said.
Go over to www.hammernut.com - they have a couple of downloadable pdf documents related to endurance nutrition, calorie and electrolyte intake, and I think they have some good ideas.