Running Mania

Hi! I know this is a common problem among runners, and even a lot of my running friends had this issue. The reason I'm inquiring about it here, it that as I will detail below, I tried a lot of things and nothing resolved this problem. I'm starting to be quite desperate.
I've been training for running races for about 1 1/2-2 years now and have been increasing progressively my distances in the last 6 months, planning to run a marathon soon. This sensation of bloating/infrequent hiccups and nausea only happens in my long runs, around the 18th-20th km. I often need to stop, drink a bit, which helps temporarily, then it starts almost right away when I start running back again. I have never been able to run more than 32K because it gets horrible at that point. After the run, I feel bloated, have horribly painful hiccups and I can't eat for the rest of the day. I've been reading a lot and here is what I tried:
-First, I thought it was hydration. So I bought a hydration pack and drank good quantities of free water, often and early into the run. About 1L per run >20k. I was eating glucose gels and protein bars during the run. No success.
-Then I thought it might have been too much water at the beginning of the run and bloating from a too full stomach, so I drink minuscule quantities of water, but SUPER frequently. No success either.
-Then I thought it was the protein bars that we're too heavy, so I stopped those and just continued with the gels containing good amounts of electrolyte (>200mg sodium, potassium...). I would take 1 of those gels every 30 min. Nothing.
-Then I read that we can loose about 1L of sweat per hr of training in hot temperatures (which was the case) and that 1L of sweat can contain about 1000mg of sodium, that's A LOT. So I bought sodium/potassium/magnesium pills (250mg Na each) and took them every hour and Nunn electrolytes tablets and drank 20oz of the nunn-water mixture (350mg Na total). This is still not the full Na replacement but I felt NO difference at all, maybe even got a bit worse.

So now I'm there and my next long run is in 3 days and my marathon in 2 1/2 weeks and I'm starting to seriously doubt in my capacity to accomplish this. I run about 80K a week with only 1 long run on the sunday and the rest divided pretty equally in 4-5 other runs. Let me know what you would do next! Would you increase sodium intake even more. Would you increase the calorie intake? Some people have told me this can also be caused by the impact of the up-and-down movement of the body on the stomach that "paralyses" it. Is there a way to reduce that effect? Caffeine? Thank you!

Everyone is so different and what works for one person won't necessarily work for the next. Hopefully others will chime in with what works for them.
For me, I find that what I eat the day before a long run can make a difference. If for example I have Chinese the night before I do find if affects my stomach in a not so good way. If I have basic protein, starch, carbs/veggies there are usually no issues.
For the day of my long run I keep it simple. Oatmeal and fruit for breakfast-easy on the stomach, no bloating. If I don't get out for my long run until later in the morning, I'll eat a half a bagel and PB about 30 minutes before heading out.
As far as drinking on the run, I drink to thirst. I don't have a set schedule. If I'm feeling thirsty I'll take a drink, if I'm not, I don't. If it's super hot, I'll drink more, when it's cool, I'll drink less. I don't sip my water as I go, I will actually walk and take a large drink. Maybe let your body tell you when to drink, don't drink, just because you *think*'you should.
Gels with caffeine can be hard on the stomach, maybe experiment with plain, non caffeine gels.
After a long run its quite common to not be hungry. I'm normally not hungry for much, but I do try and eat/drink something nutritious, but not heavy. The next day is when I'm usually super hungry though.
I can't help you with the salt tabs though as I've never taken them, ever.....

I hope you can figure this out, there is nothing worse than feeling bad for a long run, or race.

Oh yeah, Running and IBS symptoms ... Have you seen your doctor and/or a nutritionalist yet ?

Heat & Humidity, perhaps ??

What type of fuel system you use for long runs ??

Was having similar issues in my recent marathons and longer runs earlier in year, before injuries .. and, spoke to one of my ultra nut friends, and she suggested to take TUMS .. and, believe it or not, helped with the issues and also for muscle crampings ... Cheaper than NUUNs .. Ha !!

Thanks a lot for all your answers! I had a 28K run today. The same symptoms came back, but delayed (around the 25th km) and a little bit better. 2 things were different: the temperature was cooler and I did try tums! I also had a better diet the few days before, but that can improve even more. However, the rest of the day is as worse as the other days, terrible nausea, bloating and hiccups. Feeling like my stomach can't move anymore. I realized today that these hiccups look like "drunk hiccups". They are not frequent, but painful. I don't know if that can help us point to a cause... How many tums were you taking?
For fuel, I use gels, maple syrup... anything with high glucose and nothing much else. I felt like I had a better control of every nutrients if I separated them (glucose, sodium and electrolytes, free-water,...). I must admit, I don't take a lot of those during the run, maybe the equivalent of 1 gel every 45-60 min taken by little sips frequently.

How much fluids are you taking in for a 28K+ lsd run ?? Your post run issues appear to be more like post run issues of dehydration, heat exhaustion, lack of calories, etc ? How much are you consuming within 30, 60, 120 minutes after the run ??

I had just started using Tums before my latest setback this Spring/Summer, but, started to pop one in whenever I felt, which was approximately every 30-45 min or so? I think it was the magnesium content in the Tums, that basically replaced the electrolyte supplements ??

Hi! So I went to see a doctor, and I was prescribed a trial of pantoloc, we'll see if it does anything. Apparently, some people have to be held on PPIs for sport purposes and I had quite severe issues with heart burns in the past.
I also thought it was dehydration before, but I increased my water intake to approximately 1L per hour and to around 350-400mg salt (plus other electrolytes) per hour. Calories is a good hypothesis, I admit not taking a lot... mainly because I feel terribly sick with glucose gels sold in sport shops, they feel to sweet and the taste is bad. I can only take 1 portion every 45-60min. Could it be the cause?

IMO it's clearly the gels. Try taking on real food as your fuel source instead of gels, if you must use food fuel at all.

Personally, I never used them in long training runs. I don't believe they are needed at training paces at all - one of the purposes of those runs is to train the organism to use fat as a greater proportion of fuel burned. Fat, plus the glycogen supplied from the liver (and stored in the muscles too) at long run training pace should get you to the end of the training run quite nicely.

It could be the gels. I thought gels used maltodextrin and not glucose. Try switching brands to Hammer or Gu and see if that has an effect.

*bias alert*: I've been known to eat over 80 gels in a race.

daddy_runner wrote:
*bias alert*: I've been known to eat over 80 gels in a race.

You're an ultra runner, everything you do is extreme.

Started pantoloc this monday.
I did 18K today, shorter than my usual weekend run. The run felt ok, but at the end I could feel the symptoms coming back and felt as bad as usual after the run. I think it's getting worse.
I actually don't take gels anymore, I sip maple syrup, which tastes better, but still don't take a whole lot. During my 18 today, I took 150 external calories, 100 from maple syrup and 50 from Fruit2 energy fruit bar (mostly glucose and fruit pulp). I tried a lot of different energy gel cie, actually all the ones I had access to with not much difference between them, just went with the taste. I'm reluctant in trying real food as something with more fat/protein content could slow the stomach down and this seems to be the problem in my case, but I don't have any other ideas...

There are lots of real food choices that aren't full of protein or fat, have a low GI and are portable for running with. Lots.

Real food doesn't have to have more fat and protein.

One of my favourite long run foods is apples. I slice them up and put them in a baggy, eat a couple of slices when I feel hungry.

Maybe worry less about getting in the right amounts at the right time and just listen to your body... If you're hungry, eat. If you're thirsty, drink. It doesn't need to be all measured and regimented when you're just experimenting with what works.


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Thanks a lot to everyone! All of your answers were golden and much much appreciated. The marathon is this sunday, so I'll let you know.
I like the idea of low fat low protein real food. Do you have any other foods of that sort you like to take? Any that are less acid? :S

I've heard people say that cold, salted boiled potatoes work well for them. Some others have tried dates (could cause digestive issues for some, but they are very high in natural sugars). Good luck on your race!!

So I think it was indeed hyponatremia. To prevent dehydration, I was trying to take a few sips of water every few minutes during my trainings. This is really interesting because I would get these symptoms when it's warmer, as I would drink more. Apparently taking salt/sport drinks only slightly helps preventing hyponatremia, the quantity of liquids has a much more impact. This is the whole point of the "drink to thirst" concept, you won't get hyponatremic if you drink to thirst.
So I restricted my water intake during the marathon, and no symptoms! I was dehydrated at the end, of course, but that I can work on in my next trainings. I just need to find the perfect fluid intake balance. Thanks for all your comments!

Excellent! Glad to hear that you had a trouble free race