Home› General Training Discussions

Nausea During Ironman Run/Zofran

NigelNigel
in General Training Discussions

Hi everyone,

This year of Ironman racing was the first year that I have ever had nausea on the run during Ironman racing.  I raced Ironman St. G, Ironman LP, and Ironman Louisville and in all 3 races around mile 8-10 on the run the nausea got so bad that I was forced to walk the entire rest of the marathon.  I altered my nutrition at every race w/ EFS used for St. G, EFS w/ salt tabs Placid, Pedialite used in Louisville with no change in nausea. 

I have never experienced this type of nausea before and have been racing Ironman for 15yrs with a Kona PR of 9:32.  This coming up season I decided to race Los Cabos to see if it is temp related w/ Los Cabos avg temps in 70's.  I also thought it could be bike intensity but kept intensity very low in Louisville and didn't change the nausea. 

I spoke to other people walking around me at the races and they all spoke of the same cause of walking, nausea!!! Very few spoke of feet hurting or injury or went to hard on bike and now I am bonking.  Almost everyone I talked to said they felt nauseous? 

I took Zofran at the end of St. G and this resulted in nausea completely going away.  Has anyone ever used a nausea med during a race?  Any side effects?  Precautions? 

My concern with taking these meds is if the nausea is being caused from dehydration, I don't want to mask a major problem and cause longterm injury to my GI track from ischemia.  Remember Chris Leigh Ironman 1997?  He lost a good chunk of his small intestine due to dehydration and I think this is what caused him to stop doing Ironman. 

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Nigel

Comments

  • harrastharrast
    Interesting. It sounds like you were done with the race when you took it. Is that correct? I wonder if it would help with nausea off the bike. I'm another guy who gets nausea and, while I seldom take medications, serious nausea might be an exception.
  • NigelNigel
    I did take it after the race was done but would of really liked to have it during the race if it didn't cause any major side effects? I was just very surprised when I discovered how many people were walking just like me due to nausea!
  • jmolchinjmolchin
    This is very interesting. I've done 3 IM's and I've had nausea on the run for each one. I've done IMWI, IMSG, and IMFL. IMWI and IMSG I used EFS, IMFL I used Infinit. I always thought it was normal to feel nauseated but after talking to a friend he told me otherwise. All three IM have been warm so I'm wondering if it's a heat issue and it makes the nutrition go bad? I'm going to probably follow the core diet for my next one. Let me know what you find out. Medication might not be out of the question.
  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    Nausea can be caused by a few things. First is Hyponatremia too much fluid, not enough sodium...you are low on electrolytes and your body wants to dump it to get right quick. Another cause is too much caffeine on race day (do you use that at all?).

    Especially curious in that you don't have the issue in training but in racing. Curious to see how your race day fueling / effort maps to what a typical ride is for you. Some folks get "really behind" after a 1-1:15 swim in terms of nutrition, and the bike cals/plan that works on a non-swim training Saturday for 112 won't cut it on race day -- OR -- only gets you so far on the run.

    As for everyone else having nausea, that's a really bad sample size...folks walking in an IM have typically make some really bad pacing / execution discussions to cause their current distress...let us know re the above!
  • robin sarnerrobin sarner

     Nausea medication during a race is a bad idea.     Too many potential side effects, some of them serious.    

  • NigelNigel
    Robin, Have you ever heard of anyone trying them? I know they are used in the med tent after the race for obvious reasons but wasn't sure about using them midway into the run when my nausea develops? It is amazing how fast Zofran works to get rid of the nausea. Any other ideas where the nausea is coming from? Thanks for the input.
  • Nate ParadyNate Parady
    Nigel, Nausea can also be caused and is a symptom of dehydration. I know with me it triggers pretty quick and then goes away equally as fast once I start replacing fluids.

    Any chance you were dehydrated at that stage of your races...??
  • NigelNigel
    I am pretty sure it is caused from dehydration but I have had trouble this year staying hydrated during the races I did. I drink as much as I can and seems like I am not completely absorbing it. I don't know if I am not taking in enough salt with the drinks but EFS seems pretty high in electrolytes. Anyone had a sweat test done? Helpful?
  • NigelNigel
    Patrick,

    I have done a fair amount of training at "Ironman" pace with swimming before with no signs of nausea. At Ironman Louisville I made a real effort to keep the intensity very low to see if I could get through the race with no nausea. I will listen to Jesse's talk and see about looking into Core diet. I want to come up with a real good nutrition plan that I can train with and then do Los Cabos.

    What did you do for your sweat test? Thanks, Nigel
Sign In or Register to comment.