The poop question

Douglas Sutherland

Part of the goal was to lose weight. Check. I'm down 25lbs from my pre-tri self, and 10lbs from StG. That required a diet modification. Check. I eat protein, Veges, fruit, water, grains. All good. An unintended consequences is the gas. Holy crap, I am now an "old fart". And that's fine, I pretend I am just firing up my afterburner while tooting along on my run. However, it is becoming quite routine to need to stop mid-long run for a toilet stop. "I swear I will come back later and buy something" is a common plea.

I am 10 days from CDA. Any expert opinion about dietary management these last few days to minimize the need to stop during the race?

DS

Rich Stanbaugh

Doug, I do two things related to this leading into a race.
1. I eliminate/nearly eliminate fiber from my diet 24 hours before a race.
2. I take two Imodium as I leave the hotel race morning.

My thoughts are that the first gives my body time to process naturally and the second sends the message that it should stop processing for awhile.

Stephanie Hartmann

I get up early, have some coffee. Voila.

Nemo Brauch

I also have a tendency to need to make an emergency stop on my long runs (and sometimes even those speed sessions). I pretty much know where every construction site is and every port-o-potty is located in my neighborhood at any time. In the summer it's easy- every beach access has either a bath house or a port-o-potty and they are no more than 2 miles apart. Ahhhhhhh. For race day, I offer the following advice:

1- I follow a similar combined plan to Stephanie and Rich. My last real fiber (usually a salad) is at lunch the day before the race (discontinuation any earlier and I risk not having enough to let my body eliminate in the morning). Coffee in the morning to get things moving and do the elimination thing. And I carry Imodium during the race. I used to take it as a prophylactic after the morning "go", but have found that sometimes causes bloating and makes things worse. So now it's in my "brake in case of emergency" package.

2- Relax. Unlike your long run that you probably normally do first thing in the morning, the really good news about an Ironman is that the run is at the end of the day. You've already done several hours of exercise and probably already taken care of the business.

Hope that helps!

scott dinhofer

x2 on what Stephanie Hartman said. I also try to eliminate a lot of solid food from my diet. Al truscott taught me the trick of going to jamba juice late afternoon/ evening before and getting one of their supersecret stoopid high calorie creations...

Jonathan Brown

Same issues. I have found every fast food, fire station, and police stations on every run (FYI, police stations and fire stations are public property and the bathrooms are always clean).

For the race, i typically do a liquid diet the night before or something not too fatty or too fibrous. I would cut back on the veggies and salads a few days before. More carbs.

Also i would test the imodium before taking it race morning. I find i am in a world of hurt if i take it.

MattAaronson

Minimal fiber for 72 hours prior to any races. Plus Stephanie's advice.

One other issue based on your description of gas is that you may be overdoing it on fruit in your diet generally.

Scott Alexander

Before any/all of my long rides and races, I proactively take Imodium. And another the morning of. That helps with the nerves, what I've called the "nervous shitters".

Before my big races, I also switch to a "liquid" diet, ala Jamba Juice, for the last night, after a big lunch.

I also eat more veggies than the average bear, so Beano is my friend, although it's not as effective as I'd like all the time.