Hello all. I've just got back from my longest ever run (17k 😊) and I was wondering if anyone else ever feels sick on a run? I noticed that on this one and my last long run, I felt nauseous at around 13K.
On another note, today's run seems to have pushed my fitness age down to 29 😂😂😂😂
Fitness age and VO2 max often go down on long runs. Take it with a pinch of salt. It’s stupid. The same as you can make it go up with one fast mile.
I'll take it with a pinch of salt, while clinging on to my running time machine!
Could be quite a few things - are you eating too soon before a run, or are you not eating enough before a run? Too much food or water jiggling around in the tummy could make you feel sick, not enough food could cause hunger which can feel like nausea. The diversion of blood away from the digestive tract during exercise is thought to cause upset.
I do find I feel quite sick sometimes when I push myself hard - usually happens just as I finish and I have almost thrown up a few times! The increase in VO2max suggests that you may be pushing yourself pretty hard too.
Well done for your 17K 👏👏👏👍🏃♀️
I felt a bit nauseous at the end of a 12K run and I’m sure it was because ran out of fuel! After that, I started eating breakfast about 90 minutes before a long run - like a half portion of porridge, or a banana. And I took an electrolyte drink with me, with a few snacks. Didn’t happen again.
I don’t use gels. I use Tailwind. It’s a powder that you add water to and I like the taste of it. You can only get it online. I use it on runs of over 10K. I have a belt with two plastic bottles and I put the Tailwind mix in one and water in the other. I take a few sips of the Tailwind from 5K, every 1.5 - 2 km and water in between. Works well for me.
I could have written that reply Jools2020 , it’s exactly what I do! 😂
Great minds think alike 😂
Good little belts aren’t they too? I prefer mine to my hydration vest! 😀
I don’t have a hydration vest. I’m not sure I need one. Maybe I’ll think about it when I’m ready to push on from HM. Up to HM distance I got on just fine with the little bottles, but I know they wouldn’t be sufficient if it was hot. When do you use yours?
Hardly ever to be honest. When I was working up to HM in the heat of summer 2019, and that’s about it. I’ve run a few HM distance runs since and the little bottles work fine. 🏃♀️
I’ll stick to the bottles! 😊
On a run longer than 10k I take two jelly babies with me for every 30 mins I expect to be running, and every 30 mins I eat. I have a hydration pack for long runs: with a water bottle it's so easy to have a big gulp and then a few more big gulps, but with a nozzle I can just turn my chin for, small mouthfuls are easier to control. Drinking too much too fast is part of what has tended to curtail my son's first attempt at virtually any new furthest distance. (That and overconfidence, aiming for a silly increase on the last distance and setting off way too fast, but he's a teenager so that's normal behaviour.)
I do start to feel a tummy ache on long runs. Sometimes it's needing the loo, so I plan my very long routes to go past a railway station with a loo. Often it's nothing to do with that, but as I've extended my distances I've taken longer and longer to feel sick, and now I can run with ease a distance that made me feel sick the first time and queasy the second.
Getting fluids and fuel right is crucial for longer distances. Everyone is a little bit different and everyone likes different things. Try lots of methods and pay attention to your body's needs to try and get quantity right.
I try to work to 500ml per hour fluids and 1 decent snack per hour. I like oat based bars or current fave is tescos apricot or blueberry filled wheaties. Tasty, easy to transport and high in carbs without a big sugar rush.
Milk makes me nauseous, as in a coffee I’ve knocked it off all week as I forgot last week and went out too soon after one which made me feel sick
For me nausea seems to be a sign that I am getting too close to lactate threshold and need to back off a little and/or pause to get my breath back.
WHAT is lactate threshold??!!
Hmm, probably best to do an internet search as I'm no expert. However, the basic principle is that if you are exercising at a rate that's using up oxygen faster than your heart can get more oxygen to your muscles, your body will start to convert fuel to energy anaerobically i.e. without oxygen. This causes a build up of lactic acid and lactate, which can cause burning sensations in the working muscles as well as nausea. If you slow down again your body will gradually process the lactic acid. As you get fitter your heart and lungs get better at getting oxygen to your muscles so you build up lactic acid more slowly. This is also one of the reasons why the first 10 minutes can be hard going - your heart rate and breathing can be a bit slow catching up with how hard they need to work for running, so you start generating lactic acid right at the start and then have to process it all before it stops hurting.
It's worth knowing that if you train at threshold pace, i.e. at or just below the point where your body is struggling to process the lactate, your body gets better and better at dealing with it more quickly, so you get less of a burn for the same level of exertion. So for me if I feel a little sick when doing a hard run, I know I'm training well but, as it's pretty unpleasant, I try to back off just a little so I get some of those training benefits without making myself hate running!
Thank you, when you said lactate, I thought baby...
Fastest speed you can run at while breastfeeding? 
Worst run ever! Feeling worried!
Back to the grind. I hope
