Vomited While Running

Kelll12123

Sorry for posting such an icky topic, but if you made the choice to open this, I'm sure you can handle it.

Just over four miles into my run today, I started to feel a little nauseous, so I began to walk, but then I started to throw up. I pride myself in my "stomach of steel" and the fact that I never get sick from anything, so today was especially strange. I read a little bit about why this would happen, and none of the reasons seemed to be consistent with my routine today. Hopefully someone out there can try to explain possible reasons why this happened, and more importantly, give me some suggestions for how to prevent it.


Here are some of the factors that may play a role in what happened:

What I ate today:
Breakfast (9 am): Two eggs, a piece of toast, coffee, water
Snack (11 am): Pineapple and water
Lunch (12ish): Salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, cheddar cheese, chicken, onion, and lemon and lime juice with more water.
I drank plenty of water throughout the day as always, and then I began my run at 1:15, which should have been plenty of time after eating lunch, especially since it wasn't a very big meal.

Pace: I averaged at 9 minutes and 16 seconds per mile, which is pretty typical for me.
Mile 1: 8:30 min/mile
Mile 2: 9:12 min/mile
Mile 3: 9:19 min/mile
Mile 4: 9:55 min/mile
The beginning of my run was mostly flat/downhill, and then I was running over more uneven ground toward the end.

Running history: I began loosing weight in May, and would run 1-3 miles at a time a couple times a week all summer. Around October, I stopped running outside and began using the elliptical because it got colder. About a month or two ago, I began running outside occasionally, but mostly using the indoor track. I can run up to seven miles at a time now, but I usually stick to about five. I run 4-5 times a week and do a variety of distances between 3 and 7 miles. Most of my running has been on the indoor track, so maybe something about running outside is the issue.

Weather: It's just over 40 degrees today. I was wearing a light running jacket and leggings. I think I was dressed well for the weather and I felt comfortable temperature-wise.

Also, after I threw up, I felt perfectly fine. I could have run the rest of the way home if I wanted to. I'm even considering going on another run later today.


Sorry for such a long post. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks in advance for reading and for your advice!

DopeItUp

The idea of running makes me nauseated too.

DavPul

Don't feel bad. Even thinking about cardio makes me wanna puke too

DavPul

And congrats on your pregnancy

Kelll12123

amyrebeccah wrote: »

DavPul wrote: »

And congrats on your pregnancy

OP, thank you for including such complete information. Based on all of that, pregnancy was also my first thought. Possible?

Nope, not pregnancy

LoneWolfRunner

I think it was probably just one of those fluke things that happens to runners now and then. I periodically get nauseous for no apparent reason when I'm running. I think the only time you need to worry about it is if it starts becoming a regular thing. I feel my best when I run fasted, but once you start getting up over ten miles, it's not a viable or smart option. I think that puking on a run is an important rite of passage as runner. It's right up there with having to poop in the woods on a long trail run.

brandiuntz

Was the lunch you had normal for what you eat before a run (cheese, raw vegetables)? Everyone's individual in this, but there may be certain types of food you don't tolerate well before a run (diary, for instance).

Personally, I have to wait 2 hours or more after eating before running and certain food groups are a big no-no for me. How was your energy level at that time? You didn't feel like you were pushing yourself hard?

It may have just been a one off moment, perhaps even some mild food poisoning. If it keeps happening, you may need to adjust how much you eat, what you eat, or the timing of eating to running.

qn4bx9pzg8aifd

There's no way I would have been able to run (without a digestive issue consequence or issue, that is) if I'd eaten so little protein, fat, and fiber, or had so few calories (i.e. not enough fuel for my body to function properly), and hadn't allowed more time for any recently eaten meat to make it through more of my digestive system (I rarely ingest meat so soon before working out, let alone running (and I usually allow at least 2 hours for stomach content 'clearance', if it comes to something that my system will require more 'digestive system resources' to process (volume-wise, calorie-wise, and/or solid-meat-wise)).

And I've come to rely more on liquid-based calories/protein/fat fuel, and more innocuous-to-my-stomach sources of 'barely solid' fuel (including 'highly chewed' almonds, peanut butter -filled 'air-like' crackers, or non-fat yogurt), if I'm within an hour of doing any form of physical activity which will involve either 'jostling' of the body (and stomach content), and/or core-intense activity, and/or cardio-intense activity...

I learned the hard way that I need to pay attention to this aspect re: the timing of workout-less-than-2-hours-away ingestion and digestion aspects, and the fact that my body seems to function much better, and far more comfortably (altogether), if any while-engaged-in-physical-activity-and-especially-cardio-intense-activity involves my stomach content not be the disruptive variable that it could/would otherwise be.

In my being aware of this aspect, and adhering to some related specifics that work well for me, I find that my body can function in a manner that allows whatever physical activity to have optimized use of the various 'relevant support systems' for such activity (and essentially 'firing on all cylinders'), versus having the digestive system require partial (and to some extent, quasi-dominant -like) 'insistence' on its being allowed to finish what it was in the process of completing (and which can result in a disruptive alteration to how I sweat (per what I've noticed), which affects body temperature, and accompanies my soon getting nauseous).

Lastly, fwiw, I also find that in the hours preceding such physical activity, my body needs to have been given enough 'prelim' fuel, and there is no way I would have been able to run after having ingested so few calories during even that much of the day, let alone its involving so little protein, fat, fiber, and carbs (i.e. if I'd eaten exactly what you happen to have eaten prior to running, I, personally, would have gotten light-headed, felt quite a bit 'off', physically, and likely have gotten nauseous at some point).

But that's me... it can be highly different for various folks... this was just an fyi regarding my reality, and fwiw...

esjones12

If not prego.....and everything you did today was "normal" as in what you ate and how long you ate before your run and your run was normal. Then it might just be a random bad piece of chicken on your salad (or cheese) or your body was just in a wacky mood.

If everything was normal and you feel normal now. You didn't puke up blood, etc. Just brush it off. If it happens again, then I would be worried. I wouldn't run again tonight though. Just in case you are getting sick, etc.

SonicDeathMonkey80

Vomiting while running means it's probably gonna be a boy

hill8570

I don't see anything that stands out particularly. Except for the "feel fine afterwards", I'd guess mild food poisoning, but even mild FP tends to leave you with some after effects. Did you happen to check out the vomitus closely? Chunks of undigested stuff would tend to point to running too soon after eating.

sunglasses_and_ocean_waves

Like someone else said, only be concerned if it becomes a problem. There's probably something you're overlooking like possible dehydration or maybe you ate something that was off.

AlisonH729

Coffee, pineapple, lemon/lime- too much acid maybe? Probably just a fluke.

jdctrumpet

I've had this happen to me before, and I've basically narrowed it down to water consumption. I have to make sure that I don't drink anything for at least 1-1.5 hours before I exercise. If I do drink something within that time frame, I almost always throw up and feel perfectly fine right after.

Reflux is the other possibility that came to mind. I know quite a few people who aren't diagnosed with it and rarely have issues. However, if they eat/drink too much on the acidity scale, they end up feeling nauseous while exercising.

Kelll12123

Hmmm thanks so much everyone. Now that I think of it, I don't usually eat meat before running. The salad with cheese is normal, but typically I'll add almonds instead of chicken. Maybe I should have given it more time to digest too, but I imagine if that was the issue, the vomiting would have happened earlier on.

Kelll12123

Yeah, also all of the acids aren't normal for me. I'm a college student and I'm at home for spring break, so I think the different foods that my parents have instead of what I keep in my apartment could have triggered it.

Roxiegirl2008

I would not worry unless it keeps happening. I have puked a time or two on a run. Sadly it was witnessed by families playing at the park. Yeah that was a good experience for me. I had eaten the same thing as always and did the same pace. Perhaps your food just didn't set well that day, maybe you got a little overheated even though you didn't feel like it at the time or your body just didn't like the run that day.

stealthq

Only other thing I can think of is if you have allergies and post-nasal drip. I've felt nauseated while running from that before, though never actually thrown up.

Eating something dry and carb-y like a couple of low fat saltines (because they're crispier) or a slice of dry toast before running fixes it for me.

Derpes

This happened to me today......I have a history of acid reflux and have not taken meds.....keep in mind that there is "silent reflux" where you do not feel heart burn. Just food for thought.

BrianSharpe

SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »

Vomiting while running means it's probably gonna be a boy

I thought it meant twins!

Seriously though OP my gut reaction (no pun intended) was running too soon after eating. Personally I have to wait at least a couple of hours (even after light meal) before running.