Exercise and GI Distress

juliagorina

Anybody get this? I'm a relatively new runner, ran a half marathon back in mid oct, and have struggled w/ random tummy cramps ever since (not to mention the day of the race).

peleroja

It's extremely common for runners. I'm not very biology-literate but my understanding is it's believed to be something to do with extra bloodflow to your extremities causing a slowdown/disruption in your digestion and that it happens most often when you run longer.

I think the only way to eliminate it is a lot of trial of error in figuring out what works best for your body as far as pre-run and run fuel. Personally, caffeine doesn't affect me but it does for some people, but if I eat toast or something I get terrible cramps so I usually run fasted after a cup of coffee.

sammyliftsandeats

http://www.active.com/nutrition/articles/how-to-avoid-runner-s-trots-880937

The struggle is real.

I made the mistake of having a high fat breakfast, coffee, AND artificial sweeteners before going out for a run. It was a recipe for disaster pants.

BrianSharpe

It's surprisingly common, especially among newer runners and it's often a case of trial and error to avoid it.

For example not eating certain foods the day before a long run or a race, training your body to have a BM before you go out for your run (coffee is a miracle drug in that dept) not eating too close to a run (personally I prefer to run fasted in the morning) and so on.