Appetite and stomach upset after hard workouts and training runs + sleep disruption

kjo1713

Hi all!
I am struggling to manage the syptoms mentioned in the title here. After training runs (so today for instance my long run was 11 miles) I feel stomach upset to where it’s difficult to eat, sometimes for the full rest of the day. I try to force myself to eat well rounded meals, protein and carbs immediately after etc but I am still feeling a ton of stomach upset and appetite suppression that sometimes carries over into the next day with sleep disruptions etc. This only seems to happen after long training runs or if I lift heavy and push myself that way. It’s frustrating because I want to rebuild my body and recover quickly so I want to learn how to manage these symptoms if I can. I am 5’2 F,113 lbs for reference if helpful. Curious if others have experienced this and found a means to manage?

Lietchi

I've had a few queasy moments after long runs. Two likely culprits are low blood sugar and low electrolytes. Since you've tried eating afterwards, I'm leaning towards electrolytes?
On my long runs now, I eat one or two 'fruit gels' from a local sports store (sugar and electrolytes) and I haven't had any issues since then.

Give electrolytes (and sugar) during your runs a try and see if it helps?

tararodrick85

My stomach usually is always upset after long runs and lowered appetite as well. I usually feel better the next day. I think this is pretty common to have gi issues with long distance running.

spiriteagle99

Stomach issues are common for runners. Are you drinking during your runs? Are you taking in electrolytes during or afterwards? If your long runs are two hours, have you tried taking in a gel or other nutrition midway? (During races, the usual advice is to take something every 40 minutes or so.) When I was training for long races, I found it took a few months to get my stomach used to drinking and eating during the longer runs. I found that if I sipped a gel, making it last for a mile or so, my stomach tolerated it better. Some gels were impossible for me to digest, so I needed to try several kinds and flavors to find the ones that worked best. A lot of runners learn to plan long runs around public bathrooms, just in case.