Runner's Trots... how to prevent?

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  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    One bit of advice I've followed on a couple of marathons is to eat your biggest carb-heavy meal the day before the race at noon and only eat a very light dinner and breakfast. In my case I aimed for either pasta or chicken and rice for lunch and eggs and toast for dinner. Not much fiber to hang around and cause trouble.
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 483 Member
    OP here- did an 11 miler yesterday and managed to make it all the way to the stretching session afterwards before having to go. I did low fiber for two days prior/morning of, drank a ton of water, made sure to "go" before the run, and took an Immodium about an hour before running. I also tested out my new camelback and drank a lot more water during running than usual. I tried a couple new edibles that I really liked, Powerade real fruit gel and Gu Chews. I ran slowly and didn't try to push myself to go too fast.

    All this seemed to help quite a bit, but I think when I get into higher miles I will need a second Imodium halfway through to be safe. I'm just so happy I got through the entire run yesterday without that kind of pain and disruption!

    I hope this helps someone else who's suffering.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    Hot water is an excellent and gentle laxative, that's why people often poop after their coffee.
    Have you tried hot water/coffee/tea an hour or so before a run?
  • bketchum1981
    bketchum1981 Posts: 130 Member
    Know a girl who did the Imodium trick for a Tough Mudder.
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 483 Member
    bketchum1981 wrote: »
    Know a girl who did the Imodium trick for a Tough Mudder.

    Makes sense. Amazingly I've done a Savage Race and a Warrior Dash with no problems. Maybe it's because there were so many stops where we had to wait in lines for the obstacles, so my heart rate had multiple chances to go down. Continuous, long-distance running seems to be the only thing that causes problems for me.
  • tomaattikastike
    tomaattikastike Posts: 62 Member
    I typically eat a very high fibre diet, but the evening and morning before a race (HM or longer), I purposefully eat white pasta, white bread with honey, etc. That's something you can experiment on in training. Also, like you say, there may well be porta potties along the course, and you won't have to queue during the race, so you'll only lose a couple of minutes or so. That's not going to ruin your marathon experience. Hopefully you won't need it, but knowing might give you peace of mind.
  • yourfitnessenemy
    yourfitnessenemy Posts: 121 Member
    When I was marathon training I took immodium before all my long runs. I had some close calls before I did that.
  • SchweddyGirl
    SchweddyGirl Posts: 244 Member
    edited October 2017
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    One bit of advice I've followed on a couple of marathons is to eat your biggest carb-heavy meal the day before the race at noon and only eat a very light dinner and breakfast. In my case I aimed for either pasta or chicken and rice for lunch and eggs and toast for dinner. Not much fiber to hang around and cause trouble.

    It is actually better to carb load up over a course of three days. Starting at about 50% and then increasing your carbs as you get to the day before the marathon and trying to hit about 75-80% carbs. Start playing with your carb loading now, so that you know what will work for you and what won't.
  • caseytoole
    caseytoole Posts: 6 Member
    I used to run marathons and half's and dealt with the trots. So annoying! So, my race prep included making sure I was empty before heading to the starting area on race morning. I found that I was using an electrolyte drink that was triggering the disaster pants, it contained maltodextrose. I had to avoid all products containing maltodextrose, or it was to the bushes I go! I'd say have a good look at everything you are consuming before working out and getting the trots - maybe its something in your supplements/gels/etc. Also keep in mind that when you run, your intestines are moving the food along your digestive track, so maybe after you eat, you could do a short 20 minute warm up to get things moving, then go to your race.
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