Been having problems more recently on bikepacking races. Seem like late in to the ride I start getting what feels like really bad case of heartburn. Also some times I start to cough and almost throw up . Never really had this problem in the past and seem to be just getting worse. These efforts are like 30hrs straight no sleep stuff.
Any help on what my body is doing or missing to start doing this? I have changed things up on fueling from drink mix and gels to more solid foods but don’t seem to help.
Have you seen your Doc and got blood (iron) tests done?
Its very unlikely to be my cause of Heart burn in my late 30s, it was caused by bowel (colon) cancer. A simple blood test (for iron) in the end said it wasn’t right an needed more investigation. I put off that simple blood test too long on hindsight (that wonderful thing), if I hadn’t it could have been scraped out by the test that found the cancer and there would have been no need to have surgery or chemotherapy. As I say its very unlikely to be your cause but for peace of mind Id advise that simple test if it hasn’t been done.
I don’t have an answer for you, but I just wanted to point out that you must be pretty tough if your major concern after riding your bike for 30 hours is some heartburn and “almost” throwing up. Dude, you’re riding your bike for 30 HOURS - I would be more concerned with a heart ATTACK than heartburn after that amount of exercise lmao
I had the same issue during my last no sleep race. Not sure what was causing it, but i stopped and bought some tums at a gas station and that fixed it until the end (42 hrs)
Fairly common in ultra endurance durations. The blood flow to stomach is very strongly driven by genetic factors. Outside of ultra endurance I assume your stomach is just fine?
While it’s a big jump to go to cancer, I definitely recommend OP have a few tests run just in case something is off. One of my coworkers went to the ER on a Friday and had emergency surgery that night, stage IV lymphoma. Looking back at his symptoms, I recall him having “food poisoning” semi-frequently, roughly every 3 months, but hindsight is 20/20.
It does sound like GERD though. Either way, check with a doctor to avoid us giving you tips that might mask your symptoms.
At the very minimum, some Tums might help. Long distance/duration rides can wreak havoc on the body.
Unfortunately, doing these big efforts, we’re sometimes limited by things beyond our muscular and mental endurance. Good luck with finding a solution that will allow you to stay out there. I have a 400-mile bikepacking race next month myself, so I hope to not experience any of your symptoms.
I used to get heartburn kinda symptoms when racing 24hr TTs which is fair enough when you think that ~36 gels, ~12 bars and 16L of carb drink isn’t exactly a normal diet. I always trained with the same stuff I raced with. Towards the 18hr mark I’d be pretty pukey. I used Rennies antacid tablets (UK brand) and I guess they helped a bit but for me it was pretty much a case of (literally) sucking it up.
For bikepacking ultra stuff, I eat more solid/normal food (no team handing me stuff up) so I don’t really train with the same specific CHO targets, I just try to make sure I have a lot of food on me, mostly carbs and fat and eat what I can when I can. I’ll often carry the same Rennies tablets on ultras but haven’t used them for quite a while. Intensity is a bit lower (I’m fatter and slower these days)
. Never really had this problem in the past and seem to be just getting worse. These efforts are like 30hrs straight no sleep stuff.