Discussion: Vomiting...

Someone just told me that if I don't throw up during the race, that I didn't give my maximum possible effort.

Does throwing up during a race indicate that a runner gave %100 effort to the endeavor?

And conversly, can a racer give %100 effort and not throw up during the race?

Other than blowing chunks, are there any other good indicators of maximal effort that can be evaluated during or after a race? Myocardial Infarction comes to mind...

Yeah, I think basically if you don't die, you didn't give 100%.

If that person made the comment to you in writing, look carefully for a winky-smiley in the message. ;-)

I've raced with people who routinely vomit after 6 hours of moderate effort and with people who push hard all day, hqppily munching on pizza as they go. The "vomit-ometer" isn't a good indicator of effort expended.

There was no winkey-smiley-thingey in the message.

That's just silly. Along the lines of other old wive's (coaches?) tales like "You can't have sex the night before a game, cause it saps too much energy from you".

though perhaps you should refrain for the 10 - 15 minutes directly before the race :)

... because warm ups should be light.

How many Boston marathon winners have you noted vomiting at the finish? They're grabbed for the cameras & manage to comment just fine.

It seems to me that if you run so fast that you throw up, you have not managed your pace very well. And having to stop an wretch would only slow you down.

In my own experience, the only kind of exercise that induces nausea is the anaerobic kind. If you get enough lactic acid to throw up *during* a race, then your muscles won't be too happy for the remainder of it. And if you have enough energy at the end of a race to induce high lactic acid levels then you probably didn't maintain a fast and steady enough pace throughout.

So yeah, a maximum effort might make you throw up, but it probably won't be good for your performance unless you are an 800 or 1500m runner.

Well also - and this should be 'stating the obvious' - orienteering is not simply based 100% on what one does physically. There are mental/technical/tactical components to it as well. Isn't it common sense that one must not overdo it on the physical side? Otherwise how does your body have the ability to do the thinking? Sure a world champion's optimum speed (i.e. balance between speed and being able to navigate) is higher than a mre mortal's but I don't think that has to mean they are throwing up at the end of the race.

In all the years coaching track, only a couple of times did I see an athlete vomit from races or during hard workouts. I attribute this too eating too much before the races and not having their stomachs at the proper fuel levels. At racing 100% the body seems to slow up due to latic acid build up that affect the system way more than when chunks come flying out. Just do a stress test with a full stomach and without to test this kind of theory.

What about passing out? Wouldn't that top vomiting? I think the guy that said that is not pushing himself hard enough... he should definitely pass out when he crosses the finish line.

Well passing out ain't a great test either - I can do that on a regular jog. Al I have to do is drink some milk in the few hours before I run and ignore the little whelts that come up before my blood pressure plummets...

I've puked a few times just after crossing the finish line of a race. In each case, it was a race where I was getting increasingly keyed up about my chances for winning, followed by a big surge to the line, and then immediately backing off the effort. I think my body just got confused as to whether it was supposed to be working or not. I've found that if I run (or ride, this has happened to me more in bike races) through the line and then back down the effort a bit more gradually, I have no problem, even if I feel the nausea coming on prior to the finish.

I also recall a time when I was on a solo breakaway and was caught in the final mile. I let up as the field passed and the barfed all over them. It seems that getting off the gas real quick doesn't work too well for me.

The above symptoms are clearly related as much to nerves as they are to effort. Being in a small lead pack with the finish approaching can get you pretty worked up inside, especially in sports like cycling and orienteering where you are decidedly NOT going 100% as the finish approaches. So, it could be that puking is an indication that your effort has been a bit uneven rather than optimal.

Puking in a really long race is a whole different thing and usually means you've messed up your food and/or fluid intake. Then, there are some folks who just always wretch 6-10 hours into a race, but they go on just fine anyway.

If that person isn't your coach, ignore him. If it is your coach, puke on him and then find a new coach.

I've been on some maps that were so bad that they made me want to vomit.

The Vermont 100 Mile Run winner this year proceeded to vomit continuously for about 10 minutes after finishing. This was later found to be due to really poor water quality, not disgust with the course or digestive system failure.

Maybe he's right... the vomiting shows you didn't give maximum effort possible effort... as in didn't train to a level before the race to prevent such a sordid experience!!

Haha! Great topic. Watch out for that water! 10 minutes continuously!!? All I can say is "wow" and I hope he still had his stomach when all was said and done.

Who's hungry?

I think puking only indicates about a 96% effort. The sign of a 100% effort is when you die at the end of the race, like Pheidippides.

So, tell that guy who told you puking equals 100% effort that he is a wussy.

Well, I remember as a youngster in May 1954, watching Roger Bannister break the 4-minute mile (3:59.4) for the first time, and then collapse and have to be carried off the track. This link is to the Bannister/Landy "Miracle Mile" three months later, which he won also, and briefly shows his collapse. Note absence of vomiting.

I've always regarded that race as the supreme competitive effort. Dr Bannister knew in advance how to exquistly time that last kick, that final burst, coming around his second rabbit in the final 200 yards of the mile. He had trained to run to a point of collapse.

But within twelve years both Jim Ryun and a New Zealander named Peter Snell beat both their times.

Yes to CTC's right-above - but would 'God As an Englishman' ever condescend to such a base activity as vomiting -)

i think that u have u gave 100% if u have done ure best :D

i think that u have u gave 100% if u have done ure best :D

What language is this - Esperanto, perhaps?... or just the YouTube generation?

Leet

being in ukraine obviously pushed me 100% cause it made me throw up lots.