Help a high school runner who vomits 300m from the finish in ever high school cross country race (but not track)

I edited the title of the thread, hoping to get some responses.

Chris was my high school teammate and he asked me the question above and I advised him to post it here. The original thread was about "clockwork vomiting."

I've never heard anything like this before and we discussed it offline. The more I think about it, this likely is related to some physiological change related to him starting to kick. If he was told, "don't kick", I assume it wouldn't happen.

But it happens every race. Anyone else heard of anything like this?

I used to vomit like that.

It isn't the food. One explanation is that the body directs more oxygen to muscles instead of certain organs.

It took 2 years for me to get over this vomiting issue.

I didn't do anything, it disappeared on its own.

Tell him you are "training through" the next 5K race and that you are going to time him at 5300m. So that in the future a 5000m will seem short. Have another finish line at the 5300m mark and a couple timers. Tell him he must go all out on that last 300m. This way he will vomit at approx 5000m when the real race is finished not at the 4700m mark.

I throw up between 5.5 and 6 km (once at 7 km) in every (college) race, to varying degrees of severity and slowing down. Race generally tanks after that.

I've dealt with this my whole life. I did everything I could, met with a bunch of Dr's in HS, but there just wasn't a solution - and there still isn't (for me atleast). I almost never eat before races, which reduces it to dry heaves.

It's weird, because I don't feel any nausea, it hits really fast - and like the kid described above, almost always when I start kicking at the end of longer races. As such, my XC times, and longer race times (5k, 8k, 10k) are slow for what I've done 800-3k.

I will say that I did have a college career despite this, and I still run competitively, but I only "focus" on distances that it isn't a problem for (3k or less). I still run longer races, and just kind accept the fact that it will happen.

I think it might in some way relate to the structure of my body (stomach, esophogus, or something else.) I know this doesn't really help, but at least you can tell him that he isn't the only one - and I was able to run pretty well in the middle-distances.

This also happens to me quite frequently in long distance races. It can start miles out from the finish in a marathon. For me, I believe it is largely to do with nerves and dehydration. Sometimes I get a thick mucus in my throat wich causes a gag reflex. Along with my nerves spiking near the finish line in anticipation for the kick. If i have a chance at winning and another competitor is nearby my nerves spike. If there is no one around I can jog it in.

Never happens in hard training and I can litterally talk myself out of itduring races. If its a competitive race and my nerves start to clime, I have to tell myself winning is no big deal, just run fast and dont worry what place you get.

I am going to practice breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. I can run an hour tempo hard all the way. But when the pressure is on, with prize money and media, I am impaired by overstimulation of the nervous system.

letsbang wrote:

I think it might in some way relate to the structure of my body (stomach, esophogus, or something else.) I know this doesn't really help, but at least you can tell him that he isn't the only one - and I was able to run pretty well in the middle-distances.

Over my several decades of coaching, I have worked with several athletes who have had similar issues. All were eventually diagnosed with structural/functional issues with the valve/muscle at the top of their stomach.

The one tip off to this type of condition is a long term history of GERD or similar bad heartburn problems.

If any of this seems familiar, please suggest that your athlete see a gastroenterologist ASAP.

A guy at my HS would always throw up at the start line. Starter would go over race instructions, say "everyone ready?", my teammate would say "hold on a sec" and go off to the side and throw up, then get back on the line and they'd start the race.

He was later diagnosed with a "stress-induced ulcer". Your athlete should definitely see a doctor, but it's almost certainly a psychosomatic issue. He could once have been stressed about his XC kick, causing him to throw up, and now the memory of that time stresses him out, and the cycle continues.

PoisonIvy wrote:

letsbang wrote:

I think it might in some way relate to the structure of my body (stomach, esophogus, or something else.) I know this doesn't really help, but at least you can tell him that he isn't the only one - and I was able to run pretty well in the middle-distances.

Over my several decades of coaching, I have worked with several athletes who have had similar issues. All were eventually diagnosed with structural/functional issues with the valve/muscle at the top of their stomach.

The one tip off to this type of condition is a long term history of GERD or similar bad heartburn problems.

If any of this seems familiar, please suggest that your athlete see a gastroenterologist ASAP.

And what was the end result, how did they treat the symptoms? The reason I ask is that I also have had issues with Heart Burn/Reflux in the past, but basically just made dietary adjustments. The main one is not eating anytime close to running, or in the case of non-running, just watching my diet.

` wrote:

A guy at my HS would always throw up at the start line. Starter would go over race instructions, say "everyone ready?", my teammate would say "hold on a sec" and go off to the side and throw up, then get back on the line and they'd start the race.

He was later diagnosed with a "stress-induced ulcer". Your athlete should definitely see a doctor, but it's almost certainly a psychosomatic issue. He could once have been stressed about his XC kick, causing him to throw up, and now the memory of that time stresses him out, and the cycle continues.

Dude, throwing up at the start - yeah due to nerves. Throwing up towards the end of a race is totally different and in no way "mental" at least not what I have experienced and what the OP is describing. I have had 9 years to figure this out. If races really were that stressful, I think I would have given up long ago.

I can say 100% that stress or nerves have no impact, it is consistent to the point that every longer race, workout or intervals - if I push hard enough, I will puke or dry heave. Alone on the track, at our conference meet, doesn't matter, it's like a switch is flipped.

I am fortunate in that it does not affect me in shorter races, it's almost like they are too short to initiate whatever perfect storm happens in my body to trigger this.

PoisonIvy wrote:

letsbang wrote:

I think it might in some way relate to the structure of my body (stomach, esophogus, or something else.) I know this doesn't really help, but at least you can tell him that he isn't the only one - and I was able to run pretty well in the middle-distances.

Over my several decades of coaching, I have worked with several athletes who have had similar issues. All were eventually diagnosed with structural/functional issues with the valve/muscle at the top of their stomach.

The one tip off to this type of condition is a long term history of GERD or similar bad heartburn problems.

If any of this seems familiar, please suggest that your athlete see a gastroenterologist ASAP.

I have a sister who works in the GI area and she told me that it's very common to see lots of young adults w/this problem, not just running related but college and early 20s. It's intriguing b/c it's seems to happen to a certain young population. I will try to find more info on it and get get back w/you. I think it's a good learning tool for all of us who are involved in the youth.

This was me in high school, and I still encounter the problem 20+ years later. A doctor prescribed Tagamet when I was in high school when it was still a prescription-based medication, and it didn't really help. I tried antacids, too, and that didn't help.

FWIW, I've had a sensitive gag reflex since I was young; my dentist and hygienists sometimes ran into this during dental visits. I also have more problems than the average person taking pills.

I found and still find that in races that send me into the anaerobic red zone, my throat would clench and I'd feel cottonmouthed right before the urge to vomit struck. Over time, I learned to deal with it and run through it. I distinctly remember a section XC final in which I vomited about a half mile from the finish and kept going since we had a state meet berth on the line. I also had this problem in some workouts, particularly on certain hard uphill runs. I ran a half marathon PR last year and encountered it about 2 miles from the finish.

The way I've learned to deal with it is to basically slow down, relax and then refocus. My layman's opinion is that it's both physical and mental; it's like once my body hits the red zone, my mind braces for the gag reflex and it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have experimented with backing off right when the symptoms begin, and sometimes that works. Good luck. Would be interested in knowing how others have overcome the problem.

Stop voting for trump

I had this in high school and in the early races of cross country my freshman year of college. I believe that, at least for me, that it was due to a mixture of excitement and breathing too quickly. Almost like stagefright, as I knew the finish chute was coming up I would become pretty excited and nervous at the same time, regardless of how my body felt. Then, my breathing would pick up a bit too quickly. Next thing you know you are dry heaving and gagging the last 400m's. In short, adrenaline rush, then hyperventilating unintentionally.

What helped for me was trying to focus as much as possible and relax my breathing the last stages of the race, even if it sacrifices a second or two off my final time.

At this point it might be inside your runner's head, too. He knows that he often throws up with 300m to go, so the anticipation may even cause it. Have to break the habit!

I too struggled with this, but I think it had to do largely with my anaerobic threshold and lactic acid tolerance. Early in the season, when I would kick hard, I would get dry heaves, but later on when I had adjusted to closing fast I never encountered it again.

The kid is running just above his LT for the majority of the race. The slow accumulation of LA in his system is the problem. When he gets saturated with LA, his stomach can't handle it.

I had this issue, too, but only in the 10k. I would dry heave the last 600 or so of each and every 10k race I did. I really believe the rate of LA accumulation is the issue here.

Hate is flowing through him, not Pure Hate.

Help him purify and let the Pure Hate flow. It will not induce vomiting.

Cool story bro.

He should keep doing it. It probably helps him in the kick as he Is lighter. I Vomit everyday tobLose weight and Im faster than my teammates who dont