Lately, I've had a hard time digesting before races. I eat a small snack 4 hours before a race, but my stomach always has a funny feeling in it on race day. And even though I have very little food in my stomach, I've been getting really bad side stitches in my races. I've heard maybe pepcid ac/tums/ or even advil could help. Any suggestions, especially for the side stitches. Other than ab work or hydration because I feel I'm on top of both of those.
It's quite possible that the meal/drinks you had before your prerace snack is the cause. I have a friend that always went to Subway for a foot long sandwich and lemonade the night before XC meets. He ate a very light snack 2-3 hours before the meet on race day, but had digestion issues within a few minutes after the gun went off.
He stopped eating at Subway three weeks ago and has not had indigestion during the race since then. Not sure if it was the sandwiches or lemonade caused the problem. He's apparently better now.
I've thought about that too, but my diet doesnt really change pre race.
Nasty stomach cramps have been my bane...right side completely ties up and I die...Doing many many situps and downhill strides seems to help, but the only thing I've really found to help is changing my breathing patterns so that exhales are always beginning when I step my left foot down. Forcible exhale when planting left foot! When that deosn't work I just have to nut up and suffer until I fall over.
After battling this same issue for a while, I basically had to completely change my eating habits within a day of racing. I only ate pasta the night night before and drank water or gatorade with it, then the morninig / day of a race, I only ate a small bagel, or maybe a powerbar the day of a race.
It was not fun, but it is what i figured out I had to do to avoid major issues while racing.
Basically, I determined that the syrup in drinks, or grease in food was what was bothering me. It rarely botehred me during hard workouts, but before races, I guess that I was so nervous / excited that my stomach did not want to digest.
It took me about a year to figure this out and it did not always work, but for the most part it did. you just need to try different things out and see what happens. Sorry i can't give you a better answer.
You're stomach's probably a little too acidic. Eating earlier the night/day before, and maybe adding some yogurt that evening or in the morning. This has worked out well for me, but I don't know what you're eating in the first place. I never ate a lot of dairy, but I've found that with a tiny bit, my stomach settles a lot better.
Also, try taking a number 2 more often. I always had a lot of weird stomach issues, that I didn't even think had to do with digestion, but it did.
Try experimenting with food/drink. Consider everything you consume from 24 hours out. You'll probably find something that is causing your problems eventually. Also, don't overdo the water between the time you wake up and the start of the race.
better hydration or more electrolytes maybe?