How to Avoid Vomiting or Throwing up after 400 meters

Last Updated on November 23, 2011 by Jimson Lee

After 1300 Blog articles, there is still one topic I haven’t addressed.  That is:

How to Avoid Vomiting or Throwing up after running 400 meters or hard special endurance training session.

Actually, the 400 flat is not that painful.  It’s the 3 x 325m all out, or split 500’s (300, 200) or even split 700’s (500, 200) that really gets my stomach queasy.

We had a teammate named Charles or “Chuck” which gave him the nickname “Up Chuck” with his post race activities.  Luckily, he brought his toothbrush wherever he went.

If you do throw up, the best advice is to get some Pedialyte afterwards (read my article here).

Otherwise, here are my 7 tips to prevent throwing up after a hard workout or race:

1. Food.  The closer to race time, the less you should eat.   I give myself 4 hours to fully digest a regular meal with regular C/F/P ratios such as a Club Sandwich.  You are better off to go to practice slightly hungry, and have a power bar between the run and the weights.
2. Food.  The closer to race time, the less fat you should eat because it takes longer to digest.  Plain bagels are great snacks if you must eat.  Learn to read labels, especially packaged bars. 
3. Pepto-bismol tablets.  Before, this only came in bottles, but now you can buy it in pill form.  Simply pop 1 or 2 before your race.  Experiment with a time trial or hard workout first.  Pepto-bismol works great if you have diarrhea, too.   If you travel overseas, this is a must-have addition, especially Mexico, Cuba or India.
4. Ginger slices.  Place them under tongue if you can stand the “spice” effect.  Works great for pregnant and expecting mothers.
5. Deep breathing (read my article here).  Breathing helps oxidize and flush out the lactic acid, too.  That’s why a cool down is important in the 400m, no matter how bad you feel.
6. Water, or Gatorade cut with water.  Pure Gatorade (or any other electrolyte drink) is too sweet and may possibly “sit” in your stomach longer.  Whatever you drink throughout the year should be the same on race day.  When in doubt, cut it with water.
7. If you are going to supplement your 400 meters with bicarbonate loading, then consider using antacids like TUMS or ROLAIDS which will have a two-fold effect of both soda-loading and help keep your tummy in check.