How to Keep Your Next Run from Ending in the Port-a-Potty

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Hi, I'm Tina!

I’m the owner of Carrots ‘N’ Cake as well as a Certified Nutrition Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). I use macros and functional nutrition to help women find balance within their diets while achieving their body composition goals.

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Hi CNC readers! I’m Theodora, and I blog over at Losing Weight in the City about maintaining my 50-pound weight loss through running and healthy eating without sacrificing my fun NYC lifestyle.

When Tina started having her digestive issues recently, my heart really went out to her. I wanted to go up to Boston and just give her a huge hug. Not only could I tell how upset she was, but I knew exactly how she felt.

Since I graduated college six years ago, I’ve been dealing with digestive issues of my own. While at least I mostly know what I’m dealing with now, it’s still not fun and I remember being as scared as Tina was when they first came on–just as suddenly as hers did.

But like Tina, I haven’t let my digestive issues get in the way of running. I’ve run a marathon, six half-marathons and countless shorter races and only had to stop to use the bathroom during a race once.

I am not a doctor or a medical expert, just an expert in having to plan running routes around bathrooms, so if you are having your own stomach issues, please have them checked out by a doctor.

Here are my tips on how to avoid the runs while running (or if you can’t avoid them, how to deal with them):

Immodium: Honestly, before a long race or run, Immodium is my BFF. (I even took it before my marathon.) If my stomach feels upset at all, I take it. While it makes you a bit more dehydrated, to me, that’s worth not potentially having to stop five times to use the bathroom. I always make sure to drink extra water if I do. As with anything running-related, do not try this for the first time on race day.

Drink plenty of water: Even if you’re not taking Immodium, running is dehydrating and can lead to an upset stomach because of dehydration, so make sure you’re drinking tons of water. (Which you should be doing anyway, obviously.) I also like to use this as a good excuse to drink coconut water. I mean, I’m doing it for the good of my stomach.

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Find what works for you: I know a popular pre-run breakfast for many is toast or an English muffin with a nut butter and a banana, but this would be way too heavy for me. In fact, before my marathon, all I had to eat was a Luna bar and a banana, because I knew it worked for me and I didn’t want to deal with 26.2 miles of an upset stomach. Sometimes my stomach can’t even handle that, and I have to eat even less before I run. During my 16-miler at the Healthy Living Summit last summer, my stomach was really bothering me, and I couldn’t stomach anything to eat before my long run. I brought extra Gus with me, and sucked back on them while running.

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Know where bathrooms are. Thankfully, in NYC, where I live, there are no shortages of bathrooms. On my 15-miler last summer, I needed to stop twice and I stopped in a nail salon and Whole Foods. There’s no shame: when you gotta go, you gotta go. (I sometimes get a little jealous of my less-urban runner friends who can just go in a bush.)
 
Get plenty of rest. So many digestive issues stem from stress, so make sure to give yourself some downtime, too.
 
Breathe through it. When I get the rumbles while running, sometimes slowing down and just being aware of my breath helps calm down my stomach for at least a little while.

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(This is not how you breathe through it, though.)
 
Just have fun! Unless you’re getting paid to run, it should be fun. It’s fine to take it seriously (and I do), but never take it so seriously that it causes you more stomach issues! Like Tina, I’m also training for the 2011 NYC Marathon! Come follow my training over on my blog.

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