Ok, so this morning, for the first time ever in my life, I threw up from a hard effort training workout.
This wasn't a cycling workout, but a workout from another sport that I am much more serious about.

I am confused if "losing my lunch" was from pushing just a little too hard, or from the following factors below:

Extremely rigourous workout at 6 am after 3.5 hours of sleep
No food whatsoever prior or during workout
Large amount of water consumed during 2 hour workout session- proabably close to a gallon.

I lost it after I had completed the final part to the workout, an all out sprint, pushing 110%. But the weird thing was that I lost it 10 minutes after I stopped.

So did I push myself too hard, or was it because of the no sleep/food?

How often do you excecise under those circunstances? Was it the first time you threw up under physical stress?

That will help some of the more experienced members to answer your questions.

Rafael Guerra

too much water on an empty stomach is bad. the sloshing around of liquid can easily upset your stomach. you have to have something solid to eat. i'm not sure if that was the direct cause of puking, but it sure doesn't help.

How often do you excecise under those circunstances?

3 times last week, but now ramping it up to 6+ workouts/week.


Was it the first time you threw up under physical stress?

From the original post:

"Ok, so this morning, for the first time ever in my life, I threw up from a hard effort training workout."

The only time I ever threw up from exertion the circumstancees were similar to yours. I had had a coke for breakfast, then I had to tred water for ten minutes. It might not sound like much but I'm very negatively buoyant and very skinny, so it was akin to an all out sprint for me. I got out of the water and was standing around with my friends when I just started feeling very bad. I lost it on the deck and felt better instantly.
Don't eat directly before your workout either. An hour or two to let the food get digested is a great idea. I've regretted a few hamburgers that got eaten right before rides.
I guess the lesson here is that sometimes really obvious things (don't eat too much and don't starve) are actually good ideas.

It's not too unusual to see untrained riders puke after a first century. Once in a while I have seen racers do that too. I have had the feeling of being sick after a hard sprint at the end of a century, and it went away after easing up. It repeated three times so I stopped sprinting. From what I understand the stomach just does not work as well if you really are working to the limit. Sounds like the stomach could just not handle all that water. Or you just went too hard.
There is a bumper sticker that says.."Pedal till you puke"...

Waay, way too much water for 2-hour's effort. Water should only be consumed to match perspiration rate. The most water is required at a high calorie/hour rate, such as a long endurance-ride at your LT. Intense workouts, like sprints and intervals may have higher peak exertion-rates, but averaged out over a hour, it doesn't consume as many calories as an endurance workout and will result in less sweating and less water-intake needed.

For the amount of work you did, about 1/4th of what you drank is sufficient. You'll also need food in your stomach or an energy/electrolyte mix in the water as well. A 500-calorie meal beforehand probably would've prevented the puking. Especially if you're doing a 2-hour workout, you'll definitely be nearing the bonking zone. Excess water-only intake with no electrolytes puts you at risk for hyponatremia and the rates of athletes dying from over-consumption of water has been on the rise. "More" is not "better".... you need to quantify everything....

long endurance-ride at your LT.

No such thing... I know, you know this. ;) Just call it tempo.

Ok, yes, just under... ;) Although time-trialing a century can be a good challenge, eh?

BTW - don't forget about that cop that died a couple months ago from drinking too much water... how much was it? 3-gallons or so?