I have done three sprint triathlons now and after each a few hours later I have a horrible headache. I am guessing there is something that I need to eat/drink. This morning I started off with PB&J for breakfast. During the race I had Gatorade, water, and shot block, after race I raided the free food and had fruit cup, bagel, banana, water, water and more water and a cookie. We drove the hour home and went out for lunch of a burger and onion rings, water ( I know it isn't very healthy but I was celebrating) and I have had more water since I have gotten home. But when we got home I crashed for a 2 hour nap and woke up with a headache that wont go away. So if anyone has an idea of something I could change that will help I would love it. Maybe it might be something leading up to the race that might help.

It's possible you could be drinking too much water, you should try and gauge how much you usually take in after a work out and see if what you drank after your race was way more than necessary. It might sound ridiculous, but people have died from water "overdose." But since I'm on a sports forum maybe that's not so unheard of. Other than that maybe electrolytes? Definitely ask your doctor.

Not sure about to much water. Though it does sound like I drink a lot of water I don't think I really do. My husband it always telling me I don't drink enough. I might have overstated the amount of water. Probably despite my post I have only had 60 ozs of water. I open water bottles and he finishes them. But I'll track my water more just to make sure.

You need to see your doctor it can be a few different things that may or maynot be related to the event but first you need to rule out somethings in order to proceed further.

Well I am expecting a phone call from my Dr about what I assumed was an unrelated problem. I'll ask when she calls tomorrow with my blood work.

Could it have been not enough carbs the days leading up to the race? I tried to eat some but perhaps it was not enough. I'll ask the Dr.

You may be down on salt - there's very little in what you ate and you likely sweated a fair bit away.

On the water side, try weighing yourself before and after. If you are gaining weight, you are down on salt and drinking a little too much water. Unless you have enough salt in your system, you can't eliminate the water.

Oh on the weight side I know that. I weighed 1 lb less when I got home from the race this time. Usually I weigh the same. I don't think I have ever weighed more. I always check my weight because I knew if it went down I needed more water but it always seemed ok because I have never been down by more then 1 lb. I didn't know I would weigh more if I needed salt. That is good to know.

Thank you everyone. It is great to learn all these new things.

I would try to help, but when I see questions from some one as advanced and athletic as you, I figure I may as well not post any answers 'cause they will just seem stupid to some one as smart as you. My Mommy says she takes aspirin when she gets a head ache.

Hummm....I guess I have given Richard the impression I know something. I am sorry, that wasn't my intention. Please feel free to tell me what I am doing wrong.

Well to everyone else you have made me think more about my water/electrolytes. I thought I was doing ok but I guess not. Dr agreed with everyone today. I think keeping better track of it would be useful. I have no idea about what I need for all this. I feel lost trying to figure out how much water, electrolytes, carbs, protein...Getting out there to exercise seems to be the easy part. Feeding my body has been much more difficult. I appreciate all the help I can get.

Maybe too much water/too little electrolytes. I do a fairly simple thing: I take Endurolyte capsules (from e-caps.com). Each individual's need for electrolyte supplementation is different. I take 1 or 2 an hour or just enough that I feel thirsty. If I don't feel thirsty when I think I should, I take a couple. If my stomach feels upset/bloated, I take a couple. I make sure I drink just enough fluids so that I pee straw colored fluid about once every 2 hours. 3 hours is too long, 1 hour is too short. You can substitute other electrolyte sources. Chips and pretzels are popular.

Just being aware of this stuff is good. Peeing frequency and color are the most important indicators that you are doing the right thing with respect to hydration and electrolytes. A little weight drop is OK, BTW. Not as big a deal as was once thought.

Do you drink coffee? If so, maybe you need a coffee before and after your race. Caffeine in the form of coffee is not a bad thing at all.

Half a cup of coffee in the morning keeps my headaches at bay.

I love my morning cup of coffee but skipped it race morning. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Meanwhile I will monitor water and electrolytes. DH is making me set my timer to remind me to drink every 5 minutes while we ride. He thinks I need to drink more on rides.

Try 8-10 swallows every 15 minutes. That should work out to about 25 oz./hr. - most folks' max stomach emptying rate. If you feel dehydrated, increase it to 6 swallows every 10 minutes. My guess is that it's the coffee. I drink my cuppa strong black stuff about 2 hours before I ride, so I'm sure to pee a couple times first and not have to during, at least for a while. Sorry to make so much of the bodily function thing.

Almost certainly.

For a sprint distance I really doubt you have electrolyte imbalances (unless that "unrelated" health problem is renal failure or treated HBP). We are talking less than an hour and a half people and she drank gatoraid, ate clif blocks, a banana (lots of K) and onion rings (Na galore).

Gatorade only has 1/2 the necessary amount of electrolytes if you drink 750ml/hour. And the necessary carbs for energy is only 1/2 as well. This gives you way too much water for the nutrients ingests. So you'll want to take extra electrolyte tablets and supplement with Gu or some other energy bar. How much time does your events take?

I am so excited that I can have my coffee again.

I am not very fast. I took 1hour 46 minutes this last tri. I didn't think it was long enough to really have water and electrolyte problem but from the responses I will definitely think about it more. I did have a shot block which I thought was like Gu without the Gu like texture. Do I need to learn to like Gu? There are a lot of different energy bars out there. What should I be looking for in an energy bar?

You were right; clif blocks can be used as gel replacements.

I get hangovers after long rides in the Texas heat. My body is covered in salt that I sweated out. I drink water and gatorade, eat fruit and carbs, and some caffeine after a long (2 hours is about right) nap.

It's the same thing I would do after drinking too much in college, except replace the fruit and carbs with Macdonalds 20 piece chicken nuggets and fries (We called it getting on the "nugget train."). The nuggets and fries work better in the short term, but definitely not in the long term.

Woops, didn't realize the short time involved. Drink about a pint of something 2 or 3 hours before the start, plus your coffee. Then you probably wouldn't need to drink much at all in the first hour. Saves time. For short distances like that, I don't think you can beat Hammer Gel. My favorite is Raspberry, but the Espresso is loaded with caffeine. Some of the racers I know swear by that one. It blows my head off, but everyone's tolerance is different. One of those little 6 oz. flasks will be all you'd need. No packaging to fool with = more time saved. No need to chew is also good. Always drink a few swallows of water after each squirt of gel. I wouldn't fool with electrolytes or even Gatorade in that short distance, but I have built up tolerance to imbalances. Even when I'm being an idiot, I don't get into trouble from dehydration or electrolyte imbalance until about the 5th hour.

Have fun!