Forums >Racing>How Many Times Do You Stop to Pee During a Marathon?
And joescott...I've had that procedure described before, and I'm not judging, but I don't think I could handle (presumably) leaving that bottle behind for someone to pick up. 'Course, this is from a man who, after he finished his Gu Chomps in the corral, carried the wrapper in his hat until he went past a trash can.
Ah, yes, I understand the issue of conscience. Usually they have trash bags lining the sides of the corrals in these kinds of situations. You cap the bottle tightly and put it gently in the available trash bag or trash can. Often a volunteer will give you one of those, "I know what you are doing" looks, but it's usually a look of "understanding" not "judgment", and all is well. Sometimes I will take the extra step of affirmatively informing the volunteer that "this is not Gatorade.... it needs to go in the trash," because I want to confirm that the trash bag I'm putting it in is not intended to be filled with abandoned clothing destined for a charity. Hey, it still beats ducking down and just urinating right there on the pavement in the corral, which I have seen done many times by persons of both genders.
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
Missing option: 0-1
If I am running hard, I never have to pee. If I am running really slow with my sister or a friend, I will have to pee mutliple times. I have never had to take a crap either. I think when you are pushing you body hard enough it shuts those functions down ....
Now in a 50 mile ultra, the early pace is so slow, I usually end up peeing 4+ times.
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
Ah, yes, I understand the issue of conscience. Usually they have trash bags lining the sides of the corrals in these kinds of situations. You cap the bottle tightly and put it gently in the available trash bag or trash can.
Joe coached me on his technique a couple years ago. It works well. I've refined this one step further by bringing a couple plastic grocery bags. I wrap the gatorade bottle in the garbage bag then put that in the grocery bags and tie it up tight. It's neatly bundled and clearly looks like trash.
Ah, yes, I understand the issue of conscience.
I do not understand it's relevance here. Piss early and while running, if possible. Whatever it takes.
I am definitely taking notes from the avoid-stopping-to-pee crowd. Speak, my fathers!
MTA: Whatever it takes.
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
Never. Last two races drank very little in the 3 hours between wakeup and race - maybe 32 oz. total, coffee, water, gatorade. Plenty of hydration for a 50F race. If it's much warmer than that, it's probably not a PR day so no worries about a stop or two.
Most people seem to be in an overflow situation in these races. I'm starting to figure out how much water I can hold (clear urine, but not clear urine every thirty minutes!) and stay there for several days before the race. I think a lot of the urge to go - both kinds - is mostly nerves on race morning. It's the only way I can explain feeling "yeah, I could go again" in the minute before the gun, then not urinating until a few hours after the race.
not bad for mile 25
I think it's best to not do anything particularly different from your everyday life in the day/hour before your race. That applies to fluid intake and other stuff. During my marathon a couple of days ago, I stopped at a porta-john midway, but probably didn't have to. Seems my pee-er battens down the hatches when I'm actually racing. Not so much during easy training runs. Also, I'm becoming increasingly dubious about sports drinks. Water alone served me fine.
Half Fanatic 12680
Never. I have worked on the fluid intake/output ratio to make sure that I don't have to. I practice not making stops on my long runs to prepare. I remember on one 18 mile run, I felt an urge to stop at about 3 miles out, but then tried to see how long I could go before I really had to stop. I use a route that loops through a couple of public parks so there are a few times that I could us a public restroom on the route. I found that I was able to finish without tsopping and without being uncomfortable. So now I try never to stop on long runs as part of my marathon training.
Consistently Slow
Depends on the goal
BQ--------0
Disney---5
Run until the trail runs out.
SCHEDULE 2016--
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
I used to have a problem overyhydrating before marathons; you have to walk a fine line to be adequately carb loaded yet not overhydrated. One thing that I found helped a lot is cutting way back on caffeine the day before the race.
I don't generally have a problem having to pee in a marathon. Now #2, that's another matter. Fortunately I haven't yet had to hit the portapotty in a goal race, but generally if I am running slower I will. I get up three hours before the race, but sometimes that's just not enough. I guess I should try immodium, but I prefer to be rid of the weight.
With ultras, again I had a problem overhydrating, but during the race -- I think I counted 27 pee stops at Western States. Now I am more careful about how much I am drinking.
A big mistake I see some folks making is drinking alot of gatorade or water right before the race starts. That all runs through and I am sure they feel it by mile 3...
I'll disagree with that. My regimen lately (advice from Noakes' book Waterlogged) is to take ~400g water (14 oz) with 40-60g of carbs just before race start. The idea is that drain rate from the stomach to the intestines is a function of how full the stomach is. So to get fuel delivery started right away, start fully loaded. If you are running at marathon pace your blood is largely diverted from your kidneys; you can get away with this.
In big races where they trap you in a big corral 20 minutes before the start and you have no hope of getting to the porta-john I take with me a 32 oz empty gatorade bottle. Under a trash bag, this is very discrete. Little harder to be discrete without a trash bag, but you can use your imagination that it's possible with your running shorts as cover and male anatomy to also pull this off without getting arrested. A 24 oz bottle is insufficient I discovered empirically at the 2004 Boston Marathon.
Yep, invaluable advice. Sooooo much more comfortable if you can go at literally the last minute. It's amazing how much your bladder can fill between the last portapotty and race start. (PS -- *discreet. Pee is not discrete unless you are talking kidney stones.)
Stop?
I ran the Blue Ridge Marathon when it was thunderstorming the entire time, with bouts of downpouring rain. I had to go pretty bad at halfway, it was raining really hard, no one was around, so I figured why not? Totally let loose. One of the best experiences in my entire LIFE.
Yeah, if it's raining hard you can get away with this. If not... you'll find the worst problem is the pH imbalance. The chafing is NOT fun.
Totally let loose. One of the best experiences in my entire LIFE.
You mean the race in general, or wetting your pants in particular?
A Saucy Wench
I've never stopped in a marathon that I was racing. I have stopped in I think every one of my leisurely strolls through Percy Warner park.
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
old woman w/hobby
I stopped twice...and I was trying to race. mta: too bad it wasn't raining last year i guess
steph