I've had the ear thing happen to me.

It was a hot day, and I ran about 2 hours on a trail, then decided to run the 8 miles home.  There is water at the trailhead and I had been drinking some during the run.  Things went bad really quick and had the same symptoms you described. (Slow motion hiking, nausea, blocked ears, I don't remember if I had dry heaves but do remember vomitting later that afternoon)

You mentioned it was a hot day.  Hot days early in the season are tough for long runs.  It seems no matter how much I drink I can't keep up with sweat loss.  Are you sure you were getting at least 20 oz/hour?

When this happened to me, I attributed it to dehydration, but that's just a guess.

I don't know how big you are, but 300 calories is bordering on too much. You can't actually process 300 calories an hour.

 

You keep saying "salt". You need a well balanced electrolyte, in which sodium is a component. The symptoms sound like electrolyte deficiency to me.

 

The dry heaves are probably a combination of the electrolyte problem and your body trying to purge calories it can't process.

Thanks to both replies.

I tend to believe it is electrolyte issues but have struggled a lot to determine what is "right".  I've used S Caps before but not in a while.  Mainly relying on EFS powder that provides (how I measure it out) about ~2.5mg sodium/hr among other electrolytes.

My frustration lies in that fact that I do believe I am consuming a lot of fluid but, in the race that last 13 hour, I never urinated once.  Again, Noakes says that doesn't matter and frankly I am not sure it does if you are getting the right amount of intake.  Noakes also describes low salt with no urinating.

The challenge is, getting this worked out in training, not a race... but never seems an issue until 10+ hours in.

 

Are you sure about that measurement, 2.5 mg of salt per hour?  Compare to an S! cap:

 

The S! Caps label lists sodium as the element, 341 mg per capsule. If you want to compare to other products that list the sodium as sodium chloride, S! Caps supply 867 mg of sodium as sodium chloride.

 

Maybe this is a typo, but it is important to consume carbs and sodium in the proper ratio.  Between the stress of running and heat, it is possible that absorption in the small intestine is at a reduced rate if there is not enough sodium relative to the glucose.

 

The occasional S! cap isn't going to hurt.  Maybe take 1 every 4 hours and see what happens next time.

 

If possible, keep track of your weight during the race.

Not a typo but was thinking in %.

I use 1/2 scoop EFS per bottle along with another carb mix= 150 mg sodium... and then consume 1/2 bottle hour.  So about 75 mg/hour.  good catch.

I'm thinking what Steve_S said, it's the heat. Once I get overheated it doesn't matter how slow I go, or how much water I drink, I don't recover unless I take a serious timeout and cool off. When you're hot you're hot. I've been there many times and I don't think I've ever fully recovered from that during a run. I've partially recovered by going into a cool place, drinking ice water and icing down, then finished the training run but was never fully back to full strength.

FWIW I've had some success preventing that condition. First there's this:

I call that my Lawrence of Arabia hat. Any time you get the chance, at an aid station, a creek, or from your water bottle, soak this thing and slap it on your head. Especially in dry climates it's an amazing air conditioner. That's my A Number 1 hot-weather gear. Oh and it shields your neck from UV too.

Then there's the Cool Off Bandana at Zombierunner (NFI). It's a bandana with suede sewn in and pockets. If the aid stations have ice, dump some in there. If not, just soak it with water. Wrap around your neck. Either way it's a nice air conditioner and lasts for an hour or more.

I'm going to go another direction and say low blood sugar. I have to have simple sugars for longer runs. Candy, Gatorade, apples, Shot Bloks, whatever. Every time I kick the sugar and try to race or run long, I bonk BIG TIME. And I feel worse for longer afterward.

I've wondered.  But can't believe I need more calories.  Seems like all I am doing is sucking down sugar solution.  We'll see....plan to experiment a lot in the coming weeks.

Good luck - But I personally would not do a race > 4 hours without adidtional electrolyte suppliment ... I don't care what Noakes says, I am a heavy sweater and the only few times I have ever had issues with cramps is when I avoided S-Caps after his book ... never again.

 

I've wondered.  But can't believe I need more calories.  Seems like all I am doing is sucking down sugar solution.  We'll see....plan to experiment a lot in the coming weeks.

 

I've wondered.  But can't believe I need more calories.  Seems like all I am doing is sucking down sugar solution.  We'll see....plan to experiment a lot in the coming weeks.

Not calories, simple sugars. You're putting in carbs and fake supplements. I can't do those. Real food is what my body processes best. Fruit, sugary soda, candy, etc. Things that are mostly real sugar and not 'solutions'. Definitely worth a try.