# Ever push yourself or ride so hard you make yourself "sick"?



## JookupVandetti (May 3, 2011)

Been wanting to up my fitness and wanting to push myself a little harder.

Did four rides last week that were all pretty good for me and ended with a long one that was really pushing it for me at least.

Felt really good during the ride and after it was over but as time went on I started feeling really beat down and couldn't get enough to eat. I normally hardly ever catch a cold but the next day the beat down feeling manifested into a cold. Kinda sucks , feel like two steps forward three steps back.

I wasn't feeling sick at all before the ride and I'm pretty sure I caused it myself with over doing it and possibly beating my immune system down.
Anyone else out these ever do this?


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## Fuzzwardo (Oct 16, 2013)

I have pushed myself so hard that I started coughing and almost to the point of throwing up. The next couple of days my chest was tight and sore kind of like when you have a chest cold. that's what happens when you ride with people that are in much better shape and you try to keep up. lol.


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## owtdorz (Apr 26, 2012)

I've pushed too hard in a couple races and threw up.
Done the same after working out.


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## Rogueldr (Jul 30, 2007)

Never did it on my bike but I have pushed myself so hard that I did throw up on the ice during a hockey practice years ago.


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## Ladmo (Jan 11, 2013)

After really long hard rides, I sometimes get pretty significant headaches that last into the following day. I think it helps if I focus on staying hydrated during and after the ride. I also go ahead and take some advil or similar before bed after the ride to lower the effect of the headache, even if I'm not feeling a headache at the time. Prevention.

Yesterday, I was getting a little dizzy during the longer climbs, but I attribute that to the heat. Once I stopped for a couple minutes, I was back to normal.


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## JookupVandetti (May 3, 2011)

Yeah I've pushed myself before to where at the moment I've thrown up but this is different after the ride kept feeling worse.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

On a couple of occasions I have pushed so hard I've almost passed out. I reckon I was close to having a heart attack one of those times. That's what happens when a fat, middle-aged man decides he's going to beat a bunch of teenage boys! ;0)


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## Impetus (Aug 10, 2014)

I've managed to do it in all three sports I participate in aggressively: running, MTB and road.

I do think that it was circumstantial as much as 'pushing', but either way I've 'bonked' pretty hard a few times in my life.

MTB: in my teens I went out with a group of more experienced riders and didn't eat enough food beforehand. I literally ran myself into exhaustion to the point I stopped for a rest and fell asleep with food in my hand.
not long ago I had my usual breakfast and met my usual riding partner for a loop we knew well. about halfway through we added in an optional few miles and misjudged the temps rising. by the time we got back on the 'road home' it was over 100*F and we had some substantial climbing to do. we were both suffering, but I had to resort to walking the steepest stuff due to cramping and severe nausea.

in both road and running I've misjudged the distance/effort and gotten to the point where my mental faculties were starting to dull a fair bit and my legs were absolute jello. both cases I just quit and rested for 20-30 mins before limping home at half speed.

Edit: to address the OP, I've also done what he describes a few times in running. most notably training for my first trail marathon, I ran myself into illness. too much mileage, too little rest.


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## Fireline (Jul 24, 2015)

Broke the derailleur on my bike and had to push it back. Got mobbed by ticks. Dr said I had tick borne fever and was on antibiotics for 2 weeks.


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## DethWshBkr (Nov 25, 2010)

Oh absolutely!
MX and cycling, I've been nauseated, dizzy and otherwise very, very bad feeling at the end of a ride.

Back when I was training really hard for cycling, we were finishing up an indoor group trainer ride, my vision was tunneling pretty good. Granted, I was 15, but my heart rate monitor showed I was at 212.


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## d365 (Jun 13, 2006)

I have puked at the top of climbs before. Not often, but it's happened. It's usually a mix of hot day, overexertion, and too much water sloshing around in my belly. 

I've definitely come down with a cold after bonking before. Super hard on the system, especially if it was already fighting something. 

A lot of training athletes will run their immune system into the ground with overtraining. If you're going to train hard, you have to be getting good sleep, rest, and refueling properly, to avoid the eventual downfall. Gotta throw in some easy days, and rest days, with the hard days. Recovery is key to staying healthy, as well as getting more fit.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

I've heard the term 'bonk' often but I don't know exactly what it means? The times I'm thinking of it wasn't like a drop in ability, it was a case of 'stop right this second or you will die!'. The time I raced the teenagers I do think that if I'd kept pushing for just a little bit longer I would have had a heart attack.


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## BuickGN (Aug 25, 2008)

I've pushed myself too hard many times whether it was a diet, water cut to make weight, running, biking, etc. I have this weird thing where I have to prove my will is stronger than my body. 

The immune system will definitely take a hit if you overtrain. I've never experienced it after a single incident but after 3-4 consecutive days I've gotten a cold. The big one is sleep. When possible, when I overtrain I get additional sleep. Sleep is everything. When I don't get enough sleep I don't train hard. It's not an excuse to take it easy, it's years of screwing up and now realizing that I'll get sick and actually lose strength/cardio/alertness by pushing it too hard without sleep. 

I've now worked 27 days in a row with a couple 18hr days in the mix and 2-4hrs of sleep each night. I had to look at my phone yesterday to figure out what year it was when filling out paper work. I did a 16 mile downhill run the other day but it's otherwise limited to an easy ride around the neighborhood until things get back to normal. It's like with sleep and exercise I never get sick. Lack of sleep coupled with pushing it too hard too often I get sick almost everytime. Usually just a little cold, nothing major.


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## d365 (Jun 13, 2006)

Mr Pig said:


> I've heard the term 'bonk' often but I don't know exactly what it means? The times I'm thinking of it wasn't like a drop in ability, it was a case of 'stop right this second or you will die!'. The time I raced the teenagers I do think that if I'd kept pushing for just a little bit longer I would have had a heart attack.


Cycling bonk. Basically, the tank is completely empty, the body is shutting it down, and has gone past the point of no return, can't recover.

What you're describing is "red lining" - a max heart rate thing. You can back off the intensity, and recover, but if you red line it too much, you'll eventually "bonk".


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## JookupVandetti (May 3, 2011)

BuickGN said:


> Lack of sleep coupled with pushing it too hard too often I get sick almost everytime. Usually just a little cold, nothing major.


^ This. Exactly what happened, now I'm feeling better, just over the cold and want to do a good ride this evening to follow up with a solid week but don't want to "bonk" again.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

d365 said:


> Cycling bonk. Basically, the tank is completely empty, the body is shutting it down, and has gone past the point of no return, can't recover.


No, I've never done that. The thing that kills me is cramp, I get that long before I'm in danger of running out of energy and you can't keep pushing hard with cramp. I once did thirty-five miles with cramp in both legs and at the end of the ride I could barely walk. Even small steps were really sore. I've cramped very often but that one was by far the worst.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

Yes. Riding with my 24 year old son does it. The 4 or 5 times it's happened, I turn my head, have a couple of dry heaves and then I'm okay.


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## nemesis256 (Aug 16, 2014)

Twice this season, once was my first ride of the season, I've had my vision turn white and felt like crap after I stopped to catch my breath. Both times I had to sit down for 5 to 10 minutes. Other than not being in shape, I think it's from stopping too quickly and causing a sudden drop in blood pressure.

That's all that's happened to me… Although I'm constantly breathing hard and stopping to catch my breath. I get a feeling I have crappy lungs.


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## CBus660R (Jun 22, 2012)

Well, a cold is caused by a virus. Extreme exertion won't give you a virus. What might have happened is your immune system was borderline in holding back the virus, then the extreme exertion gave the virus a chance to win for a few days. Or it was just a coincidence and even if you sat on the couch that night instead or riding, you would have still woke up sick the next day. The final thing is that maybe you pushed yourself into heat exhaustion and that is what you were feeling for a few days after. A good bought of heat exhaustion will stay with you for a few days and if you ever suffer from heat stroke, that can linger for months, or even years if it's bad enough.


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## Rev Bubba (Jan 16, 2004)

Yes, decades ago. Caught up with the riders I was chasing then threw up but I was a little kid then. Does that still count?


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## DethWshBkr (Nov 25, 2010)

Mr Pig said:


> No, I've never done that. The thing that kills me is cramp, I get that long before I'm in danger of running out of energy and you can't keep pushing hard with cramp. I once did thirty-five miles with cramp in both legs and at the end of the ride I could barely walk. Even small steps were really sore. I've cramped very often but that one was by far the worst.


Yeah, you know when you bonk. I've bonked hard three times over thr years. 
Once at a mountain race, last lap, about three miles from the finish.
MS150 in 1996. 75 miles into a 100 mile ride. That was the longest 25 miles of my life.
A few months ago, 35 miles into a 53 miler.

When you bonk, the heart rate just spikes with every little bit of effort, and your legs just have absolutley no push in them at all. Resting does nothing at all, since you have literally burned all your fuel. Even eating at that time will do nothing.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Yeah, riding along thinking of how the hell you're going to get off the bike without falling as you don't have the strength to unclip, but that sometime in the next 30s you're going to find out...

Only bonked once, but that was enough...


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

Bonking and cramps - yes. Puking - no.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I've had a few experiences around that.

I was really excited about racing 'cross when I moved to Seattle in 2008. I rode quite a lot, including a lot of high intensity workouts, and started feeling tired all the time. The following summer, I was pretty light, around 136 lb, and my energy level was inconsistent and if I did get a cold or something, it lingered. I try to keep it between 140 lb and 145 lb now. So I have a couple to lose at the moment. 

Before moving, I was working as a stagehand in New York City. When Fashion Week rolled around, I'd take a ton of work. I often got a cold after those two week tons-of-hours workathons. But my credit cards would be paid off.  Bought my Hardrock with one gig's pay, even. 20 hour monster, something I don't feel the need to do again.

Sometimes I get "track hack" after the first race of the season. Especially if it happens to be track.

I often feel flat and low energy for a while after an endurance race. Like a few days. I don't read any more into it - it's kind of the definition of something that would make someone feel flat and low energy.


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

Mookie said:


> Bonking and cramps - yes. Puking - no.


Same here, but that's not to say my time of the month hasn't coincided with a ride before.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

I've ralfed a couple times on the bike and almost passed out a few times in the gym. In fact tonight after a heavy set of dumbbell bench press I stood up, felt dizzy and had to sit back down, for a minute. I've also had a problem with exertion headaches doing very heavy leg presses, and that's not fun and very scary.


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## BuickGN (Aug 25, 2008)

I think the OP was originally about overtraining bringing the immune system down over time. 

About exertion problems, I learned to exhale when doing a lift. I've done a lot of things but when I did power lifting it was especially important to always exhale on each lift. It really eliminated headaches and lightheadedness caused by exertion. Even as a sprinter just one 100m sprint would stay with me all day. I was holding my breath out of the blocks and until I hit full stride. Once I learned to exhale the second I heard the gun I didn't feel depleted for the rest of the day. Maybe it's just me but I used to hold my breath by accident anytime I was under hard exertion or nervous. Even "MMA" training I would hold my breath when I was getting hit or about to get hit which is really not what you want to do and can get you hurt. Now I dream about holding my breath and I wake up gasping for air. I think I went a little too far off topic? Lol. Sorry OP.


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## cookieMonster (Feb 23, 2004)

I once pushed myself to (what I think) was nearly a heart attack in my first XC race. Even though it was my first XC race, I had ridden for many, many years prior and was very skilled on a bike. It was a technical course (far more technical than any XC course I've ridden since) and I thought I could use that to my advantage -- _if_ I was able to keep up on the climbs. So out of the gate, I sprinted with the top 10 guys all the way up to the top of the first grueling climb, and, as I guessed, easily passed them all on the first downhill, but my heart rate was already through the ceiling. Next climb, I got passed by those top 10 again very quickly. I pushed it as hard as I could, but simply could not keep up with their climbing pace. Anyway, for the next two laps I was basically "red-lining" my heart and just kept slipping further and further back.

When the race was over, my heart rate would not slow down and recover, and I could not stop hyperventilating. This went on for THREE hours after the race. I probably should have gone to the hospital, but it finally calmed down back to normal. I felt like total **** the next day.

I learned two things in that race:

1. Technical descending ability means nothing in an XC race.
2. It is possible to push your body to the death -- and I may have come close.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

BuickGN said:


> I think the OP was originally about overtraining bringing the immune system down over time.
> 
> About exertion problems, I learned to exhale when doing a lift. I've done a lot of things but when I did power lifting it was especially important to always exhale on each lift. It really eliminated headaches and lightheadedness caused by exertion. Even as a sprinter just one 100m sprint would stay with me all day. I was holding my breath out of the blocks and until I hit full stride. Once I learned to exhale the second I heard the gun I didn't feel depleted for the rest of the day. Maybe it's just me but I used to hold my breath by accident anytime I was under hard exertion or nervous. Even "MMA" training I would hold my breath when I was getting hit or about to get hit which is really not what you want to do and can get you hurt. Now I dream about holding my breath and I wake up gasping for air. I think I went a little too far off topic? Lol. Sorry OP.


I do exhale.


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

*Waiting to Exhale*



BuickGN said:


> I think the OP was originally about overtraining bringing the immune system down over time.
> 
> About exertion problems, I learned to exhale when doing a lift. I've done a lot of things but when I did power lifting it was especially important to always exhale on each lift. It really eliminated headaches and lightheadedness caused by exertion. Even as a sprinter just one 100m sprint would stay with me all day. I was holding my breath out of the blocks and until I hit full stride. Once I learned to exhale the second I heard the gun I didn't feel depleted for the rest of the day. Maybe it's just me but I used to hold my breath by accident anytime I was under hard exertion or nervous. Even "MMA" training I would hold my breath when I was getting hit or about to get hit which is really not what you want to do and can get you hurt. Now I dream about holding my breath and I wake up gasping for air. I think I went a little too far off topic? Lol. Sorry OP.


This is fascinating. A riding friend told me about being told by a ski instructor to not hold her breath while going down the scary stuff. I've worked a little bit with women who are just starting mountain biking, and try to get them to yell "Whoo-hoo" when teaching them to go down even small things to keep them from holding their breath. I try to remind myself to do the same thing!

Relative to bonking, I seem to fall off the energy cliff at 10 or 10:30 am in the heat of August, as the temps start to hit the mid 90s with high humidity. Heat index will be ~108 today.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

NordieBoy said:


> Yeah, riding along thinking of how the hell you're going to get off the bike without falling as you don't have the strength to unclip, but that sometime in the next 30s you're going to find out...


Years ago I saw a guy do that on a charity ride I was on. A very steep hill about forty-miles into the ride, a lot of people were struggling with it and this guy just slowed and crumpled onto the pavement still clipped to his bike. I remember thinking 'Man, how knackered do you need to be not to be able unclip'.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

Yes, combined with heat stroke, not fun.


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## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

Cruising along at 150bpm at an urban XC fun race and having your heart rate spike to 230 and stay there for several minutes even though you've stopped.
Not nice standing there wondering if it's going to settle down.


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## Offspring (Jan 29, 2006)

When you bonk you have actually done way more harm to your conditioning than most think. It's all about your heart rate and not going anaerobic. Many years ago I started using a heart rate monitor and did the formula for staying within 85% of your max heart rate. It's not real specific to you, just general guide lines but it made a huge difference and actually sped up my fitness level. After some time of using it and feeling what the bpm actually were, I could gage where I was just by how I felt. It's good science, especially for us old guys. At first I felt like I was wasting my time because my heart wasn't trying to bust out of my chest, but working through that physiology aspect was big for me.


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

I've had some tough rides but I've never gotten sick and barfed

If I'm riding a new technical feature I'll either session it and push myself with each attempt or "just do it". I like the adrenaline rush I get when I succeed at something I perceive as difficult. But I can't be in badass mode all the time, because I'll just wear myself out and have to quit early. So when I'm doing dh I like to mix it up doing flowy laps and advanced laps. Same with trail or winter (ice) riding, I like having fun and I don't it to feel like a death march


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## primoz (Jun 7, 2006)

You can get exhausted, you can be empty, but you can't make yourself sick. For getting sick you need some outside factor (bacteria or virus). You can be tired enough, for your immune system to not being able to work properly defending you from virus (or bacteria), but just going really hard won't make you sick by itself. You still need to catch virus or bacteria to get sick.
Otherwise yes in my xc ski racing career I have done all those, from doing so hard intervals you were puking, to collapsing into snow on end of race.


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## mark! (Jun 1, 2012)

Volume squat day, and deadlift day, and GPP days but never from riding.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

primoz said:


> You can get exhausted, you can be empty, but you can't make yourself sick. For getting sick you need some outside factor (bacteria or virus). You can be tired enough, for your immune system to not being able to work properly defending you from virus (or bacteria), but just going really hard won't make you sick by itself. You still need to catch virus or bacteria to get sick.
> Otherwise yes in my xc ski racing career I have done all those, from doing so hard intervals you were puking, to collapsing into snow on end of race.


This isn't true. primoz, you really should have known.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise-induced_nausea

Why Do Some People Vomit After Strenuous Exercise? | LIVESTRONG.COM


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## Awshucks (Apr 14, 2013)

One time I was off the bike for almost 3 weeks due to a bruised tail bone. I went for a ride, put my all into a steep climb at the beginning of the ride on my SS passing my riding partners. At the top I said I didn't feel very well, stepped off my bike, and puked on the side of the trail.


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## richde (Jun 8, 2004)

primoz said:


> You can get exhausted, you can be empty, but you can't make yourself sick. For getting sick you need some outside factor (bacteria or virus). You can be tired enough, for your immune system to not being able to work properly defending you from virus (or bacteria), but just going really hard won't make you sick by itself. You still need to catch virus or bacteria to get sick.
> Otherwise yes in my xc ski racing career I have done all those, from doing so hard intervals you were puking, to collapsing into snow on end of race.


What makes you sick is normally always around you, you're just usually strong enough to keep it at bay.

Overtraining and/or not getting enough sleep lowers your ability to fight it off. The OP did one or both of those.


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## IFallDown (Mar 2, 2014)

Only when I wear spandex do I go fast enough to be tired!


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## primoz (Jun 7, 2006)

Mountain Cycle Shawn said:


> This isn't true. primoz, you really should have known.
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise-induced_nausea
> Why Do Some People Vomit After Strenuous Exercise? | LIVESTRONG.COM


Vomiting is one thing, headache (most common due dehydration) is another thing, while catching cold is something completely different. And you can't catch cold no matter how hard you are training/racing. For cold you need virus. Sure being exhausted rises chance to get sick, as your body is too weak to defend itself, but on the end, you still need virus first to catch cold. Without virus, you won't catch cold, even if you will go so hard you will almost die


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## Fringale (Aug 16, 2015)

The sickness surly was coincidence, but no Doctor here!


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## misterbill (Aug 13, 2014)

Since the question is 'have you ever', I will have to say 'not going to happen'. I doubled my usual average speed on my GPS last night on a group ride, came in dead last, and I was in the slow group. It was probably the hottest, most humid day of the summer, I was not fatigued at all by the end of the ride.

The girl in front of me walked up a hill and said "this is a seventy two degree hill, if it was seventy two out, I would ride it."


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## OrangeGiant (Apr 13, 2021)

JookupVandetti said:


> Been wanting to up my fitness and wanting to push myself a little harder.
> 
> Did four rides last week that were all pretty good for me and ended with a long one that was really pushing it for me at least.
> 
> ...


I hope my first time chest tightness and nausea are just from riding hard after all I am 63. As far as making myself sick ...no. When I feel I am coming down sick I exercise mildly and either I get mildly sick and recover quickly or I don't get sick at all. In 45 years I haven't had the flu, I had a cold once, pneumonia twice, bronchitis twice, and, that's about it. Thankfully I haven't caught Caronavirus. I do think that exercise does keep the immune system strong and I exercise 6 days a week. Well, I hope you were able to figure out what your problem was and could adjust for it ...which I plan on doing.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

OrangeGiant said:


> I hope my first time chest tightness and nausea are just from riding hard after all I am 63. As far as making myself sick ...no. When I feel I am coming down sick I exercise mildly and either I get mildly sick and recover quickly or I don't get sick at all. In 45 years I haven't had the flu, I had a cold once, pneumonia twice, bronchitis twice, and, that's about it. Thankfully I haven't caught Caronavirus. I do think that exercise does keep the immune system strong and I exercise 6 days a week. Well, I hope you were able to figure out what your problem was and could adjust for it ...which I plan on doing.


If you REALLY pushed hard, and you haven't been exercising a lot, I'd ease into it a bit more. Chest tightness and nausea would give me some concern (I'm 68).
And welcome aboard.


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## targnik (Jan 11, 2014)

Earlier on as a mtb'er I'd go a bit too 'balls to the wall' and end up bonking towards the end of a ride.

Now, I know what's coming... I'll expend enough to get the job done, whilst having fun 

Caveat, it doesn't get any easier... you just get faster 

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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Once about 15 years ago when i was in the worst shape in my life. Went on a “group ride,” where i was pretty much behind everyone. It was horrible. They made us climb on the road to the trailhead (wasn’t prepared for this or I wouldn’t have gone), and i ended up walking my bike down most of the downhill because i was so dizzy and was having a hard time seeing. 

At the end of the ride, i threw up. My only time in 30 years of riding where that happened. 

Bonking is a different story. Definitely a few times, usually a couple times a year.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

In peak riding season, I puke probably once a month.

Going fast is fun. Gotta pay the tickets along the way.


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## Smiles for miles (Feb 26, 2021)

I know what you mean: feeling beat down and achy (including headache) the evening and day after a really hard multi hour ride. I think it's just the body unable to recover fast enough from a massive effort. After a ride like that, I've found that a 30-60 minute nap gives my body a major head start on recovery. Remember to put that phone in airplane mode, or somebody will end up on your sheet list . If you ride hard for hours and push your limits, a quick nap does wonders to prevent a fatigue "hangover" the next day. Your body recovers more during sleep than at any other time.


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## Smiles for miles (Feb 26, 2021)

Oops, this is an old post, but I guess there's new interest...


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Throwing up is an end of the world event for me. 
I do completely blow myself up 0 to 3 times a season though. Usually early season getting some fitness back. But sometimes mid season on a gigantic ride, or maybe 3 to 4 weeks of not doing big rides and going on a huge ride again. 

Mountaineering is kind of weird, you train and train but the big event always cashes yourself out. 

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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

I've never gotten sick during or after a challenging event. I've competed in crossfit, ran marathons, a couple dh races, road cycling time trials, century rides and ride some difficult terrain once in a while... I've given it my all and never puked.

I have witnessed some people turning green during a tough workout or laid down and moaned. I don't think they worked any harder than someone who walks away calmly. Just different responses.


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## p0is0n0ak (May 17, 2007)

It used to happen to me all the time, whether I was in shape or not. Now, a little safety meeting before riding keeps the nausea away.


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

LOL I made myself so awfully sick on my ride yesterday and I wasn't even pushing myself that hard.

I guess maybe it was that gourmet 6 cheese mac and cheese from a local restaurant I decided to eat for lunch. 

If it was, I don't care, I'd do it again. 😁😋


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## Picard (Apr 5, 2005)

Do you guys ride on empty belly? 

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