Nauseous and Tingly

"I was nauseous and tingly all over.  I was either in love or I had small pox."- Woody Allen

That about sums up my experiences after the long runs I have been completing.  True, I'm still madly in love with my husband, but after a long run seems like an awkward time for that to surface.  And I can assure you, I do not have small pox (I just had my physical, figured they would have caught it there).

One problem that has plagued me after each distance run I've done has been an overwhelming sense of nausea I get about 10-15 minutes after finishing.  I first noticed it after the first wine run I participated in.  First comes the nausea, then my fingers and toes get a little tingly and numb.  Since then, I've noticed that it only happens after I've run over 6ish miles.

This past wine run was by far the worst, leaving me in the back of a van on the ride home contemplating whether I could use the bag from my wine as a barf bag.  It was also at this time I realized I wasn't the only one with this problem, as a few of the other girls reported a similar feeling.  I decided it was time to get educated on why running made me want to puke.

Looking into there could be a variety of reasons for why I felt so green after running.  The obvious was dehydration.  I ruled this out pretty quickly, noting that we stop for periodic water breaks and I make sure to hydrate before and after my run.  I also make sure that I eat a bit an hour before the run, making sure my body has enough fuel to get through the run.

The one thing that did strike me as a possible cause would be an electrolyte imbalance.  When I run, I make sure to hydrate, thus replacing the water that I am losing through sweat.  What doesn't get replaced is the salt that I'm losing through sweat.  When this happens, it creates an imbalance in my electrolytes which could lead to nausea during or after the run.  Seeing as I'm now running about 2 hours at a time during my long runs, this is a definite posisbility.

So what do I do?  The one suggestion that seemed most plausible would be to drink a sports drink like Gatorade instead of water while running.  These types of drinks help to provide additional electrolytes to replace the ones that I am losing.  I've decided that I'll try this first before persuing any other options. 

So although the nauseous, tingly, feeling could signal love or small pox (thanks Mr. Allen!), in my case, I'm thinking a lack of electrolytes seems like more of a likely culprit.

Want to know more?  Here are some decent articles I found on the topic:
Livestrong: What causes a nauseous feeling after running?
Military.com: Nausea during workout
RunningAHEAD Forum: Nausea after running