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water ingestion (hope not placebo effect diarrhea)

max ping's picture
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started by max ping on May 9, 2008

im moving up to an olympic distance tri this july. it is in the tennessee river.
for some reason i got to thinking that i get a decent amount of water in me in pool swims and as far as i know the river is not chlorinated!
seriously, is water from rivers and lakes suspect to explosive diar on the bike?
and what about that hiking "bug" (can't remember the name) it is gia... something or other thats in the mountain streams and requires backcountry hikers and campers to treat their water. also, that particular "bug" can affect a person several weeks down the road. you get the stomach trouble and from what i have read, it is NO good.
obviously since there are fairly elaborate systems one needs to treat water on hikes and such, it is obvious that there is no magic pill to take.
has anyone thought about this possibility, experienced it, or have any knowledge of such a concern?

tsilcyc's picture
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tsilcyc posted 1 year ago.

Too much thinking, not enough training.

Seriously, if there were concerns, I would "think" the race director would've have considered this a problem. I could be wrong... it's been known to happen. But having been in the bay here in NorCal, I think you're going to fine in the Tennessee River.

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mikem's picture
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mikem posted 1 year ago.

Normally the race directer needs to do tests before the event to see whether the water is safe or not. however if you are still concerned activated charcoal tablets from the phamacy can be taken before the swim are supposed to help.

Ride it like you stole it.

jerallen's picture
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jerallen posted 1 year ago.

I think you will be just fine. We have a triathlon here in Oregon that swims down the most polluted river in the state, lots of superfunds and nobody that I know got sick. They also need to perform certain tests for coliforms if it is a high risk place.

Nutty's picture
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Nutty posted 1 year ago.

Im doing a tri in the Detroit river next month and im not too concerned.

That is all.

-Alan

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TriSooner's picture
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TriSooner posted 1 year ago.

tsilcyc wrote:
Too much thinking, not enough training.
+1 and seriously, why are you ingesting water? You're really not supposed to. And BTW, a responsible RD wouldn't/shouldn't schedule a race in a body of water that doesn't have a long-standing record of acceptable water quality.

max ping's picture
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811 days
max ping posted 1 year ago.

by ingesting water i'm trying to become neutrally buoyant :)

in my last pool tri i noticed that with all the splashing i took on some water.
it takes very little to pick up that parasite i spoke of(in fact, many of those who get it are simply rinsing their face and a little gets on their lips). i was just offering food for thought. when i thought about that parasite, i started thinking of motor oil and who knows what else that is in the water.
and i was speaking of open water in general, not just in that particular river. really just wanted to know if anyone thought about it, and whether or not it's a concern.

cjhoffmn's picture
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cjhoffmn posted 1 year ago.

I'm in the NYC tri in July, which is done in the Hudson River... If *that* can pass the tests, chances are your river will be fine.

A few friends did the NYC last year, and aside from growing a third arm after the race, they didn't have too many problems. Of course, they did find watches for their new limbs along the way from the mafia peeps sleeping with the fishes along the way...

I'm +1 on all the of the above. I suspect the RD took the appropriate tests and would try my best to swallow as little water as possible.

Good luck!