I inevitably get hiccups after any races of at least 90 minutes of threshold effort. Symptom typically develops 30-120 minutes after I’m done and can last up to 12 hours. Outside of this, I never hiccup. Really, it’s just a minor annoyance as it doesn’t present itself during the race. Never occurs during training. Of note, I have very mild seasonal allergies and sensitivity to air pollution (which present themselves some years and some years not) though this seems to result in a few minutes of post-activity coughing. So maybe the coughing and hiccups are related?
Curious, if anyone knows what causes this? I didn’t see any mention of this searching on the forum and maybe I am the only one who gets this?
I get the same symptoms, and I’ve noticed it’s more prevalent when I’m coming down from elevation. No idea why though. Just commenting you’re not the only one.
I occasionally get hiccups right after hard efforts in colder weather. It starts when I finish the effort and am recovering, and usually clears up within a few minutes. I never get hiccups outside of this. You’re not alone, but I have no idea why it happens.
Scroll down to the discussion part of this article. Possible causes are in the first paragraph. Intractable hiccups as an unusual presentation of diabetes mellitus – The New York Medical Journal
Back in the 1970’s a guy I knew had hiccups for 54 straight hours. Turns out he had hypoglycemia. For some strange reason its something I’ve never forgot about.
Look into your electrolyte intake during your races. I also read that bloating of the stomach can contribute too hiccups; possibly you are swallowing quite a bit of air during the race???
Well it’s good to know I’m not flying completely solo here…but it does appear to be rare.
Hmm, swallowing air - certainly a potential. Hyperglycemia is interesting. I do eat copious amounts of shot bloks, gels, bananas, and skratch immediately before and during a race for fueling. ~70-90 grams/hour of basically athlete candy, but I don’t think I’m unique in this respect… I never have experienced GI distress, but maybe I am inducing some sort of short term hyperglycemia. I think electrolyte imbalance is at the heart of it. I am a profusely salty sweater and prone to cramping - perhaps they are related.