Hydration help (running)

[Deleted]

I will first confess that I only started fueling at the 2 hr point   I have half a bag of sports beans at the 45 min and 1.5 hr mark.

Today I ran 2.5 hrs with 300 mL of water (I've never run with water before). When I got home I also noticed that my sweat was salty (like my tights had salt on them and my arms had salt marks), but this has happened for a while.

Its also winter here but warmer than usual (70F ish).

Any tips?

[Wines Not Whines]

First, salty sweat is normal. I'm a salty sweater regardless of how much I eat or drink during runs. I do tend to cramp up if I don't replace my electrolytes on warm days, so I use Gatorade/nuun/shot bloks as needed. 

Personally, I need to drink pretty frequently during long runs in the summer, because I sweat a ton. I have various strategies for making sure I have access to water, including stashing bottles along my route and in my car, and relying on water fountains when they're available. I carry fuel (Gu, shot bloks) in a spi belt. 

Experiment and see what works for you. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for someone else. 

[trigal]

Have you tried drinking a sports drink instead of water? That may help with the loss of salt.

[brooke77]

It is important to hydrate before, during, and after your long runs. If you are dehydrated going into a run, you cannot overcome it by drinking during the run. For hydrating during runs, I carry a handheld and run along a route with water fountains. I know some people bring money to stop and buy water, stash water beforehand, do loops around their house, etc. your performance will improve when you're hydrated and fueled.

Also, re: salty sweat. I read this article awhile ago because I'm also a salty sweater and the advice has helped me.
www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-runners/are-you-salty-sweater

[gt7301b]

When I'm doing long runs a key thing for me is to be hydrated before the run. I'm not always good at drinking water, so I make a point to drink more water than usual the day before a long run. I've been adding nuun to some of my water too, just to help with electrolyte replenishment.

In the summer I also run with at least water for anything over 3-4 miles.

[AAM2012]

Aug 10, 2013 4:15:04 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

First, salty sweat is normal. I'm a salty sweater regardless of how much I eat or drink during runs. I do tend to cramp up if I don't replace my electrolytes on warm days, so I use Gatorade/nuun/shot bloks as needed. 

Personally, I need to drink pretty frequently during long runs in the summer, because I sweat a ton. I have various strategies for making sure I have access to water, including stashing bottles along my route and in my car, and relying on water fountains when they're available. I carry fuel (Gu, shot bloks) in a spi belt. 

Experiment and see what works for you. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for someone else. 

I agree with all of this. I usually carry a small water bottle with me and stash water throughout my run depending on the distance. Today I ran 12 and had some gu blocks at mile 4 and 7 with water throughout and even more towards the end. It's hot here even at 5:30am and if I don't hydrate I will crash. You have to be pro-active with hydration because once you start feeling tired it's pretty much too late at that point.

Try different things and keep track of what you do and how you feel to find what works best.

[katinthehat]

drink to thirst. it's really that simple. we're not camels, we can't store water like they do, so pre-drinking 24 or 48 hours beforehand doesn't do anything except make you go to the bathroom more.

[AAM2012]

Aug 10, 2013 8:05:00 GMT -5 katinthehat said:

drink to thirst. it's really that simple. we're not camels, we can't store water like they do, so pre-drinking 24 or 48 hours beforehand doesn't do anything except make you go to the bathroom more.

Completely disagree and I don't think research supports your theory. If I wait until I am thirsty to drink I would crash and it would be too late. I have to stay hydrated throughout the week (not sure a day or two before) so I don't get dizzy and sick during my runs.

[G22]

I know this is rare here. Most people don't use it, but I take my camelback with 1.5-2L of water for anything over 7-8miles in the summer. I wear it close and tightened to my body and it feels great. No chafing or anything.

For my 18mile run last week I drank the entire thing. And it wasn't overly hot. I just was thirsty!

[katinthehat]

Aug 10, 2013 8:27:01 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

Aug 10, 2013 8:05:00 GMT -5 katinthehat said:

drink to thirst. it's really that simple. we're not camels, we can't store water like they do, so pre-drinking 24 or 48 hours beforehand doesn't do anything except make you go to the bathroom more.

Completely disagree and I don't think research supports your theory. If I wait until I am thirsty to drink I would crash and it would be too late. I have to stay hydrated throughout the week (not sure a day or two before) so I don't get dizzy and sick during my runs.

Can you show me a study that shows where we have cells just devoted to the storage of water so that they're there when we get thirsty?  Cells hold a finite amount of water, more than that, they don't get bigger or retain more, it's passed on as waste.  Certainly cells can get dehydrated, but you start out hydrated, which is drinking to thirst, not over drinking in hopes of tanking some water for future use.  It's not like fat or glucose.

If you wait until you're thirsty to drink and then crash and burn after that, you're not listening to your body.

Study after study after study consistently shows the winners of the major marathons are the most dehydrated individuals on the course.  We've been made to believe that we have to be as hydrated as possible while exercising and that's just not true.  Hyponatremia during exercise will kill you.  Dehydration won't.

sph.sagepub.com/content/3/5/451.abstract
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20876587
www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/dehydration-and-hyponatremia-how-common-how-dangerous
well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/how-much-to-drink-during-a-marathon/?_r=0
www.runnersworld.co.uk/nutrition/too-much-water-can-kill-you/937.html

And the entire book Waterlogged by Tim Noakes