I can't drink enough water...

jhpiii

Long run this morning went 1:25. The temp was about 75 degrees with 93% humidity (love the Southeast!). Ran first thing in the morning so only calories was a pre-run Gu. I drank 42 oz of water during the run and had three ClifBlocks. Despite the water intake, I lost 5 pounds, or 3% of my body weight, and I definitely felt very tired the last 30 minutes. If I used the 16 oz per pound methodology, I would have had to drink 80 more oz of water. This seems impossible to me, since I don't even know how you would carry 122 oz of water.

Any suggestions on preserving hydration? Would SaltStick capsules have helped?

penlynwilson

Hi John,

The max fluid most people can absorb is about 48 oz per hour. Sodium can help you retain some of the water. How salty of a sweater are you (gritty skin, white residue on clothing)? That will help us figure out how much sodium you need.

jhpiii

Thanks Penny. I am a very heavy sweater with lots of white residue on my clothes. Plenty of sodium in my regular diet but I have not been using it on my training runs. I weigh 168, if that helps.

tim cronk

Set yourself up a loop or an out and back to your car/house self supplied aid station where you can refuel your fluids.... I hate carrying a fuelbelt but it becomes necessary at some point.... My limit with my Nathan belt is 2 - 10ounce bottles... so once I exceed these via distance/time/temp reasons I just use my own aid station and repeat...

As long as you werent peeing all your water out of your body I dont think saltstick would have helped... it certainly wont hurt though...

Peter Greagg

I do a 5 km loop from my house, so I drink/fuel/etc every 30 mins. IMO its good practice for walking the aid stations etc.

Coach Patrick

x3 for the loop solution but note also what you ate yesterday...if you had nachos or salty food, you might of had excess water to lose in your system!

penlynwilson

My thoughts:
- Don't be afraid of salt in your daily diet (but don't go overboard either). High salt sweaters need more. A lot of endurance athletes don't salt their food or use it when they are cooking. A little salt isn't a bad thing for you.
- You aren't going to be able to take in enough water to cover all of your losses. The goal is to minimize how much you lose.
- You might try pre-loading with 1500 mg sodium about an hour before your run. You can do this with chicken broth (what everyone wants pre-race/pre-workout), salt tabs, or with a product like The Right Stuff (http://therightstuff-usa.com/index.html) or Gatorlytes.
- You need to take in sodium during your workouts - probably 1 - 2 grams/hour. Choices (in order from least to most salt): SaltStick, Nuun, S!Caps, Gatorlytes, The Right Stuff.

Coach Rich

Good advice on loops, etc. I prefer to do out and back run courses, so I have a Google Map of my area in my head, with push pins for every water fountain and hose. I carry a bottle in my head if I absolutely have to (hate it but also hate belts) and powder in a baggie. But I'll drink as much water as I can stand (32oz+) before I start running, using my stomach as a bike bottle to get a head start on hydrating. Also trains my body to deal with running on a full stomach.

jhpiii

Great responses. So if it is ok to lose some body weight via sweat, what is the acceptable amount before performance is hindered? Long run this morning I lost 1.2% and did not feel unusually fatigued.

jhpiii

Great responses. So if it is ok to lose some body weight via sweat, what is the acceptable amount before performance is hindered? Long run this morning I lost 1.2% and did not feel unusually fatigued.