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As an endurance athlete it's important to consider the impact dehydration can have and to make sure you're getting enough fluids. Let me illustrate...
On one of my weekly 6 mile tempo runs with a group of friends, I began experiencing some slight cramp-like symptoms in my right hamstring. Thinking it would eventually loosen up, I continued to push the pace until it began getting worse. I told one of my running buddies I would need to back off the remainder of the run. I knew exactly what was happening...
To be honest, my dehydration that day (and any day) was due to pure carelessness. I drank a little more coffee that day than usual and failed to take in the amount of water my body needed. Though some studies have found coffee & soda to be nearly equal to water in terms of keeping the body hydrated, the diuretic effect puts more strain on our bowels & bladders. My body just doesn't feel the same or perform at the same level on those high coffee/low water days. In the end, water is just cleaner and what our bodies crave the most.
Water makes up about 60% of our body weight. When we run, we naturally lose water which leads to stiffening muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints. A running cramp is one of the ways our bodies let us know we're suffering from dehydration. I found this out the hard way at the 18 mile mark of the 2008 Akron Marathon. Both hamstrings began cramping and forced me to stop for ten minutes. A police officer noticed the difficulty I was having and actually offered me a bottle of water from his squad car! I gladly accepted. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to reverse the effects of dehydration in a training run or race. This is why we need to stay hydrated throughout the day rather than trying to cram it all in at the last moment.
Here are some important benefits of water and body function:
A few Signs of Mild Dehydration:
We runners and other endurance athletes will naturally need more water than those who aren't as active. On a day off, I use the following formula for my water consumption:
Body weight divided by 2, then change this number to ounces. For example, my body weight is 154 lbs. Dividing this by 2 = 77 lbs. Therefore, I need at least 77oz of water each day. This number increases when we run or exercise in order to replace what we lose in sweat.
When the weather is warmer, our bodies will require even more water due to evaporation. Depending on body weight, each person will vary in sweat loss rate. To find out your personal sweat loss rate, weigh yourself in the nude before going out on a timed training run, swim or ride. Weigh yourself again in the nude upon your return. One pound of weight loss = one pint of water loss. For example, if you lose 2 lbs. of weight in a one hour run, you've lost 2 pints (32oz) of water. This same person would lose 16oz of water on a 30 minute run.
**Note: Studies have found that as little as 2% dehydration can have a negative effect on a race performance.
If I'm going out for a one hour run, I like to drink at least 20oz or more of water 30-45 minutes before my run. This allows enough time for the water to empty the stomach and get where it needs to throughout the body. None of us like that "sloshy" water feeling in the stomach. Drinking too much or eating too close to a run can also lead to those pesky side stitches that seem to take forever to go away.
When I first began running, I carried a water bottle on any run over 30 minutes. After experimenting with my water needs since then, I've realized I don't need to take in fluid during runs that are under 90 minutes, unless it's a very warm day. On a long run day (over 90 minutes), I either carry a water bottle or run a route where I have access to a drinking fountain. A rule of thumb is to experiment on your training runs so you know how your body will react on race day. You don't want to find yourself dehydrated on your long run and still a long way from home. No fun.
Absolutely. Over-hydrating can lead to hyponatremia, a dangerous condition caused by drinking too much fluid. Quite simply, hyponatremia happens when the sodium level in the body becomes diluted (literally flooding the body). In the most serious cases, brain swelling that could lead to seizures and other life-threatening complications can occur. Talk about being watered down! This is one reason it's a good idea to take in some form of electrolyte sports drink on those long runs. By doing so, you replace some of the sodium lost. If I'm going to hydrate with a sports drink, I prefer Nuun tablets
(www.nuunlife.com) since they're made with healthier ingredients. Nuun is not a fuel source with calories. It’s pure hydration and won’t tax the digestive tract.
Dial in the proper hydration for your body and your performance will take off!
If you suffer chronic inflammation, chances are you’ve tried everything you could think of to make the pain go away.
The usual solutions people turn to include:
For most people, these solutions fail to provide consistent, long-term relief.
Medications provide short-term relief, special exercises help to some extent, but herbal remedies or supplements may not have worked as well as you hoped.
In today’s highly competitive economy, the new normal is for food manufacturers to use marketing ploys to make their products appear healthy – even when they aren’t.
Maltodextrin is one of the most common, hidden-in-plain-sight cons on the market today. It is glorified, processed sugar that masquerades as “carbs.”
It might sound unbelievable, but read the following quote from BellChem – a top US producer of maltodextrin:
“Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate that can be hundreds of sugar molecules in length, which is much larger than the simple carbohydrate arrangement of glucose. Many soft drinks and other flavored beverages contain maltodextrin in their formulas so that they can have a lower amount of sugar on their nutrition facts labels. On the nutrition label, maltodextrin is included under the “Total Carbohydrate” heading, instead of the “sugars” label.”
The Infantry Battalion that I am fortunate enough to command - 3-187 Infantry, the Iron Rakkasans - conducts an event each Spring called the Iron Warrior Challenge (IWC).
The IWC can be a single event or a series of events designed to test Soldiers physically and mentally. The purpose of this event is to link the currently serving Soldiers with those who previously served in the unit, and to remember those that have gone before us and all they endured in the service of our Great Nation. The event was started by GEN (retired) David Petraeus when he commanded the Iron Rakkasans in the early 90s, and has continued on ever since.
