Here’s a Quick Way to Prevent Dehydration By Exploiting Electrolytes

Preventing dehydration through higher consumption of electrolytes makes your average long run into a world-class training session that will prepare you for your next personal best. But first, it’s story time!

Here’s a situation for you:

Imagine Jim running his weekly long runs: he’s been keeping himself well hydrated throughout the day as well as during the run. Jim’s 75% done his run but out of the blue, he feels so dehydrated that he starts to slow down. He whips out his water pack and chugs the water down…it didn’t do anything for his thirst. Doubt settles in. “Will I be able to finish my run?” he asks himself. He takes out his last water pack and chugs that down too. Nothing! He’s still as dehydrated as he was, if not more than at the 75% mark.

What happened there?

There are many possibilities on how this situation could happen. Jim kept himself hydrated throughout the day and drank during the run. Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do? Yes, it is but there is a huge problem in this situation: Jim has been hydrating himself only through water.

photo credit: karaforristall

We usually keep ourselves hydrated through water because it’s cheap, available all around and its importance to the health of our body. Jim forgot an important guideline:

If your run goes for longer than 90 minutes, you must replace the lost minerals of the body.

This is where sports drinks feel as if they’re god send [Heavenly sound in the background]. If you haven’t used a sports drink like Gatorade on your long runs yet, you’re really missing out and might be working harder than you need to. Consuming sports drinks will make you feel as if you have more energy, feel more alert and most importantly, prevent dehydration because of electrolytes.

When you’re running for a shorter time, for example 40 minutes, water is good enough to keep you going. But for long runs, such as 12-18 mile runs during the latter weeks of your marathon training, water isn’t going to cut it. During your runs, you are sweating electrolytes.

Electrolytes are essential minerals, such as sodium and potassium that replenish the body’s water levels. All the major sports drinks, like Gatorade, are used specifically for this purpose. The reason just water is good enough at the 40 minute run rather than the run that’s longer than 90 minutes is because there isn’t a huge loss in the important minerals such as sodium.

The basic rule of thumb for keeping yourself hydrated during the runs longer than 90 minutes to drink 6 to 8 ounces of fluids every 20 minutes. It’s best to alternate between water and sports drinks to keep yourself fresh as you don’t get used to just water or just Gatorade.

When I drink a sports drink early in my runs, my stomach…fights back. My stomach doesn’t respond well with sports drinks early in my runs so what I do is drink mainly water in the beginning of my runs and later, start to sprinkle in sports drinks.

The best method of consuming sports drinks is the one that’s individually right for you. What might work for an elite runner might not work for you and vice-versa. Experiment different sport drinks, different time of consumption during your run and the effect water at different intervals of your run.

Preventing dehydration and drinking electrolytes are important during your long runs. I explained the basic rule of staying hydrated by drinking 6-8 ounces of fluids every 20 minutes but I want you to experiment and write your results in your log. (psssst…you’re using a log right?)

Your Turn

What sports drink has worked for you? What intervals do you consume the sports drink/water to feel your best when running? Let me know what kind of results you see in your running.