How to Make Sure You Start Your Race Hydrated

This article provides information on hydration for runners, how to calculate fluid needs, and ways to carry water while running.

Proper hydration is essential for our daily lives and our sports performance. If you don’t drink enough fluids, you can get dehydrated or have hyponatremia, which can make you feel dizzy, tired, and affect your ability to run well.

For shorter runs, you don’t need to worry too much about staying hydrated. If you exercise for 30-45 minutes, you don’t need to replenish your fluids unless you exercise in the heat.

If you are running for a long distance, you need to be aware of how much water you are drinking. If I run for more than 45 minutes, I’ll bring water with me.

Many runners actually drink too much water instead of not enough. Drinking too much can lead to a feeling of bloating or – much worse – hyponatremia if you completely mess up your salt balance.

If you don’t drink enough water during a run, you might get a headache when you finish, as well as other health problems. Dehydration also isn’t good for your kidneys.

This post provides information on how to create a hydration plan for running workouts and races, as well as what gear to use to carry water on a run.

How Much Fluid Do I Need?

How much fluid you need actually covers 2 parts:

How much fluid you need on a daily basis if you’re active.
And how much fluid you need to consumer during your workouts and races.

Your body needs water to function properly, both during workouts and in everyday life. To make sure you’re properly hydrated, drink water regularly throughout the day and during your workouts. You should always drink water before you start working out.

General Baseline Hydration

The recommended amount of water to drink a day is 8-10 cups. You can adjust this amount based on your needs. If you do a lot of high-intensity exercise or live in a hot or humid climate, you’ll need to drink more water each day.

It is not only water that keeps you hydrated; other drinks such as milk, juice, coffee, and tea also contribute to your daily hydration.

Prehydrating Between Intense Workouts and Races

You should pre-hydrate about 4 hours before your workout or race event if it’s been less than 12 hours since your last intense workout or race.

For pre-hydration, consume 5-7 ml of fluid per 1 kg of body weight slowly.

This amount of water is roughly equal to what a 75kg person would drink in a day.

If you want to make sure you don’t get dehydrated during your workout or event, you can add some salty snacks or fluids to your pre-hydration routine. This will help your body retain water.

You don’t always have to pre-hydrate if you’re well hydrated or it’s been more than 12 hours since your last workout. Keeping track of your hydration levels is always a good idea, especially before a running workout or race.

Once you start sweating, you’re fighting a losing battle

If you start sweating, you will likely lose a lot of fluids and electrolytes, so it is beneficial to start off by drinking a lot of fluids. If you are properly hydrated, you will have more fluid available to your body over time than if you are dehydrated.

Starting well hydrated has other benefits too. To stay optimally hydrated, drink enough fluid so that you maximized your blood volume. This will help with general cardiovascular function and your ability to dissipate heat. This allows you to feel less tired and maintain your performance for a longer amount of time.

Although it is clear that exercising while dehydrated has many benefits, a recent study of over 400 amateur athletes showed that approximately 31 percent of them were coming to training sessions (and in some cases, competitions) dehydrated.

The data showed that it was very likely that their performance was being compromised. It is common sense that you will not have as much energy to exercise when you are dehydrated.

Who would want to start exercising when they’re dehydrated and not performing at their best?

This study confirms the findings of previous research on the topic, as well as what we have seen through our years of working with athletes in different circumstances. It’s not uncommon for people to think about hydration only when they show up for a session, not before.

Oftentimes, we don’t properly prepare for our workouts because we are too busy running around. That’s just life.

However, this can also be an issue for athletes who train multiple times a day or when they are training very hard in general. If you don’t drink enough fluids after working out, you will be dehydrated when you start your next workout.

Running and Hydration – Here’s The Rule of Thumb

by activity: Here is the average consumption of water by activity:

It’s generally recommended that athletes drink 8-16 ounces of fluids per hour.

How To Calculate Your Sweat Rate

You will need to figure out how much fluid you lose during running workouts or races to ensure you stay hydrated.

You can weigh yourself before and after your workout to see how much water weight you lose.

If you have not gained or lost any weight during your workout and your urine is not dark or concentrated, then you are drinking enough fluids.

If you have lost weight and your urine is darker, you need to drink more fluids during your running workout or race.

Here is a handy formula:

Sweat rate (ml/hr) = weight before exercise (g) – weight after exercise (g) + amount of fluid consumed (ml) – amount of fluid urinated (if applicable)/minutes of activity x 60

This formula will give you your a ml/h number that will show you how many ml of liquid per hour of activity you’ll need to plan for during your training runs and races and recovery.

If you are calculating this for a race, try to replicate conditions so you can estimate your fluid needs for the temperature and humidity you’ll likely experience.

Dehydration is a common occurrence during strenuous activities and trying to consume the same amount of fluid can negatively affect your performance. Stick to the “sip rule” and replenish your reserves after you’re done exercising.

We tend to overcompensate before the big day which severely impacts performance

Athletes who arrive to training a bit low on fluids is less of an issue before major competitions. This is not to say that people never show up to events dehydrated, I am sure it happens.

Most athletes care about their performance in big events and as a result, they tend to increase their fluid intake before the event. This is because they want to be as prepared as possible for the big day.

It is ironic that athletes are told to drink more fluids before competition, as this can lead to hyponatremia, which can be dangerous.

A recent study found that a high percentage of athletes tested at the IRONMAN European Championships had hyponatremia, which shows how much of an impact hydration issues might be having on performance.

What can athletes can learn from astronauts?

Further research at the end of the 20th century by NASA proved the importance of sodium to hydration and performance.

Because astronauts lose bodily fluids and blood volume while in microgravity, they commonly suffer from low blood pressure.

One NASA paper suggested that, during a typical mission, astronauts live with a 3 to 4 percent deficit in total body fluid levels. The sickness was caused by a change in air pressure and lack of oxygen, making people feel weak, light headed and even causing them to black out. Dealing with that would be problematic when attempting to land a spacecraft that is quite expensive!

After finding that drinks with more sodium are more effective at correcting dehydration, NASA decided to put more sodium in their drinks.

So, how do you “preload” effectively?

It’s about finding the right amount of aggression to drive fluid retention in your bloodstream without this causing gastrointestinal issues or excessive fluid build-up making you feel bloated and sluggish.

A sports drink that contains 200 to 500 mg of sodium per liter is not effective at preloading because it is too dilute to increase blood volume. The reality is that it is not very different from drinking water.

Mostscientific studies in this area have used extremely strong electrolyte drinks containing 3,600 mg of sodium per liter.

You would never drink a bag of saline solution that would be put into you via an IV! Even though this has been known to be really good at increasing blood plasma volume, it often causes stomachaches, sickness, or diarrhea– which obviously doesn’t help when you’re trying to do better!

Sodium is key for preventing dehydration during long workouts, but too much sodium can be hard on your stomach. PH settled on a preloading drink with 1,500mg of sodium per liter because it’s the perfect balance of being effective and easy to drink.

If you want to test whether preloading improves your performance, follow these recommendations before your next long/intense training session or “B” race:

What to do

Drink a strong electrolyte drink (like PH 1500) with 500ml/16oz of water the evening before your activity.
Drink a strong electrolyte drink (like PH 1500) with 500ml/16oz of water about 90 minutes before you start. Finish your drink at least 45 minutes before you start to give your body time to fully absorb what it needs and pee out any excess.
Drink the strong electrolyte drink in water you’d have drank anyway to ensure you don’t overdo it.
DON’T just drink lots of water in the build-up to a race. You can end up diluting your body’s sodium levels before you start, increasing the risk of hyponatremia.

Why

Boosting your blood plasma volume before intense exercise is a proven way to enhance your performance, especially in hot conditions.
Having more blood makes it easier for your cardiovascular system to meet the competing demands of cooling you down and delivering oxygen to your muscles.
Stronger electrolyte drinks are very effective at increasing your plasma volume as they contain more sodium than a typical sports drink. That extra sodium helps to pull water into your bloodstream and keep it there.
Preloading may allow you to get away with drinking considerably less in shorter/harder events where previously they would have had to try to consume more on the move (not easy when you’re flat out!). It can also help reduce the amount of times you need to pee before you start.
You can’t preload anywhere near as effectively with weaker sports drinks as you’ll lose a large proportion of the fluid as urine. Or it’ll slosh around in your stomach without being properly absorbed.
Drinking a stronger electrolyte drink before you start can also help you avoid/alleviate muscle cramps, especially if you’re prone to suffering from them late on in events and especially when it’s hot.