Dehydrating? Try stop drinking! - Running Easy - "Try Easier"
One of the things I have really had issues with in running is being able to stay hydrated. I am normally OK for anything up until a marathon mark, but that is because I am finished within just over 4 hours. The problem comes in the ultramarathons, and particularly the 11+ hour Comrades marathon.
Typically I start drinking well, trying to make sure I take something to drink every 20 minutes or so as I reach the water tables. However after about 3 hours of this I feel like my stomach is full of water and I don't feel like drinking. This feeling does not go away, and so I begin to dehydrate. The result in previous Comrades is that I have ended up in the medical tent, on a drip, dehydrated. My mouth is parched, I'm depserately thirsty, but I just can't drink. What in the world is going on?
Thankfully I heard about Prof. Tim Noakes and his research on hydration (see link to right for his book). I read his book and contacted him and discovered a simple truth. Drinking to drinking plans is not right. We must drink to thirst and we will be fine. The body tells us what we need and when we need it. You have been listening to your body all your life, why do we suddenly stop listening to it when it comes to running? And so for Comrades 2013, in the "hottest Comrades in living memory" I put his theory to the test, I drank only when I was thirsty.
The result? I finished feeling fully hydrated. No medical tent. No dry mouth. Nothing! It was truly amazing, and more evidence - for myself at least - that Prof. Noakes' method, which is now finally accepted by researchers, is the best way to go. I really encourage others to follow his wisdom, based on research, and not be taken by media hype and sports drink companies with profit-fuelled agendas.
Check out the video below where Prof. Noakes shares 3 really interesting beliefs that need to be challenged, including how we drink.
I too did comrades in the heat.
I normally drink copious amounts of water /Energade the night /morning before a long race, you end up peeing it out on the race.
This year I drank earlier, then eased off, had an appletiser enroute to the start. I felt properly hydrated before the start. I drank at every second water table ( more or less) till I was more thirsty. I however ended taking 2 sachets a table near the end, still being thirsty halfway to the next table. But I made it, and recovered well.
Saw many pukers on the side of the road, not sure if because of too much or too little water caused their pain? or maybe not drinking at the right time.