Sodium Replentishment in Hot Weather?
MelisRunning
Posts: 819 Member
I am really struggling right now with heat issues on my long runs.
I am training for the Big Butts 50K at the end of July in Jackson, Mississippi. There is no shade on the course. Water stops every five miles on a 10 mile loop.
In training, I have my water stops every 4 miles. They contain Gatorade, Gu, and some cheese (or something like that). I carry a 20 oz water bottle as well containing Gatorade. I do fine until around 15 miles then it all hits the proverbial fan.
It is very hot and very humid in Mississippi now. On average, I weigh 5-7 pounds less when I get home from my long runs and I am drinking everything I have. I have tried sucking in rock salt during a run and it really did not do much for me.
What do y'all do? Suggestions are very much welcome and needed. I am facing 22 miles tomorrow and the runs are going to be getting longer, not shorter. Same as the weather, hotter and more humid.
Thanks!
I am training for the Big Butts 50K at the end of July in Jackson, Mississippi. There is no shade on the course. Water stops every five miles on a 10 mile loop.
In training, I have my water stops every 4 miles. They contain Gatorade, Gu, and some cheese (or something like that). I carry a 20 oz water bottle as well containing Gatorade. I do fine until around 15 miles then it all hits the proverbial fan.
It is very hot and very humid in Mississippi now. On average, I weigh 5-7 pounds less when I get home from my long runs and I am drinking everything I have. I have tried sucking in rock salt during a run and it really did not do much for me.
What do y'all do? Suggestions are very much welcome and needed. I am facing 22 miles tomorrow and the runs are going to be getting longer, not shorter. Same as the weather, hotter and more humid.
Thanks!
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Replies
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It is totally not as hot here as where you are, but it did start to get a few hot days, and my race was really warm. I eat a lot more during the day. I raised my cals and ate back a lot of the exercise calories. I ate more nuts, dark chocolate, grape nuts cereal, yogurt, bananas and tons of whole grain bread with pb. I drank a 64 oz bottle of hi calorie Gatorade the day before my race.
also, are you sure you need to run that far? You only need to hit 50k one time and that's during the race. I had a long run of 16 miles before my marathon because the experts said your muscle breaks down after 3 hours and it takes the whole next week to recover from that. Long runs shouldn't exceed 25-30% of weekly mileage. I turn 53 next week and just ran a 4:10 marathon that was soooo much fun, and not painful or exhausting.
the book I have and I will always use is Hansons Marathon method by Luke Humphrey with Keith and Kevin Hanson. It comes to your door quickly. I write in it and carried it everywhere I went, checking off each workout in the book. It has everything you need to know simply and also has the tables and calculations of sweatloss and hydration in it.
(I used Hal Higdon and Advanced Marathon...ok results but this one I can follow better and I love the way its written)
I know you'll do great, because you are tenacious and awesome!!!!0 -
I bought some salt pills at a cycling shop. They work well. I was out on a long ride on a hot day and started to feel really lousy, I popped a couple of those and within minutes felt better. Give them a try.0
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S-Caps0
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S-Caps
Ditto on these. Hammer brand also makes a salt cap, but you have to take them like 3 times as often as the S-caps. S-caps work really really well, but you might want to test them out. Some people can get upset stomachs from the shot of sodium, but I love them. No more salt-crusted skin on long runs for me in the summer!0 -
S-Caps
Ditto on these. Hammer brand also makes a salt cap, but you have to take them like 3 times as often as the S-caps. S-caps work really really well, but you might want to test them out. Some people can get upset stomachs from the shot of sodium, but I love them. No more salt-crusted skin on long runs for me in the summer!
No more salty-crust?!?! I might have to try to find some of these...0 -
Another vote for S Caps. Last weekend at the WS training runs it was HOT, and I actually had visible salt deposits on my shirt from sweating. I took an S cap every 45 min or so. I generally stick to 1/hr in heat, but seeing salt on my shirt "inspired" me to take more.0
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I am told the potassium is pretty important too -- bananas! Maybe before you go?0
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S Caps have potassium as well, plus buffers to keep the stomach from becoming too acidic. I could be graphic about some of the issues people were having on the trail, but it will suffice to say that I experienced no stomach sloshing with the S Caps, and for that I'm grateful....0
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I cannot give advice on running that long in that kind of heat! I run in hot weather, but so far only 5-6 miles if it is over 75. All my halves have been cooler than 65..But I can attest to loosing a lot of water/sodium on runs. In a 6 mile run at 70 degrees I loose 3-4 lbs (did a sweat test) I can get pretty bad headaches after a hard run so I have found if I take a Elete Tablets (all the electrolytes are in there) right after the run and it prevents the headaches. I have not taken them during a run, but I suppose I would try if I was running your kind of miles in that kind of heat, I don't think Gatorade will be enough..0
