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Sodium loss during running-good advice for electrolyte replacement?

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Replies

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    digginDeep wrote: »
    GU Brew or Nuun - lots of potassium (an American diet will get you plenty of sodium) - few calories, not heavy and syrupy like Gatorade.

    I'll double down on this rec. the Nuun is excellent. I'm pretty sensitive to electro imbalance, so I'm pretty good about drinking a tab of nuun per workout, and it keeps things working well.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Salt drying is not an indication that you are "losing more salt". It's more a matter of wind and humidity. The nature of your sweat is no different.
  • MSeel1984
    MSeel1984 Posts: 2,297 Member
    Azdak wrote: »
    Salt drying is not an indication that you are "losing more salt". It's more a matter of wind and humidity. The nature of your sweat is no different.

    All I meant is that I never thought seriously about the fact that you do lose salt through sweat until I realized I literally had salt on my face. It made me more aware of the fact that I should be thinking more about 1.) hydration and 2.) electrolyte replacement.

  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    MSeel1984 wrote: »
    So I'm trying a different selection of things-gatorade, coconut water, salt water.

    Today I just did crystal light in my water bottle while I ran. When I got home, I literally had like...salt...on my face. It was crusty like I splashed my face with saltwater and let it dry...

    I can imagine I'm losing a fair amount of salt while I run...anything you found you enjoyed more or worked well for you? Not a huge fan of the coconut water so far...I'm trying...but...I'm not a fan of the flavor, which is weird because I like coconut.


    I use these: http://www.saltstick.com/products/sscaps/cfeatures.htm
    I am not a fan of any of those sugary sports drinks and I can take these with water since that's all I drink.
  • SoFLpeg
    SoFLpeg Posts: 15 Member
    I'll 3rd the Nuun tablets.

    I cannot tolerate Gu or Gatorade or pretty much any other gels/sport drinks, they give me gastric issues. So I fuel with natural items like dried pineapple, dates and honey and need to supplement with electrolytes. For longish runs (to 12 miles) I will just use the Nuun tablet in my water bottle. For longer runs and races I take a bottle of coconut water and add a Nuun tablet to it as well.

    I trained for a full marathon this summer in south FL so needless to say I carried a lot of water on 20 miles runs. I would go through a 60 oz hydration vest + 20 oz bottle and sometimes stop along the run to fill one or the other. The Nuun/coconut water+Nuun for some of the fluids worked well.

    Fortunately race day temps were in the 30s-50s so sweating was less of a problem.
  • MSeel1984
    MSeel1984 Posts: 2,297 Member
    SoFLpeg wrote: »
    I'll 3rd the Nuun tablets.

    I cannot tolerate Gu or Gatorade or pretty much any other gels/sport drinks, they give me gastric issues. So I fuel with natural items like dried pineapple, dates and honey and need to supplement with electrolytes. For longish runs (to 12 miles) I will just use the Nuun tablet in my water bottle. For longer runs and races I take a bottle of coconut water and add a Nuun tablet to it as well.

    I trained for a full marathon this summer in south FL so needless to say I carried a lot of water on 20 miles runs. I would go through a 60 oz hydration vest + 20 oz bottle and sometimes stop along the run to fill one or the other. The Nuun/coconut water+Nuun for some of the fluids worked well.

    Fortunately race day temps were in the 30s-50s so sweating was less of a problem.

    Man, having just finally run my first 10 miles, 20 seems so daunting...
    Then again, running 10 miles when I could only run 1 was scary too.
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