Hydration: Drinking Water from Questionable Sources

You're out on a long run and your bottle goes dry. You start experiencing the early signs of dehydration. You nowhere near a drinking fountain or a store. What do you do?

I've run into this scenario many times over the years... and always choose the same course of action- I scavenge for water anywhere I can. That has included drinking from streams, lakes, a water hose in some random person's yard, and making a funnel out of a leaf during a rain storm.

There's always an inherent danger in drinking water from questionable sources. The water may contain organisms that can make you sick, like giardia or dysentery. The water could also be contaminated with poisons which could kill you. It's always a gamble.

In an emergency situation, I look for water that contains some form of life. If a water does not have any signs of life (fish, plants, etc.), odds are pretty good that it's undrinkable. Next, I make a filter out of a bandana and a water bottle by placing the bandana over the mouth of the bottle and attaching it with rubber bands (I keep a few rubber bands wrapped around all m water bottles). When the bottle is submerged, the bandana acts as a filter.

It's not nearly as effective as boiling the water, using a commercial filter, or chemically purifying the water, but I rarely if ever have the tools required for elaborate purification. The homemade filter will likely trap most of the harmful stuff and is better than drinking straight from the questionable source.

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Hydration: What Are My Options?

When it comes to hydration, there are a ton of usable options. I'll run down the list in order of relative popularity.

• Sports drink: This includes products like Gatorade, Heed, Nuun, Gu Brew, etc. Most sports drinks provide electrolytes which are lost via sweat. Most also contain varying amounts of calories, which help you stay fueled. In most races, sports drinks are my preferred option, though I sometimes switch to water toward the end. The sweetness of sports drinks sometimes makes me nauseous.
• Water: Many people prefer good 'ole water during a race. Water doesn't provide electrolytes or calories, but is palatable throughout a race.
• Soda: Not many people use soda, but it does contain calories and some sodium. The carbonation can make it more palatable. If the soda is caffeinated, it may cause a slight diuretic effect. I'll toss energy drinks into this category, too, though the high caffeine levels make it impractical for a primary hydration strategy. Unless you're a crack addict.
• Juice: Juice is actually a pretty good option and was more popular before the widespread use of sports drinks. It tends to be relatively high in caloric content, but also has a heavy flavor.
• Beer/ Wine/ other Alcohol: I've experimented with both beer and wine, and once did an unfortunate “tequila run.” The result of all three was roughly the same: it sucked. The bitterness of beer seemed to be enhanced the longer I ran, which ruled out any good beer. I tried drinking beers like Michelob Ultra, but I had a hard time distinguishing it from water. Wine was okay, but I needed to drink too much to remain relatively well hydrated. Drunkedness inhibits trail running. Go figure.

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Hydration: How Much Do You Consume?

[Edit- this article is going to require more research.  As such, don't follow this advice yet.  :-)  ]

Figuring out how much liquid to consume is a topic of debate among runners. There are quite a few opinions out there, many involving a variety of formulas. I prefer to take a more individual approach- calculate your own needs. This is how I do it:

1. Before a run, strip naked and weigh yourself.

2. Go for a 5 mile run at your anticipated race pace without consuming anything.

3. Immediately after the run, weigh yourself (naked, of course).

4. Multiply your weight loss in pounds by 16, then divide by 5. That indicates the number of ounces you should consume per mile you run.

This is only a rough estimate and is dependent on training, temperature, and exertion level. Ideally you should drink enough to maintain body weight. If you're gaining weight during a run, you're drinking too much and run the risk of hyponatremia. Some weight loss is okay as slight dehydration isn't dangerous.

Other Measures

I do this five mile exercise occasionally to get a rough estimate of my fluid needs in conditions similar to race day. During races, I also use urine frequency and color as an indicator. In humid conditions, I know I typically urinate about once every 90 minutes and it looks like light yellow lemonade. In dry conditions, that time extends to about 120 minutes. In 100 milers, I've also brought a scale along to make sure I'm not gaining weight.

What About Drinking When Thirsty?

Many people use this method, and it usually sucks. Thirst is rarely an accurate indicator of hydration status. In my experience, most people over-drink if drinking when thirsty. Furthermore, the fatigue late in races tends to mess with your sense of thirst.

One last tip- lay off the ibuprofen. It messes with your kidney function. If you need pain medication to get through an ultra, you probably need to do a little more training.

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Hydration

Staying hydrated during an ultra is perhaps the most important consideration. Dehydration can adversely affect performance and even lead to death. Hydration strategies involve quite a few decisions, such as:

• How will you carry your hydrating agent?
• What will you use? Water? Sports drink? Red Bull?
• How much and how often will you drink?
• Will you rely on aid stations, or pack your own drinks?
• What about hydrating during training runs?

I'll address these issues in this section.

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