Runners who do not make sure that they are hydrated properly often end up with problems like fatigues, headaches, muscle cramps and also heat exhaustion, so don't take this lightly! If you want to become a serious marathon runner, being able to stay hydrated during a race is therefore an ABSOLUTE-MUST. So here are some of the tips you can follow to always make sure that you are well-hydrated before, during and after a race:
Hydration Before Race: What I mean here when I write "hydration before race" is not about drinking lots of water 30 - 45 minutes before a race but instead, it's about being able to stay hydrated a couple of days before the actual race. You should drink lots of water during the days leading up to your race and also avoid any kind of alcoholic drinks. If you find yourself going to the toilet 4 - 5 times a day, then it definitely means that you are hydrating yourself properly, so just keep it up!
About an hour before the race try to drink around half a litre of water, that is 500ml or 17 ounces. Then stop drinking and go to the bathroom if you have to, it would not be a good idea to start your marathon with a full bladder. If right before the race, you still want to drink a little bit more of water, 5 - 8 ounces should be enough!
Hydration During Race: Here's the most crucial part! How to make sure that you are always hydrated during your race? This is really important! What I would advise here, is maybe to drink water only when you feel thirsty. If at any moment during your race, you do feel a bit thirsty, then don't hesitate to take out your bottle of water to quench your thirst.
It's impossible for me to tell you exactly how much water you will need to drink during a race, but from what i know, around 5 ounces of water every 20 minutes sounds about right. If you are able to run a mile in 6 - 8 minutes, which is pretty fast, then 7 - 8 ounces of water would do the trick. This is just my opinion, it might work well for some but not for others so just experiment with those numbers and find out what works best for you.
Hydration After Race: This is the moment where you should be drinking lots water, there are no better time than this. If you find your urine to be dark-yellow in color after going to the toilet, then you are still dehydrated and the only solution would of course be: More and more water!
So here you are. Follow those little tips the next time you go out training. What works effectively for some might not work as well for others, so this might not be the best plan for you but I'm sure you will still find many of those tips very useful, so just experiment with them until you find out what works best for you.
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