Don’t forget about Hydration!

So the marathon is on the horizon. Everything has been planned. What about your hydration plan? Laura Clark, our in-house Dietitian (www.lecnutrition.co.uk) gave us great pointers about how to optimise your performance through a hydration strategy.

*Be aware of your fluid losses. How? Weigh yourself before and after exercise. Remember sweat rates change with rising temperature.
*For a week, weigh yourself in the morning. Day to day decreases in mass suggests dehydration. Try to keep it constant.
*Note the colour of your wee! Light straw colour or a light chardonnay is ideal!

Pre-exercise:
Start hydrated.
Aim to drink 300-600mls of fluid with your pre-exercise meal and an additional 300-500mls in the hour leading up to exercise.
Sports drinks provide carbohydrate stores and hydration.

During exercise:

Aim to consume 1.5L of fluid for every kg of weight lost (hence the earlier maths!)
Don’t exceed this – it can increase sodium levels in the body which =can be dangerous.
Water is great but for stamina events, sports drinks provide a well tolerated and tested mix of hydration, carbohydrate and electrolyte balance.

Post exercise:

You are looking at 1 L of fluid replacement.

So great information. You may need to have a few days of preparation first and take it from there. It will really be worth it on the day. It really helped me when I was running long distances.

If you found it useful share and on social media. If you like the sound of this, check out Laura’s site (www.lecnutrition.co.uk) – thanks Laura!

More tips coming!