'24 South Africa - Day 3

 

I was really looking forward to today (Feb 13th/Tuesday). I love swimming and I love swimming outside and during my online hunt for an outdoor swimming pool around the area, I came across a 50-meter outdoor pool in Stellenbosch at Coetzenburg University. I asked the open water swim group on whatsapp about allowing vistors and the group said that visitors were allowed. 

I looked online at the lane availability schedule and noticed that after 8am was a good time to swim. We left our Airbnb around 7am for the 15 mile drive to Stellenbosch but there was a lot of traffic so it took us over an hour. Our route took us through Strand, which goes by the beach, so I made a mental note of this route for my run later in the day. 

The Stellenbosch area has a different vibe to Gordon's Bay as the campus as there are several schools and students and the area is very pretty with lots of fields, trees, and paths for biking. As we got closer to the area, we saw a lot of people on mountain bikes as the area is known for the mountain biking (we biked there last year). 

When we arrived around 8:15am we needed to fill out a lot of personal information on tablets, inside the gym. This took about 15 minutes. When we finally paid (80 rand each or $4.20) the girl behind the counter told us that the outdoor pool was only open until 9am. This crushed me. We drove all that way to only swim for 30 minutes. She said we could use the indoor pool at 9am. 

After swimming for 30 minutes straight to make good use of our time in the outdoor pool we noticed that a small group of triathletes moved over into other lanes to free up the reserved lanes for the swim teams. We asked the coaches on deck if we were allowed to keep swimming and they said the first few lanes were open for gym users. I think the "open" swim times for vistors were until 9am but the pool was still open so we continued to swim. Thankfully we didn't get in trouble and we were able to get in a great workout in the outdoor 50 meter pool. 

The water felt great and it got warm swimming. There were hoses emptying cool water into the pool to help cool off. 

I felt pretty blah to start and it took me an entire 2000 meters to finally start to feel better in the water. I felt heavy in my arms (perhaps from the open water swim the night before) and just low in energy but as I continued to swim, my energy came back and my arms loosened out. 

For my main set I did: 

10 x 100s steady on 1:45 (coming in around 1:23-1:25 long course meters which is around 1:13-1:15 short course yards)
500 w/ buoy smooth (we only brought FINIS Agility paddles and buoy for pool toys)
5 x 100 w/ paddles steady w/ 10 sec rest 

Karel finished with ~4400 meters and I finished with ~4800 meters. 
After our swim, we changed in the outdoor changing area and had some food and drinks in the attached coffee shop. The price of food is very reasonable here. We each got a smoothie and I got a bran raisin muffin and Karel got a flat white all for ~$6 USD (or 114 Rand). My banana whey smoothie was so good. It tasted like a cupcake! Karel got a strawberry smoothie (and he brought a croissant that we got from a store yesterday).

Karel needed to get some CO2s for our bikes (which go by the name bombs here ;) so we went to the local Specialized bike store. This was one of the nicest bike shops that we have ever seen. There was a track outside for kids to ride on (and a few specialized kids bikes laying around). There was also a coffee shop with indoor and outdoor seating. The shop was huge and it had everything you could ever need for biking. 

When we returned back to our place around 1pm, we were pretty tired. We worked on the computer for a few hours and then around 3pm, Karel did some mobility and then went for a run. 

I had a very stressful afternoon as I received an email from the organizers for our upcoming MTB stage race (which starts next Wed) that I had booked a flight to the wrong airport. I accidentally booked us flying CemAir from Cape Town to Plettenburg instead of booking Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. The website said PE and because our event was PE Plett I thought we would be flying into Plettenburg. Well Plettenburg is 2 hours away from Port Elizabeth and we were being picked up by a shuttle service in PE (which I now know is Port Elizabeth). I learned a major lesson about checking airport codes. 

Thankfully I was able to cancel our flight and get most of our money back (CemAir was responsive as soon as I emailed which I appreciated) and I also cancelled our hotel room from before and after the race (received 50% money back but thankfully the room wasn't expensive). The good thing was that the new flight from Cape Town on Safair was much cheaper and we only needed a hotel room for one night (Mon) so we ended up saving some money in the big picture. But oh the stress to have to make all of these changes so last minute when I had booked everything back in October. 

When this was all settled, I needed to get outside and exerise to release some stress. I did ECFIT mobility for ~20 minutes to loosen out and then around 4pm I went out for my run. I ran 3 miles on side streets to Strand and I was so happy to be running by the ocean. It was a bit windy. When I got to the beach I did 6 x 1/2 mile pushes with 75 sec EZ between (plus some extra stops for pictures in my recovery). I ran 3 intervals out and 3 intervals back (a bit more wind coming back). It was a very scenic run. The weather was much more tolerable than on Monday as it was in the mid 70s and I was feeling so much better (and heart was more controlled/normal). I was surprised with my paces as well. 

I really enjoyed my run and felt so much better when I returned home. I ran 9.46 miles in 1:14 and Karel ran 8.3 miles in 58 minutes. 

I had a recovery drink (INFINIT custom protein mix) w/ milk after I returned home and then had leftovers (tofu potato stir fry) for dinner. I worked a little on the computer before going to bed around 10:15pm. 

Effects of dehydration on a body in motion

 

Although water has no caloric value, it’s the most essential nutrient required in your diet on a daily basis. Your body is made of water. It’s part of your blood, brain, heart, lungs and bones. As it relates to exercise, water maintains blood volume, reduces the risk of heat stress, regulates body temperature and is involved in muscle contractions.

To optimize your hydration status, you must be an active participant in your hydration regime by consuming adequate fluids and electrolytes on a daily basis - as well as before, during and after exercise. Leaving hydration to chance or ignoring dehydration symptoms can be hazardous to health and performance.

Sadly, once you are dehydrated, you can't 'make-up' for fluids lost.

Going into a workout dehydrated and/or not replenishing fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise can cause great strain on your cardiovascular system. As dehydration reduces plasma volume, blood becomes thicker and retains more sodium. This makes blood harder to circulate through your body. To compensate, your heart beats faster, which increases heart rate and blood pressure. Central venous pressure decreases which reduces the amount of blood returning to the heart. Less blood entering the heart decreases the amount of blood leaving the heart. An increase in core temperature leads to an increased rate of glycogen breakdown (carbs stored in the muscles), which causes an intracellular increase in acids. As lactic acid is produced, pH decreases causing skeletal muscle fatigue. Dehydration may also increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol - which reduces testosterone levels and impacts muscle growth.

Keeping your body well-hydrated on a daily basis - as well as before/during/after exercise helps your heart pump blood more easily, protects your body from heat stress and allows oxygen to reach your muscles to help the muscles work efficiently.

To learn more about mastering or fine-tuning your hydration needs during exercise, check out my book Essential Sports Nutrition. Not only do I discuss how to best hydrate before, during and after workouts and races but I also provide many guidelines on how to best fuel your incredible body in motion in training and on event day. 

4 hydration mistakes you are probably making

As an athlete, if your diet and hydration meets the training demands placed on your body, you will perform at your best, reduce risk for injury and illness and improve longevity in your sport. If you suffer from flat training sessions, subpar race performances, inconsistent training efforts, fatigue, injuries, chronic niggles, digestive issues, sleep disturbances and a reasonable amount of cold symptoms, you probably lack the essentials of a training diet that will boost your immune system and encourage optimal training enhancements.

In my book, Essential Sports Nutrition, I start the first chapter discussing the topic of hydration. Why hydration?

Despite not providing the body with energy (in the form of calories), water is the most essential nutrient in a healthy, performance-focused diet. Every tissue, organ, cell and body system requires it. Whereas you can survive for over a month without food, you can only survive but a few days without drinking water.

Because your body systems (hormonal, neurotransmitter, metabolic, enzymatic) are put into high gear as they experience great stress through training , you want to look for ways to optimize these processes. One of those ways is through consistent hydration habits.

If you happen to be one of the many athletes who are neglected your hydration needs, here are a few mistakes to stop making.

1. Not drinking enough water during the day - The average adult is 50-65% water. If you weigh 150 lbs, you are likely carrying around 88 lbs (or 40 liters) of fluid inside of your body. Even though you are made of water, you still need to pay attention to your daily fluid intake when you aren't training/exercising. Because muscle tissue is ~75% made of water and bones are around 30% water, it makes sense to keep your muscles and bones well-hydrated (fat tissue is low in water, only around 10%) so that your body is primed to perform during exercise. Water is also the main components of your blood and blood carries hormones, oxygen and nutrients (like glucose) to your cells. Aim for 90 ounces a day for women and 120 ounces a day for men. Eighty percent of this amount should come from water and the rest from water-containing foods (watery fruit, vegetables, soup) and beverages (Smoothies, milk). Spread your intake over the course of the day and cut back around 2 hours before bed to avoid night-time bathroom trips. You should be fully emptying your bladder 4-5 times throughout the day. If you feel the urge to urinate every hour, you are drinking too much (and/or not consuming enough sodium in your daily diet). If you can easily go 3-4+ hours without the urge to urinate, you are not consuming enough fluid. 
2. Not rehydrating properly post workout - Although fluid (and sodium) losses vary, often based on environmental conditions, fitness level, gender, diet, intensity/volume, etc., it would be a mistake to only drink what feels like "enough" after an intense/long/sweaty workout. When you sweat, you lose a lot of fluid. Sodium loss varies. However, when you complete a session where you've lost a lot of fluid, your blood volume (volume of blood, specifically plasma and red blood cells) and total body water has decreased. Conversely, sodium content in blood increases. Simply drinking plain water after a fluid depleting session will quench your thirst but you will dilute your blood before blood volume has returned to normal values. The end result is that you will urinate a lot of diluted urine (to bring the concentration of blood to a normal level) but you will have neglected to rehydrate yourself. Consuming drinks with sodium after a fluid-depleting session will optimizing rehydration. Ideally, consume 20-24 ounce of a sodium-rich fluid post fluid-depleting training, for every pound lost during exercise - spread over several hours. 
3. Hydrating with the wrong types of beverages - Plain water is your ideal fluid choice - it's free of sugar, caffeine, calories, food dyes and artificial ingredients. If you have yet to appreciate the benefits of plain water, you can choose carbonated or mineral water (both of which are a great alternative to regular and diet soda). As long as your bubbly beverage is free of citric acid, sugar and phosphorus, there's little risk to your health. If you experience discomfort in your gut (or gas/belching), you are likely drinking your carbonated drink too quickly. As for alcohol, these calories are not used for energy like the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) found in real food. Alcohol is metabolized in your body as fat - alcohol by-products are converted into fatty acids and after being stored in liver, those fatty acids are sent to the bloodstream. While moderate alcohol consumption may be combined in an otherwise healthy training diet, alcohol consumed before, during or after training can impair recovery, affect motor ability, impair vitamins and mineral usage, increase dehydration (it acts as a diuretic), and may interfere with glycogen storage in the muscles and liver. Alcohol is also a vasodilator, meaning that it causes the blood vessels to expand. Consuming alcohol after a competition (or intense workout) may compromise healing and recovery, especially if soft tissue damage has occurred.  If you choose to drink, avoid before/during/after heavy training days (and competitions) and stick with one drink - 12 ounce beer, 4 ounce wine, 1.25 ounce of liquor. 
4. Not consuming water with gels - Gels and chews act as a convenience source of fuel during running workouts. However, the lack the sodium needed to maintain fluid balance. The typical gel contains around 50mg of sodium (compare that to a 90-120 calorie serving of a sport drink that contains 250-500mg sodium). Additionally, because gels and chews act as a portable, yet concentrated, source of carbohydrates, they must be combined with water to provide the optimal environment to optimize gastric emptying. Although a gel or chew may give you the boost you need when experiencing the effects of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose), for a sport nutrition product to work effectively as your primary fuel, electrolyte and fluid source, it should be equal to or less than the osmolality of the blood to create a favorable osmotic gradient. Only than can the produce effectively deliver fluid, carbohydrates and electrolytes to the working muscles. If your stomach is unable to empty consumed carbohydrates from a gel/chews (concentrated carbohydrates), the risk for bloating, gas, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramping, fatigue and dehydration increase. More so, once you get dehydrated, gastric emptying is delayed and any attempt to hydrate (or consume needed calories) will only upset your tummy even more. The ideal sport nutrition product should contain sugar/carbohydrates (10-14 grams) and sodium (at least 120 mg) for every 8 ounce fluid. 

Simple sport nutrition tweaks for hot weather training - run

RUN

I feel many triathletes need a constant reminder that they are not runners. Certainly, runners do not need to be reminded that they are not triathletes.

Runners absorb a completely training stress than the multisport athlete. Furthermore, the race day effort of a triathlete is based on the race distance, which determines what time of the day a triathlete runs and what type of mechanical fatigue the triathlete brings to the run. Thus, the pacing and fueling strategy for run training and running are very different than the single sport athlete.
(Note - even for runners, I still find it valuable to set up aid stations or bring nutrition and hydration with you during long runs)

For the triathletes, you can not think like a runner when you train for triathlons.

For example, if you are doing a brick run, you can not think of your run off the bike as "only" a 20-minute run. I see it all the time - a triathlete is out on his/her bike for 3, 4, 5+ hours and then comes the run off the bike and no fluids are consumed during the run.  If you ride your bike for 3 hours and run 20 minutes off the bike, you are completing a 3 hour and 20 minute workout - you can not think that you are "only" running 20 minutes. Sure, a solo 20 minute run does not need calories or fluids but your body still requires and deserves fluids, electrolytes and calories to finish off your workout.

Once this new fueling strategy is ingrained into your head, you will notice that you are running better off the bike (not barely surviving or suffering), you are more energized and thinking clearly during a run off the bike, you are protecting your health (allowing you to train more consistently), you can reduce risk for injury and you can reduce your overall training stress, thus allowing you to recover faster. I can't tell you how many athletes that I have worked with who consistently underfuel and underhydrate while running all because it doesn't seem natural or needed to bring nutrition and hydration on a run.  By fueling and hydrating properly, not only do you build confidence for race day, train your gut and improve performance but you protect your health AND you can function better in life (your family can thank me for this advice).

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-There are many hydration belts and packs on the market so take your pick. Just please carry something with you that allows you to run with good form (I advise to not carry anything more than 6-8 ounces in your hand as it can throw off your gait and cause muscle tension in the neck/back). A hydration pack/belt allows you to hydrate and fuel consistently when YOU want to fuel and hydrate. Yes, it may feel uncomfortable at first but just like running with a HR monitor, wearing a hat/visor, running with a watch or wearing an ankle strap or race belt around your waist, you can get use to it.

-In hot weather, you need to plan for 1 x 10+ ounce flask with 70-100 calories of a hydration based sport drink with at least 250-400+ mg sodium for every 30 minutes of running - this is for any length brick run or long run. If you run on the treadmill, the same strategy applies but you can use a sport bottle instead of a flask.

-You also need to plan for 1 x 10 ounce flask of cold water for every 30 minutes of running for any brick run or long run. This will be a lifesaver as you can now use this cold water for sipping and for cooling to help control core temperature. 

-Plan your run routes accordingly so that you can make quick stops for easy refilling of sport nutrition powder (ex. baggies or single serving packets) and use water fountains or bottles for water. Many sport nutrition companies (ex. Scratch, Tailwind, Clif Hydration, EFS pro) provide single serving packets so you can carry refill powder with you when you need to refill. 

-To reduce the risk of GI upset and to optimize digestion and absorption, I suggest to sip your drink every 8-10 minutes and as needed. Never ration your hydration when you run because you don't want to stop or your  next stop isn't for an hour - sip when you want and when you are finished, refill. It's ideal to best understand when you prefer to drink.

-If you are using a hydration beverage (ex. sport nutrition product that provides calories and sodium, which is recommended), you will reduce the risk of overdrinking on plain water, as it is typical for athletes who run without a sport drink to either overdrink on water when they stop or get to a water fountain/gas station or only consume water during a long run (or after a long bike) thus depleting sodium stores.

-If you prefer gels or chews over powder, you still need to carry water with you. However, you can replace a sport drink powder with bloks/chews but it's important to still consume your calories consistently (and make sure your gel/chews contain sodium).

-If you prefer gels, use a gel flask (1 gel mixed in water in a small flask) for easy sipping. It's recommended to use a gel flask instead of consuming a gel every 45 minutes as a gel is properly digested and absorbed with 12-16 ounce of water. Using a gel flask dilutes the gel for easier digestion.

-Incorporate walk breaks into your run training regime to get more comfortable consuming fluids and calories when you are running. It can take up to 6 weeks to train your gut if you are not yet comfortable (or tolerating) consuming nutrition when you run. 

Example; If you are running for 30 minutes off the bike, bring 80-100 calories of sport nutrition in a     10-ounce flask and a 10-ounce flask of ice cold water.

If you are running for 2 hours, start your run with 1 flask of sport nutrition and 1 flask of water and refill your flasks every 30 minutes.

(This is recommended for hot weather training).

IMPORTANT - Please DO NOT ration your sport nutrition or water because you don't want to stop or because you think it is cool to underfuel.

You will gain fitness, train more consistently, build confidence in your sport nutrition plan for race day and protect your health by fueling and hydration adequately.

TIP: To prevent taste bud fatigue, vary your flavors of sport drink throughout your long rides and runs so that you are not always consuming lemon-lime flavor (as an example) every time you train.

Also, if you feel that your mouth gets tired of the "sweet" taste of a sport drink, have a sip of a carbonated drink, consume something sour or take a bit of a savory bar (ex. peanut butter, chocolate, bacon-flavored, etc.) to excite the taste buds so that you can return back to your routine fueling regime. 

Simple sport nutrition tweaks for hot weather training - bike

BIKE

It's unfortunate but many athletes underfuel in training and overfuel on race day.
Why do triathletes do this?

Underfueling can be from many reasons - fear of gaining weight, wanting to lose weight, trying to be more "metabolically efficient," not knowing how to fuel, not feeling that (more) calories are needed, thinking sport nutrition is bad/unhealthy, not bringing enough energy/fluids, not planning stops accordingly, poor planning/feeling rushed to get in a workout or not knowing how much energy/fluids are needed. Certainly, underfueling does not enhance performance and consequently, not meeting energy and hydration needs can sabotage health. 

Overfueling on race day is often out of fear of not having enough energy. Sadly, no amount of calories on race day can make the body perform at an intensity that was not established in training.  And if you are an athlete who underfuels in training, not only are you missing an opportunity to boost fitness in training but a body that has been underfueled in training will underperform on race day. Additionally, an overfueled body on race day can increase the risk for GI issues which is often more performance limiting than lack of energy. 

In peak training, your longer workouts require calories, electrolytes and fluids. If you are performance minded, you can not be scared of consuming calories when you train.

Every time you just "get by" to check off a workout to say you did it, these are the workouts where you are not training smart. Consecutive long workouts where you just get by will not make your body prepared for race day. 

Yes, you may be checking off workouts thus making you think that you are getting yourself ready but you are not becoming physiologically prepared for race day.

If you feel limited by your bike fitness, do yourself two favors.

First, learn how to ride your bike.
Get a good bike fit from an experienced fitter, improve your bike handling skills, learn how to sit on your saddle properly, ride comfortably and relaxed and improve your posture. By doing all of this, you will ride more efficiently, thus expending less energy.

Secondly, learn how to fuel for your longer workouts. Your body will thank you by giving you great health in training and a fitter, faster, stronger and more powerful body on race day.
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-In cooler temps, you will find it easy to meet energy and fluid needs. In the winter months, you will find it super easy to digest and easily absorb almost any type of solid or sport nutrition food. But come hot weather, your gut becomes much more sensitive to what you put inside the belly (substance, volume and concentration) as the muscles and gut are competing for the same blood (and most of the time, the muscles win). Most athletes will find it necessary to consume less calories than normal in hotter temps but in order to ensure a steady effort, pacing must be appropriate. 

-The first tweak in regard to summer fueling/hydrating is more of a change in routine than a change in habit. And boy oh boy, I know that triathletes do not like change. With the hotter temps, you will need to stop more frequently to refill bottles. Rationing your fluids so that you don't have to stop during a 5+ hour ride (because it takes times or will affect your overall speed/pace) is not ideal, yet time and time again, triathletes don't make the effort to stop. Limit your stops to no more than 10 minutes as you do not want your body to switch to recovery body. Make your stops quick - bathroom, refill bottles with sport nutrition powder/ice/water and then get back to doing work on two wheels. Be sure to plan your routes accordingly  - if there are no places to refill bottles (water fountains or gas stations) consider loops or out and backs. 

-The second tweak is making sure that you have enough easy-to-reach cages/hydration systems on your bike. There are many different set-ups as to where to place your cages but no matter where you put your bottles on your bike, you should have one primary bottle that you use to meet your fluid/energy/electrolyte needs (rotate bottles to keep this primary bottle stocked). Every triathlete should be skilled enough to grab, sip and rotate bottles (if this scares you - practice in a safe parking lot, not on the trainer, until this skill is mastered). If you are resorting to a straw-based hydration system because you are not comfortable grabbing bottles - you still need to know how to grab bottles to refill your straw-based hydration system. Grabbing bottles should be a skill that every triathlete is comfortable with in training, well before race day. You need to carry your nutrition with you so be sure to invest in 3-4 cages on your bike.  

-Although I have seen all types of haphazard fueling strategies by all types of athletes, here is the most simple of sport nutrition advice to help you meet your needs during workouts over 90 minutes (or intense workouts over 60 minutes): 
-->Bring 1 bottle sport drink for every 1 hour of riding. This could be anywhere from 150-300 calories depending on your hourly needs - be mindful that the concentration, carbohydrates in a specific volume of water, is extremely important in hot weather - less concentrated = easier digestion but this may require you dialing back your effort so you don't run out of energy too soon. As you may know, I prefer and advocate sport drinks/powders over solid food + electrolyte based-bottles for optimal digestion and absorption and a more simple execution. 
-->Each sport drink bottle should have at least 400-600+mg of sodium. While there are several ways to monitor your electrolyte needs (pre/post weighing, sweat rate, urination, etc.), many athletes fall short on electrolytes (specifically sodium) by either taking in too much or too little but not always staying consistent. You can simply add salt to each bottle (1/8 tsp salt = ~290 mg) to increase your sodium intake, without a large bolus of salt being consumed all at once, per hour. Salt tabs may have a place but should be discussed with a sport dietitian on proper usage. Also be mindful that there are good salt-based electrolyte tabs/sticks on the market but also some that are not used properly by athletes due to being misinformed on how to use them. 
-->Lastly, you need to add 1 bottle of ice cold water to your bike for sipping and cooling. Whereas in cooler temps (or the fall/spring) you may be just fine meeting your hydration needs each hour by finishing a 24-26 ounce bottle of sport drink each hour, in the summer heat, there's a good chance that you need up to 32-36 ounces of fluid per hour (this additional fluid does not have to be calorie-based fluids - water is just fine). Adding in the extra water can make a huge difference in terms of how you feel, absorb nutrition and hydrate during a workout. When you finish your water, this is typically a sign that you should be stopping soon to refill your bottles. 

Example: If you are riding 3 hours, bring 2 bottles sport drink + 1 bottle ice cold water. Sip every 10-15 minutes, 3-5 big sips at a time. If you fall short on this or your terrain doesn't allow you to follow this regime, you can also do 2-3 sips every 7-8 minutes but never overchug to "make up" if you go too long without fueling/hydrating. Slowly catch up. Plan to stop around 2 hours to refill bottles to last another 2 hours. 

-Your best fueling and hydrating plan in the summer is one that can be easy to execute, over and over again in training - hour after hour. Simple is best! Don't make your fueling and hydrating more complicated than it needs to be. Frequent and consistent intake is extremely important for optimizing digestion and absorption. In the case that your stomach is not accepting a drink, stop consuming calories for 10-15 minutes, sip occasionally on water throughout the next 10-15 minutes and back down on your effort/pace to let the gut settle. 

-Tip: To prevent taste bud fatigue, you should have multiple flavors of your sport drink each hour. If you like eating a little solid food as you are training/racing, compliment the sweetness of a sport drink with something savory, like a peanut butter, chocolate, bacon or rich and bold-based food as opposed to something sweet, on top of your already sweet drink. 

Simple sport nutrition tweaks for hot weather training - swim

Hopefully by now in the season, you have dialed in your fueling and hydration regime to help you adapt well to training and to keep your body healthy. 

While there can be several pronounced and noticeable symptoms to let you know that you are not meeting your energy, electrolyte and fluid needs during your longer or more intense workouts, like headache, not feeling the urge to urinate during a long workout or for hours after the workout, nausea, bloating, fatigue, muscle aches/throbbing and dizziness, you may notice that even without a health or performance-related issue, with the intense summer heat, something is still off with your fueling and hydrating strategy.
Important note: the symptoms I mentioned are not "normal" just because you are an athlete, training hard, wanting to get faster or leaner or training for a long distance event.

Over the next few blogs, you will learn a few simple tweaks that you can make to your current fueling and hydration regime.

As a Board Certified Sport RD, if it takes you more than a few weeks to put together a solid fueling and hydration plan or you are constantly struggling to get through workouts due to improper fueling/hydrating, reach out to a dietitian who specializes in sport nutrition, to help.

SWIM

-Simple enough, always have a bottle of water on deck. Although many triathletes train in a competition pool where the water temperature is cool, most pools (ex. YMCA) are not cool...they are warm or even hot. Regardless of the water temperature, you are generating heat and sweating in the water. Sip fluids between sets.

-For newer swimmers who are building endurance and stamina in the water and find that form falls apart as the workout continues over 20 minutes, consider adding 50-100 calories of a hydration based sport drink to your bottle. While you are burning way more calories than you are consuming, keep in mind that the purpose of sport nutrition is to help delay fatigue. If you train with poor form, you will keep swimming with poor form. A sport drink during the workout may also help your appetite post workout as many athletes finished a swim extremely hungry and tend to overeat after the workout is complete (or notice extreme carbohydrate cravings later in the day).

-If you are a believer that you shouldn't have a water bottle on deck during a swim practice because you can't drink during a triathlon, this is not smart training. Why do you train? You train so that you can be as fit, fast, strong and resilient as possible on race day. In training, you are doing anything and everything possible so that come race day, you are in the best shape possible with a healthy body.
Remember, you are also not a competitive swimmer - you are a triathlete. This means that you are likely not swimming more than 2-4 times per week so every swim workout counts. Plus, you are bringing fatigue to your workouts from a previous run or bike session. The better and more consistently you can train, the better you will perform on race day. It's likely that you do a dozen or more things in training that you don't/won't do on race day (and vice versa) so you have permission from me to have a bottle on deck for all swim workouts.

-If you tend to feel nauseous when you eat before a swim, you'll benefit from having a sport drink during the swim (if swimming on an empty stomach) to ensure that you are well hydrated throughout the workout but also using those calories to help postpone fatigue (~50-120 calories in a bottle will work just fine for a 60-90 minute workout).

-Many triathletes complain of cramps in the legs when they swim. From my experience, this is less related to sodium/dehydration but more related to muscle tightness (especially when a swim follows a run or a hard bike workout). If you tend to suffer from cramps in your legs when swimming, use neoprene shorts or a buoy to take the stress off your lower body. Additionally, avoid using fins when you run/bike before a swim (or when you feel a cramp coming on). Lastly, be sure to start your swim workout with mobility work on dry land to loosen up the ankles, calves, hips and hamstrings (ex. dynamic stretching, light foam rolling). Although having a hydration beverage when you swim is recommended, tight calves, hamstrings and ankles while kicking are often the source of cramping when swimming.

4 weeks til Kona: Dialing in the sport nutrition

This weekend concluded a big volume week of training.

What a great feeling to have this past week behind me and what a better feeling to know that my body was able to execute during every workout. 

Saturday: 

5 hour/85 miles with over 8000 feet of climbing - all at Ironman effort

Followed by a 6 mile run

Nutrition consumed during bike:
4.5 bottles (slightly short of what I wanted) each with 280 calories
Additional calories consumed from wafer (170 calories)  and shot blocks (100 calories)
Total consumed: 1530 calories and 108 ounce fluid (~2400 mg sodium)

Nutrition consumed during run:
2 x 10 ounce flasks each with 80 calories Clif Hydration
Total consumed: 20 ounce fluid + 160 calories

Sunday: 

1:50, 13.2 mile run (2000 feet of climbing)
2 x 10 ounce flasks each with 80 calories of Clif Hydration
Refill 1 x 10 ounce flask with 80 calories + 1 flask water
Total consumed: 40 ounce fluid + 240 calories

More important to me than using these two workouts to get obsessed about certain paces, speeds or watts to validate my fitness or to determine my race day efforts , I went into this weekend with a realistic mind that my body is holding on to residual training fatigue and I am only one week away from when the magic happens during my 2-week taper. 

Therefore, my only goal was to execute to the best of my ability and to be hyper-aware of everything that was going on with my body and mind. 

Karel and I both did our own workouts this weekend so I had a total of almost 8 hours with my body to think about things like how many times I had to stop and pee during my workout, my weight before and after my workouts, when I experienced low's in my workout (and when those low's turned into highs), when I would find myself experiencing self-doubt and how my nutrition was working to my advantage. 

With very little change in my sport nutrition fueling regime (before/during/after) this season, I took extra measures to record everything that I ate and drink, how much, my weight before and after each workout and any other factors that would contribute to dialing in my fueling strategy for Kona.

Although the weather was much less warm this past weekend in Greenville, with the high in the upper 70's during my brick on Saturday and in the 60's during my run, I did not deviate from my planned sport nutrition regime as I wanted to simulate race day as much as possible. 

One of the most common mistakes that I find that Ironman athletes make in their final Ironman training is getting too obsessed with metrics and forgeting about dialing in the little things like mental strength, nutrition and listening to the body. Many times, athletes just try to "get through" workouts and don't even address pacing, let alone nutrition.

With so many "long" training sessions in training when training for an Ironman and a well-timed/executed taper to catapult fitness,  it's a given that all Ironman athletes should use every training session to practice, practice and practice. Every training session is useful even if you don't hit your watts or paces!

I understand that there is fear and excitement for gaining fitness and endurance but we should save our best performance for race day with the confidence that we can get through any obstacle that comes our way - which in 70.3 and 140.6 miles - there will be obstacles!

Regardless if I am training for an Ironman or an Ironman World Championship, I want to be as strategic, timely and flexible as possible with my sport nutrition. I used "engineered" sport nutrition products when I train to meet my energy, fluid and electrolyte needs and I focus on a healthy, balanced, wholesome, real-food and varied diet when I am not training to help keep my body in good health. With every long workout, I try to find-tune my nutrition for my upcoming key event.

In 4 weeks, I will be racing my 4th Ironman World Championship. My body is healthy and fit and I owe it all to focusing on the little things and constantly dialing things in to ensure performance gains as often as possible. 

140.6 miles is a very long way for the body to go and throw in the Kona elements like gusty strong winds and uncomfortably high heat and humidity alongside the best qualified Ironman athletes in the world, I don't need to be second guessing my nutrition on race day or figuring things out on the fly. 

If you want to dial in your nutrition, here are a few of my suggestions:

-Whatever you plan to eat the morning of the race and night before the race, try it out in training. Similar foods and a modified quantity. 

-Weigh yourself before and after workouts to better understand your sweat rate. It's very easy to calculate your sweat rate but there are some limiters in that it doesn't account for urine volume, urine specific gravity, sodium content in sweat and being applicable to all racing situations for all types of athletes. 

-Address how you perform and feel during your workout. Calorie, electrolyte and fluid consumption can be constantly tweaked when an athlete addresses things like lightheadedness, how often you pee during a workout, extreme fatigue, headache, GI distress during workouts, GI distress post workout, high sweat rate, not sweating a lot (or enough), etc. 

-Focus on your recovery. Feeling overly sleepy, lethargic, moody or weak can often relate to inadequate fueling/hydrating before, during and after a workout. 

-Consider your race venue logistics and lodging when it comes to pre race and race day nutrition. Don't make it super complicated at home and then try to simplify on race day.

-Allow yourself up to 6 weeks to use similar products in similar workouts to train your gut and to build tolerance of sport nutrition products. Consider whether you will bring your own nutrition to the race or use what is on the course when it comes to training your gut and fueling in your training sessions. 

-Don't let body image be your guiding force when it comes to fueling during workouts. An obsession with body image often creates an unhealthy relationship with sport nutrition and fueling your body during training. Every workout that you underfuel is a missed opportunity to boost performance. And underfueled body is also at risk for illness and hormonal problems. 

-Feel off or don't know what you can change/tweak with your sport nutrition? Consult a sport RD who can take the guessing away so that you can focus on your training with your well-fueled body. 

The dehydrated athlete - hydration tips

Many factors contribute to the total volume of fluid lost from the body on a daily basis - environmental conditions, size/surface area of an individual, metabolic rate, physical activity load (ex. frequency, duration, intensity), sweat loss, diet composition and volume of excreted fluids. 

The daily fluid loss in cool weather (less than 70 degrees F) can be around 2300 mL (with much of that as fluid lost in urine) whereas in warm/hot weather (above 85 degree F weather) it can total 6600+ mL (with most of that lost as sweat). 

Once again, as mentioned in my previous post, relying on thirst to initiate daily water (or sport drink consumption during workouts) is a false recommendation to ensure adequate fluid consumption. I hear it over and over again that athletes feel that they don't need to drink because they aren't thirsty but then when they do feel thirsty, they do not provide themselves with opportunities for frequent drinking and it becomes uncomfortable to fully replace what was lost earlier in the workout/race. When the body is already dehydrated, performance is not only already declining but there is already considerable strain on the body to digest and absorb adequate electrolytes and fluids and carbohydrates. 

There are many physical benefits of training. But because almost all athletes in the Northern Hemisphere train throughout the summer in hot temperatures, minimizing dehydration is critical to receiving the adaptations to following a training plan. 

By developing a fluid replacement program that prevents excessive dehydration, you provide your body with the following benefits:

-Lower heart rate
-Higher stroke volume
-Higher cardiac output
-Higher skin blood flow
-Lower core temperature
-Decreased RPE
-Improved performance

Every time you start, continue on or finish a workout dehydrated, you put yourself at a competitive disadvantage to other athletes who are maintaining hydration status OR you are limiting your full athletic potential as an athlete (and risking serious health consequences). 

Without going into estimating sweat loss/rates, here are a few very simple tips to ensure that you are not sabotaging workouts with improper hydration. 

HYDRATION TIPS BEFORE, DURING and AFTER workouts

PRE:
-Understand the warning signals of dehydration 

-Plan your hydration strategy before a workout (rather than waiting until the last minute)

-Drink ~5-7 mL per kg body weight 4hours before exercise (appropriate for afternoon workouts or races) OR 17-20 ounces of water 2-3 hours before workouts/races. 

-Drink 7-10 ounce water 10-20 min before workouts/races (in addition to above recommendations if you have 3 hours before your workout/race) 

-Add additional electrolytes (in a well formulated pill/powder) like sodium, chloride and potassium to pre workout/race fluids when exercising in warm environments (or for long durations).
NOTE: Glycerol has been promoted to help with hyperhydration. Glycerol is a WADA banned substance and should not be used by athletes (it also comes with dangerous side effects).
-Avoid drinking large volumes (more than 30 ounces in the 3 hours prior to a workout/race) before a workout/race which can cause GI discomfort, low blood sodium levels or excessive urine production.
-Plan to bring fluids/electrolytes/sport drinks with you for the start of your workout (generally at least 1 hour of running and 2-3 hours of cycling and 1 hour of swimming) so that you do not have to ration your fluid supply. Plan to stop as needed so you can voluntarily drink as needed. 

-According to the Institute of Medicine (2005), daily fluid needs are ~3.7L (or 130 ounces, 16 cups) for men and ~2.7L (95 ounces, 12 cups) for females. Around 20% of daily water intake is from water in food (so long as you consume a wholesome diet) so around 80% of your fluid intake should be directly from  fluid ingested. 

-In warm environments when you anticipate sweating (indoors or outdoors), start your workout with a comfortable full stomach full of fluid. 

DURING/POST
-Be consistent in training with fueling/hydration during workouts.

-Always have fluids/sport drink with you and plan to refill bottles along your route/course. 

-Practice consuming liquids while you are working out - specifically running while drinking and grabbing bottles from cages while cycling. 

-1 mouthful of fluid is around 1 ounce. I suggest to take 2-3 swallows every time you drink from a bottle while cycling and 1-2 sips every time you drink from a cup/flask while running. 

-Bring money in the case you need to stop for fluids while cycling. Always have enough fluid on your bike to last 1 hour of cycling and enough fluid to last 30 minutes of running.

-Record body weight before and after workouts. You want to avoid losing more than 2% body weight and you do not want to weigh more after your workout. Any weight lost during a workout is not fat, it's fluid! You do not want to be proud of your weight loss during workouts as it can affect your health and performance. Some weight loss is fine but be mindful of signs of dehydration. You can estimate sweat loss/fluids needs with basic calculators or get yourself tested in professional lab. 

-Better hydration = better performance = better health. Aim to consume frequent intakes of fluid (sport drinks) starting around 15 minutes into your workout/race and be consistent throughout your entire workout/race. Prioritize liquid calories and vary your flavors so you prevent taste bud fatigue (ex. choose a different flavor drink for running versus cycling and if riding more than 4 hours, opt for 1-2 bottles of a different flavor than your other 2-3 bottles).
Drink no more than 10 ounce fluid every 15-20 minutes (best as 4-5 ounces every 10 minutes).

-Put more fluid in your stomach than on your head. Use cold water to cool yourself but don't go long periods without drinking. 

-In the case of GI upset or a sloshy stomach, slow down for 5-15 minutes and consume additional sodium with a little water to help empty contents from gut. Diarrhea will increase electrolyte loss so be sure to stay up with sport drink consumption during and post workout/race in the case that you experience loose stools while working out/racing. 

-Drink on a schedule, don't wait until you are thirsty. You are better off drinking earlier in a workout/race when your body temperature and heart rate are more controlled. 

-Hydrating with a sport drink that contains carbohydrate, electrolyte and water before and during workouts/races will help replaces losses and provide your body with sustainable energy. 

-Post workout, consume around 16-24 ounces for every lb of body weight lost during the workout. DO NOT consume all fluids at once. Start with an electrolyte rich beverage of around 16 ounces and aim to replace weight loss (in ounces) within 4-6 hours post workout.
For example, if you lost 5 lbs in a workout, aim to consume 80 ounces of fluid in a 4-6 hour time period in the form of an electrolyte beverage, recovery drink, food and water. 

If you find that you struggle with hydration or consuming adequate fuel during workouts or races, consult with a sport RD to help you fuel smarter in your athletic development. 

Information in this blog collected from Sport Nutrition: A practice manual for professionals. By Christine A Rosenbloom, PhD, RD, CSSD and Ellen J Coleman MA, MPH, RD, CSSD. 

The dehydrated athlete

It surprises me how many athletes assume they are just fine just "getting by" in workouts by not fueling or hydrating during the workout.

Could you be underfueling and more importantly, underhydrating during your workout?

Maintaining adequate hydration during workouts and especially in races is one of the most important nutrition strategies for optimizing performance and for keeping the body in good health. 

Every athlete knows that even losing a small percentage of body weight can affect health and can impair performance so why even think twice about going for a swim, bike or run without adequate fluids?

I find myself spending a lot of my time educating athletes on what they are not doing well (or consistently) which could be sabotaging workouts and one area is speaking to triathletes and runners to try to get them to consume adequate fluids during workouts.
With so many athletes coming to me looking to boost performance, improve health or to reach body composition goals, you wouldn't believe how many of these athletes (runners or triathletes) struggle to remember (or make an effort) to put on a fuel belt when they run or bring a bottle to a swim workout or stay on top of fluids during a long bike. They will easily put in the work training but taking a few minutes to fill a bottle and drink from it during a workout can be quite difficult (or it's an afterthought).

With so many hydration belts, packs and handhelds on the market, it really saddens me that athletes don't think more about the physical and health consequences of dehydration. 

Let's talk first about sweating and thirst. 

When we sweat, we experience a decrease in plasma volume and an increase in plasma osmolality. 

As vascular pressure receptors and hypothalamic osmoreceptors respond to the increase in sodium and chloride concentrations in blood plasma, ADH (antidiuretic hormone) is released from the pituitary gland, renin releases from the kidneys and aldosterone and angiotensin II increase water and sodium retention by kidneys and ultimately, we feel thirsty. Yes, all that happens before we "feel" thirsty. 

There has been a lot of talk lately about athletes not needing to drink during workouts or that athletes should simply rely on natural thirst mechanism to let us know when to drink when we workout or race. Because of this advice, athletes will many times train and race underhydrated and express afterward "but I didn't feel thirsty" or "but I didn't feel like I needed it."

Relying on thirst may work for the average fitness enthusiast but when it comes to athletes, it can be quite difficult to offset the large volume of sweat that we lose AND meet carbohydrate and electrolyte needs without risking GI issues by "just waiting" until we are thirsty.

More so, many athletes go into workouts in a dehydrated state which doesn't make it any easier to train consistently in a training cycle.

Before I give some basic hydration tips for athletes to help ensure that you are making an effort to meet hydration needs, consider the following: 

-To assure rapid gastric emptying of fluids/electrolytes/carbohydrates, you need a comfortable volume of fluid in the stomach (pre and during workouts/races)

-It's very easy to get distracted, feel you don't need it or to consider carrying fluids as a nuisance so thirst signals may be ignored or overlooked. 

-If fluids are not available, it won't be convenient to act on your thirst. Whereas on race day, with ample aid stations, you may find yourself acting too often, in too large of amounts. 

-Based on plasma osmolality, there is a specific amount of fluid that needs to be lost from the body before thirst is stimulated so it is true that by the time thirst is perceived, the body may already be dehydrated.

-Carbohydrate stimulates rapid water absorption in the small intestines with sodium, chloride and potassium replacing electrolytes.

-Sodium plays a critical role in maintaining the osmotic drive to drink and provides an osmotic stimulus to retain fluid in extraceullar space (plasma and interstitial fluid compartments).

-Drinking plain water dilutes sodium concentration in blood and removes the osmotic drive to drink.

 Drinking plain water as a means to stay hydrated during long duration or intense activities causes premature satiation of thirst which results in a decrease in fluid intake before adequate fluid has been ingested. OR the opposite happens. Excessive water intake (or consuming low sodium/low carb sport drinks) can quickly dilute plasma sodium concentrations. This can lead to hyponatremia or more serious, water entering the brain as the osmotic balance across the blood-brain barrier becomes disrupted. 

-Drinking plain water during long distance or intense exercise will cause plasma osmolality to decrease which suppresses thirst and increase urine output. When sodium is added to drinks, the osmotic drive to drink is maintained and urine production is decreased. 

-Plain water can quench thirst but is not adequate to serve as a rehydration beverage during or post workout. 

-A properly formulated sport drink (one that contains carbohydrates, sodium, chloride and potassium) not only improves palatability but also helps maintain an osmotic drive for drinking, reduces the amount of sodium that the blood has to supply to the intestine prior to fluid absorption, helps maintain plasma volume during exercise and serves as a primary osmotic impetus for restoring extracellular fluid volume after exercise. Carbohydrates will provide sweetness in a drink to improve palatability, will help fuel muscles and will stimulate fluid absorption from intestines. 

In my next post I will give some tips to help with hydration before, during and post workout. 

Information in this blog collected from Sport Nutrition: A practice manual for professionals. By Christine A Rosenbloom, PhD, RD, CSSD and Ellen J Coleman MA, MPH, RD, CSSD. 

Summer hydration tips for athletes

Can you feel that? 

The warm weather is finally here!!

For the past few months, it's likely that you have been just fine with your fueling/hydration strategy while training/exercising. Perhaps you feel like you have been just fine getting by with little to no fluids or electrolytes when you train. 

Well, when summer arrives, it's extremely important to make sure that you are focused on preventing dehydration and heat-related illnesses by making a huge effort to fuel and hydrate during every workout. 

As an athlete, you should never ever feel like you are just getting by. If you do not make an effort or do not know how to fuel/hydrate properly for your workouts you will limit your ability to progress with your fitness as you work your butt off to get stronger, faster, fitter and more powerful. 

You want to tweak, perfect and nail your sport nutrition and hydration regime all the time to ensure that you are getting the most out of your training and keeping your body in good health. 

Here are a few hydration tips to apply to your training/racing to ensure that you are not putting your body into a dangerous situation. If you feel like you are underfueling/underhydrating, consult a sport RD to help you in your athletic journey. 

-Staying hydrated on a daily basis is extremely important so that you go into all workouts well hydrated and with normal electrolyte levels. Don't assume that you can under-hydrate throughout the day and then "be good" during your workout and meet your performance needs. 

-Before workouts, you should not feel the need to overdrink but don't assume you can go into a workout dehydrated and make-up for it during the workout. In the 2 hours before a workout, aim for around 20 ounces of fluid, with 8-10 ounces in the 30 min before the workout. It's ok if you drink a bit more but you want to all urine output to return to normal in the 30 min before a workout. 

-During a workout, your goal is to consume a well formulated sport drink to prevent dehydration and excessive changes in the balance of electrolytes. Consume your sport drink in frequent intervals, every 10-15 minutes, 2-3 swallows at a time (1 ounce = 1 small mouthful of fluid) for all workouts more than 60 minutes. 

I suggest to aim for around 30-50g of carbs and 200-400 mg sodium for workouts between 1-2 hours.

-Much of an athlete's fatigue that occurs in the later miles of a workout is from dehydration and a drop in blood sugar so a well formulate sport drink is an effective way to keep good form and focus to take your fitness to that next level. Stop "getting by" without adequate sport nutrition during workouts. 

-Post workout, your goal is to replace the fluid/electrolyte deficit that occurred through metabolic heat (muscle contractions) and sweating (especially in hot/humid temperatures). Rather than consuming a large amount of fluid immediately post workout, aim to drink around 16-20 ounce of fluid every 2 hours post workout, starting immediately post workout with an electrolyte replenishment drink and protein recovery drink.

A few extra tips: 

Hydration tips: Swim, bike and run

Avoid dehydration tips

Thanks SHAPE Magazine for interviewing me for hot weather dangers.
Article here

Avoid dehydration with these hydration tips for endurance athletes

Triathletes and endurance athletes are very susceptible to dehydration and even more so, a heat-related injury. 

What must be understood is that the body is compromised when we place intentional training stress on the body through training and racing. However, what is even more serious is that many athletes are not taking the daily precautions to be "healthy" on a day to day basis. So as you can imagine, when an athlete throws in 8,10 or more hours of training per week, there is even more confusion on how to meet daily and sport needs but very little time to even make time/energy to ensure that the body is healthy going into workouts and well fueled/hydrated during workouts. 

Because endurance racing is far from normal or easy for the human body to handle, health professionals acknowledge that metabolic demands during training/racing in long distance events are not easy to meet. That is, it is very hard for the body to take in the appropriate amount of calories, carbohydrates/sugars, electrolytes and fluids, in the right concentration and at the right time, consistently throughout an event in order to postpone fatigue and to prevent dehydration. These are two limiters for endurance athletes. 

If you think about those who succeed well in endurance events, every athlete is experiencing fatigue from glycogen depletion and dehydration but those who can minimize these two performance-limiting issues the longest, is the one who slows down the least and thus, the one who is the most successful on race day. 

Because endurance racing is extremely contagious for those who want to push the boundaries, challenge the limits and prove that anything is possible, it is extremely important that you do your part and be responsible for your health when training for endurance races. 

I see it and I hear about it all the time!

-I don't like water

-I didn't finish all my bottles on the bike

-I don't like to carry anything when I run

-I am not comfortable drinking while running/riding my bike

-I don't have enough cages on my bike

-I don't like sport drinks

-It's only a "short" workout - I don't need it

I could go on and on and on. 

There are dozens of excuses and reasons that endurance have as to why they are not meeting their fluid/electrolyte/calorie needs during training and racing and not only is it holding athletes back from reaching performance goals but it is also extremely damaging to the body. 

Because the human body is extremely complicated, we must understand that there is never a perfect plan that works 100% of the time. Just like in life, we have lessons. Learning lessons. 

The goal is to always learn from what doesn't work in order to not make the same errors/mistakes twice. So if you are an athlete who keeps struggling with your performance/health and can't seem to figure it out, contact a sport RD who can help you out...before it's too late. 

The problem that many athletes face when it comes to training in the heat or just training in general is that the body suffers to adapt to training stress. Certainly we all have our own definitions of this suffering but we can all agree that to reach our potential as endurance athletes, there has to be a steady, consistent training load on the body (with ample recovery) in order to prepare for the upcoming event. 

However, there are some symptoms that are not 'normal' when it comes to training for endurance events and we want to do everything possible to minimize or avoid these: 

-headaches

-dizziness

-blurred vision

-loss of focus

-chills

-no appetite post workout

-excessive sleepiness

-extreme weakness

-low blood pressure

-stop sweating

-dry mouth

-dark urine

-dry skin

-excessive urination/little urination

-extreme cramping

-bloating/puffiness 

-excessive thirst/lost of thirst

-rapid, elevated pulse (despite effort slowing down)

-muscle spasms (during and post workout)

Are you currently experiencing any of the above and have you been associating these with a "hard workout"? 

Every human body is different but we must pay very close attention to our body when it comes to training and racing in endurance events. If you are not focused on making sure your body stays healthy during a workout or race, you are going to have to spend a lot of time getting your body healthy again before you start even thinking about training again. 

To help you out, here are a few very simple tips to ensure that you are staying hydrated during your workouts (and races): 

-Be sure to have a sport drink with you for all workouts lasting more than 1 hour - this should contain a mixture of electrolytes, carbohydrates and fluids in an appropriate concentration to digest well and to be efficiently absorbed. 

-For intense or very sweaty workouts lasting less than an hour, have at minimum an electrolyte tab in a bottle of water. 

-Aim for 24-28 ounces of fluid on the bike per hour and at least 16-20 ounces of water per hour while running. 

-Aim to sip your bottle on the bike every 10-15 minutes (you need at least 2 gulps to ensure that you are getting in around 3-4 ounces of fluid). 

-Aim for around 8 ounces of fluid every 20 min while running, Small sips more frequently will help with digestion and hydration. 

-Cool your body during all workouts in the heat (ex. bike/run). Be sure to bring liquid calories for every hour of training but additional water can be consumed as well as used for cooling the body. 

-Be sure you are setting yourself up for good hydration. Cages/hydration systems on the bike should be accessible and easy to use in ALL conditions (ex. bumpy roads, rain, technical courses, etc.). Your run courses in training should allow you to refill bottles that you bring with you OR set up bottles on your course. Everything you do in training should be practice for race day. 

-Do not wait for thirst to kick in during endurance workouts/racing. You need a fueling regime to meet needs and a schedule. Your body is very smart and it works really hard to correct itself during all scenarios. So any cues that you receive or changes in performance, this is simply your bodies way of trying to fix itself. For some, the body may eventually start shutting itself down so that you do not risk very serious injury to your body. This isn't because you didn't train hard enough or because you are weak but rather because you did not pace and fuel smart. 

-Although you do not need to overhydrate (especially on water), start your fueling strategy early in training/racing (ex. start drinking your sport drink within 10 min of working out/racing) and sip frequently. An athlete who waits to drink until he/she is thirsty is behind on fluid requirements and many times, this will cause an athlete to drink an excessive amount of water (as it may be more palatable as a race/training continues) and may cause hyponatremia (very serious) or may cause bloating by trying to drink too much at once (often a hypertonic amount from guzzling a lot of drinks at aid stations or stops at gas stations in training). 

-Make your nutrition during workouts as simple as possible. You should not be using 3 different methods of getting electrolytes, calories/carbohydrates/sugars and fluids. This is not only extremely difficult to master since you are not a sport nutrition chemist but it can also be very difficult to ensure that you are meeting your needs. 

-Pace yourself. Mild dehydration affects performance and can cause drowsiness, irritability, loss of concentration and headaches. When dehydration becomes worse, serious performance inhibitions occur which also affect the heart, brain, muscles and organs. Successful athletes know how to pace an effort so that nutrition/hydration is helping fuel the effort. If you overwork your body it is not possible to overfuel the body to meet your training/racing demands. 

And lastly, you have to be respectful of your body if the plan doesn't go as planned. If you are feeling any changes with your body that do not feel normal, first slow down. If you are not able to get yourself to that "feel good" place that you have felt in past workouts, you can not continue to push your body for it will eventually be unable to meet any physiological demands that you are trying to place on it. Never get upset at your body for a bad workout or race if it is simply trying to do what it knows to do and that is protect you from a serious heat or other-related injury. 

If you know someone who can benefit from this blog, please sure. Sport nutrition is a complicated area with many tips and suggestions that are not always practical or healthy. To better help endurance athletes, it is my goal to ensure that athletes know how to better fuel and hydrate a body in motion.