All of us who suffered during longer runs due to dehydration and subsequent fatigue will know that most issues were the result of electrolyte/glycogen stores depletion. It's normal. Once the fuel runs out, even the best engine will stop and the same goes for the elite level, let alone us, the intrepid amateurs.
So, how do you deal with it? There are plenty of solutions out there, some good, some great, some inferior. Many are expensive. I drink my own electrolyte drink, carefully mixed by my wife, tuned around my running requirements and body responses.
Do you take any such drinks at all? If so, do you find them helpful? Or Not? I'm as curious as ever.
Written by
mrrun
Ultramarathon
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I use an electrolyte drink (tablet dissolved in water) regularly. Recently I have been careful to let it stand before drinking/ putting it into a bottle to take with me on a run. Residual fizz can cause inflation! It can also raise the valve on some water bottles causing wet shorts/legs. I now take a salted caramel flapjack from the running shop with me on long runs. They are pretty much melt in the mouth and taste great! Energy and morale boost.
I love flapjacks and salted stuff is right what's needed. However, I don't need anything, not even water, for up to 20-25km (depending on temperature and humidity). My problems start after a few hours of non stop running at a decent tempo. That's when we lose salt through sweating, glycogen goes south and the problems start. I would normally start drinking from the beginning and top up every 15 or so minutes if I sweat too much. That's the practice that I used when running 42k or longer.
Nowadays, I always take a drink if I am running further than 10k, especially in hot weather. I think that cramp is the biggest mid run risk for me. Whether that drink is needed or just a comfort blanket who knows; it works for me.
Tailwind for long runs but sometimes, especially on hot days, I’ll also have a High5 afterwards. For shorter runs in hot weather I’ll usually take something to drink even if it’s just water with a pinch of salt and some juice.
My first marathon was Tailwind powered. No way I could've done it without anything of that kind. My wife then put together some other stuff and propelled me across the plains like an adolescent gazelle. And with less sugar. Many still go without and bonk after a few hours. Then again, not everyone tolerates all products. Give me solids and I'm gone soon. I can only go with liquids. My 50k run was just my electro stuff and a small choco bar. Otherwise my stomach would've gone into empty/delete mode.
I can’t imagine running a long run with no fuel 😱 I know that wouldn’t have a good outcome for me but we’re all different and I know some people can run fairly long distances with nothing or just water.
My tummy reacts badly very quickly if it doesn’t like something so I’ve experimented a lot over the years with what I can use. I remember once in a race I stopped off to drink what I thought was plain water and when I took the first sip realised it had something in it. Even that little sip played havoc with my tummy and it made all sorts of weird gurgling noises for ages afterwards!
Even though I don't need to with the Tailwind I still like to take something to nibble on like a flapjack or dates.
I've 'spoken' with some ultras on another forum and nobody dreams of going empty. The elite guys run marathons without such help but those guys finish it in a few fours anyway, and it's after few hours that our glycogen stores go out, and then we simply can't go on. My curiosity is mostly between solids and liquids rather than between with or without. 😀
I also use Tailwind coupled with homemade Power Flapjacks on very long runs ( that’s up to HM for me). I would love to try my own homemade electrolyte drink. Would you mind sharing your wife’s magic potion?🙂
I'm one of these odd people who, unless it is really hot, don't take on fluids during a run. I'm quite happy up to HM distance (between 2 - 2¼ hours) without replenishing. I'm probably doing it all wrong though.
I think you're doing just fine. We only start suffering after 2+ hours (if tempo is high and temperature even higher). I don't drink anything for HM, simply because my daily hydration and electrolyte intake is fine. But, once the glycogen stores wave goodbye, the journey is over. Once I pass 25k, sometimes more, the party is over if I'm not tanked up properly.
There is also another opinion that you want to train your body for aerobic running by reducing the amount of glucose ingested in during a run, and trying to get it to use a fat-burning metabolism path instead. It's riskier, though.
That didn't work for me, I tried. I got tired, slowed down and struggled. Worryingly, I was also losing muscle, not only fat. Now, that was plain stupid. Long runs need fuel, and the fuel will be burned over the course of the long run. Hence electrolytes in my case. If taken properly the recovery will be easier and the mental fatigue will also be lifted. In my case, again.
Absolutely right. I follow one of the marathon greats on Twitter who told me that one of the perks of long distance running is that you can eat virtually anything without any guilt. And then go and burn it. Cake anyone? 😉
When I'm doing 90 mins or more as a long run each week, I can eat absolutely anything and not put on any weight. I'm usually ravenous the day or two following such a long run anyway.
Yeah. The body goes into a calorie burning mode. When I completed the 50k I went into a feasting parade devouring all on my way. Lasted 4-5 days. Did I gain weight? Nope. Body simply claimed its own back.
Garmin reckoned today's 13km run burned 1000 Calories. That's the equivalent of a normal meal. (Or a typical Burger King XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger without fries.)
In cool weather I take nothing at all up to say 12k, but when it’s warm I use Tailwind or dissolve an SiS electrolyte tablet in my water and start sipping at about 10k. I also take a handful of jelly babies or Haribos.
Today I ran 20k and was surprised at how warm it was (and I ran early), so I started sipping my Tailwind at 6k. Ironically I got my first ever runner’s stitch today at 18k. Weird as it wasn’t as warm as other runs I’ve done, plus I was well hydrated - I thought.
We all react differently to weather conditions and stitches can sometimes annoy us even when hydrated. During one of my longer runs when I thought I was properly hydrated (and I was sipping my own drink), after 31K I got such a bad cramp in my thigh I genuinely thought that something went. Couldn't even walk. I misjudged my electrolyte intake and a warm day deceived me. I needed more, and more I didn't take. The body then tells us in its own unique way.
I don’t often take a drink but sometimes regret it. I did a longish run recently and took 250 ml bottle with half a SIS tablet in it as it was a warm day. I always take my home made energy bar if I’m going to be running longer than an hour 😋. I feel much better in my legs for eating it . I usually eat on or about the first hour I look forward to it 😋
If I’ve got no tablets I take water with a few added grains of sea salt with a bit of fruit cordial
I recently bought some SIS electrolyte tablets and I'm surprised how much better I feel when drinking it after a run. My intention is to take it with me on longer runs, but my hydration vest is waiting for a replacement bladder,
I researched a whole bunch of products being interested in price differences given that sometimes the ingredients are very similar. It wasn't until I started to drink my own stuff that I realised the massive difference in prices between sugar and sugar, between potassium and potassium, etc. It's about the quality of products which ultimately determine the prices. An eye opener for a gullible me.
I used to use high 5 tablets or sis go powder but I rarely do now, only on really long runs (20 plus) and then only one, or maybe 2 500ml flasks, the rest is just flavoured water.
My snacks contain salt, and sugar so I'm happy I'm putting back what I need. Most "energy" drinks give me automatic wind, and immediately.
I can't do energy drinks, hence mixing my own. When my wife experimented with that stuff (with me being a lab rat) my only requirements were - easy on the stomach, lasting effect and neutral flavour.
I use nunn sport for long runs 8miles+ or in the Summer anything over an hour. I didn’t have anything for my HM apart from this which was a mistake for me. I’m going to try tailwind next time I do a 2hr+ run.
Tailwind was the only one I took continuously before starting to drink my own stuff. It's all about finding out what our bodies can tolerate, what the positive effects are - and price. Prices vary wildly.
I buy a tailwind mixed box once a year 😁 but I only really use it for my marathon. I hope I have some left for this year. My husband was drinking it like pop! 🙈. I’ve stuck the box down with lots of sticky tape and put it at the back of the cupboard I got my own back by nicking his SIS tablets.
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