Interesting stuff being discussed on hydration at the moment, and how it's been hyped up to the point that many of us drink too much when exercising:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/18/how-much-water-drink-marathon
http://sweatscience.runnersworld.com/2012/04/how-much-do-champion-marathoners-drink-and-sweat/
More deaths in marathons are caused by low sodium levels (ie diluting them through drinking) than by dehydration.
Does this vindicate my usual complete failure to drink on long mountain days? I think so.
I don't!
ReplyDeleteI get that people over-hydrate and why that’s a bad thing, but think you go completely to the other end of the scale on the hill sometimes... The state of you after the epic on Finnkona (http://nickonice.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/epic-fail.html) proves my point I think. I was way fresher than you at the end of that day, despite being a lot older and less fit than you were. You did more leading for sure but that can’t fully explain it. Once or twice you’ve been more tired the day after big days too, which I still think was down to dehydration.
Will Gadd is right that you need to keep drinking to stay sharp, warm, and maintain energy levels on big hill days.