Cast your eyes around at the start of any major running event and you’ll notice a sea of runners clutching water bottles. That’s enough to tell you that the runners understand the importance of good hydration.
However, there’s more to effective running hydration than glugging two litres of water on the morning of your race. And getting your fluid intake right can make a huge difference to how well you perform and how happy you run.
To help you get your running hydration strategy dialled, here’s Veloforte’s top tips for developing better drinking habits.
Varying levels of dehydration will impact your runs in different ways. But you can guarantee one thing: a lack of fluids equals some very unhelpful effects:
Just 1% dehydration negatively affects the body; at 4% dehydration, your capacity for muscular work is hampered. By the time you hit 5% dehydration you could see a 30% reduction in performance – that’s potentially the difference between a 45-minute 10k and crossing the finish line in just under an hour.
Studies show that even as little as 2% dehydration can impact cognitive performance. That’s a big problem when you need to calculate pace, make smart decisions about when to fuel, or even know when it’s time to stick on a jacket during ultras.
One area most affected by dehydration is motor coordination. Holding that PB-perfect running form gets tougher when you’re under-hydrated.
When you’re dehydrated your blood volume decreases so your heart has to work harder. This means your heart rate, metabolic rate and breathing rate can all increase. Your brain will let you know when that happens, making running at your regular paces feel much harder.
Hydration levels also affect our mood. Multiple studies show there’s a relationship between hydration anxiety, depression and emotional state. It’s why you might suddenly find yourself feeling negative during a run. It could be a sign you need to take on fluids.
At 5% heat exhaustion is a threat, at 7% you may suffer hallucinations. At 10%, you’re in dangerous territory with risks of circulatory collapse, heat stroke and worse.
Unless you’re taking on a Marathon des Sables-style desert ultra, reaching the most extreme levels of dehydration is highly unlikely. The body has a pretty good system for keeping you safely hydrated, it’s called thirst. Drinking to thirst is a great way to maintain your fluid levels.
However, if you become mildly-to-moderately dehydrated during a run, you might notice some of the following symptoms:
The NHS recommends drinking around 1.2 litres of fluid a day to replace normal water loss. Weight, height, age, conditions and intensity all affect your fluid requirements during runs. But as a rule of thumb, either drink to thirst or aim to drink around 150ml every 20 minutes.
If you’ve done a sweat test, aim to steadily replace at least 75% of the fluids lost. Aim to replace 150% of fluid lost through sweat one-to-four hours after your run as well as electrolytes, carbs, and protein for optimal recovery.
Here are three great tools for spotting when you’re running low on fluids.
When you’re becoming dehydrated, your body lets you know. Though you may only feel thirsty when you’re already slightly dehydrated. Drinking regularly from the start of your run can catch dehydration before it hits.
However, over-zealous drinking can have detrimental effects including GI issues, needing to stop for the toilet or, in severe cases, hyponatremia – a seriously low level of sodium in the blood.
Next time you visit the toilet, check the colour of your urine. If it’s a pale straw colour, well done you. You’re nicely hydrated. If it’s bright yellow or orange, you need to drink more.
By weighing yourself before and after a run, you can more precisely calculate the amount of fluid you personally lose through sweat. And how much you need to drink during runs to stay hydrated.
When it comes to hydration for marathon runners or organised races, you can use the regular water stations to top up regularly. However, some runners prefer to be masters of their own hydration destiny and carry their own water and electrolyte drinks. You’ll need to do this in training as well.
Fortunately there are plenty of options for carrying fluids on runs, including running bottle belts, hydration bladders and minimal ultra vests with pockets for soft flasks.
There are an overwhelming number of drinks targeted at runners, all promising performance-enhancing benefits. With so much choice it can be confusing to work out which types constitute the best hydration drink for runners, particularly when some sports drinks are designed to provide energy too.
However, running drinks are broken down into three types, based on their concentration compared to the human body, or tonicity to give it a technical name.
The tonicity of a drink affects the amount of carbohydrates, electrolytes and fluids that enter your bloodstream and how quickly you can absorb them. Knowing a drink’s tonicity is crucial to how and when you use it.
The three commonly seen types of sports drinks are:
Water: For runs up to 60 minutes, in all but the hottest conditions, neat H2O has everything you need.
Electrolyte powders: Use these for longer runs, higher intensity sessions and hotter conditions where rapid hydration is your number one need. These are also best for day-to-day hydration and post-run fluid replacement.
Easy to mix in 500ml of water, Veloforte Electrolyte Powder uses a blend of real fruit, botanicals and nature's finest electrolytes in a delicious hypotonic mix that provides rapid rehydration and keeps your electrolytes in balance so you can perform at your best.
Energy drinks: Designed to deliver carbohydrates, energy drinks are often isotonic or hypertonic. That means they’re less useful as a rapid hydration tool and better suited to boosting energy. However, they can help with fluid intake as a part of your fuelling mix.
Veloforte’s Vivo and Attivo both replace lost electrolytes and provide a 22g of fast-acting energy. You can add these easily to your bottles, soft flasks or hydration bladder. The Attivo blend of wild strawberry and basil also has natural caffeine for an extra kick.
For more help on how to fuel your runs effectively, check out our guide to nutrition for long distance runners.
Fuel your next run, naturally Veloforte exists to help active people fuel better. 100% natural, hand-crafted nutrition with award-winning recipes and breakthrough flavours.
