The coming of June means only one thing for Chattanooga runners: it's hot. That also means runners, you need to take to heart how to hydrate. We could tell you many different ways to calculate weight loss during runs based on your sweat-ew!-or we can let the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races say this: Drink to thirst.
From water to colorful drinks and even the emergence of futuristic looking gel packs, here's some help deciding what best suits your hydration needs.
Water
Pure and void of any extra-extra, it's nothing but good to drink at any time when running. It's good to drink water before a race, during and after-as long as you're getting enough. In these hot months, drinking cold water, especially ice water, is not only comforting when sweating buckets; it actually absorbs into your body faster and cools you off better.
KEEP IN MIND
It's important to keep yourself hydrated, even when you aren't running-so if you're running daily, keep a bottle of water with you at work and hydrate throughout the day.It might be smart to avoid things that can dehydrate you, especially the more you run and the closer you get to your big race.Alcohol and soda will actually pull water out of your body and dehydrate you. If you're running a lot this summer, drink a lot of water and be conscious of the other fluids you're imbibing.
Sports Drinks
If you're going above and beyond and running longer distances (think longer than 30 minutes) you might need a little extra boost. Sports drinks are handy replenishing drinks. When you exercise and run for an extended amount of time, your body's electrolytes and carbohydrates will deplete. Sports drinks contain both essentials and will aid in the absorption of fluid after your run.
Coconut Water
We're not talking about sticking a straw in a coconut, but the now-popular coconut water contains electrolytes and carbohydrates too- just not nearly as much as sports drinks do. So if you're getting tired of plain water, or happen to like the taste of coconut water, it's a good hydrating tool for shorter runs. Just make sure you're drinking enough of it.
Gels
There are now sports gels that can supplement high concentrations of electrolytes, carbohydrates and proteins. Especially designed for long-distance endurance runners, these gels can really aid marathon runners in the summer- just make sure you do enough research to know what you're ingesting!