29 Mar HYDRATION GOALS FOR TRAINING
Marewa, the co-founder of PURE Sports Nutrition and a qualified Sports & Exercise Nutritionist is here to share with us her nutrition tips.
As you work towards a gold-standard race day nutrition plan, hydration will play a large part. Not only can we get more from our training through hydration, but we can teach ourselves to hydrate more effectively to get more from our race day performance. Here are a few practical training goals to work towards.
Train your body to accept more fluids. We need to remain flexible with our fluid aims for race day (A lot depends on environmental conditions) so use your training sessions to practice drinking higher quantities in order to be ready for a warm race day.
This is particularly important when you are training for a race in Singapore. The good news is your body can adapt to take on more fluids, which will be extremely helpful for race day performance. Start small and gradually build up the quantity and frequency of drinking.
Aim to start drinking 10-15 minutes into a long training session. This allows you to replace fluids and electrolytes lost in sweat and keeps you on the front foot in terms of preventing fatigue.
Figure out how you will hydrate on race day and practice this during training. While race day aid stations are fantastic, for many of us they are too far apart to rely on as a complete hydration strategy. Try carrying bottles or hydration packs for consistent hydration.
For longer races, don’t be afraid to take the time to refill these at aid stations if required. Often, the time lost due to fatigue would be greater than actually taking the time to fuel efficiently at each aid station along the way.
Learn what to drink and when. There is no one size fits all approach to hydration, however there are some general principles that will help.
- For example, water or PURE Low Carb Hydration is suitable for sessions up to one hour.
- Sports drinks, PURE Electrolyte Hydration, are designed for sessions longer than 60 mins or for high-intensity/hot/humid shorter sessions.
- Endurance drinks, PURE Endurance Formula, are designed for sessions 2 hours and over. Specialised recovery drinks, PURE Exercise Recovery, are most effective directly after training.
Tune into yourself. Take note of how much you drink during training/racing and pay attention to patterns in how you feel or perform. Obvious signs of dehydration are dry mouth, headaches or dizziness, fatigue and dark urine.
In summary, it’s well worth reflecting on your race day practices to help you plan and train accordingly for next time. Don’t forget you can’t rely solely on thirst as your body is already dehydrated by the time it gets this message.
