Do Sports Drinks count as water ?
1056
Member
839 days
UFTriGator posted 51 weeks ago.
The drink will count as water. You shouldn't just take your nutrition from an article, though. You need to experiment and find out how much you need for certain weather conditions. I know that I need to take a lot more than 24oz per hour (usually about double that). I do take more fluids than most people I know, but on the other hand, that means that you could very well actually need less than 16 oz. If you felt like you had too much liquid in you, then you need to drink less, even if it's less than 16 oz per hour.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
108
Member
764 days
hakadoru posted 51 weeks ago.
Ditto on UFTriGator's advice. It's your direct experience from training that helps you dial in your nutrition/hydration strategy for race day.
Two factors that I've found come into play with nutrition/hydration are heat and altitude.
I did a tri at 7,500' last year and got nailed with some nasty cramps. I had the same nutrition/hydration strategy at a previous race that was at 2,000' and worked just fine.
At altitude, I actually had to dial back the nutrition as my GI tract wasn't so good at handling anything. All systems were focused on pulling oxygen out of that thin air. ;)
hak
The Outdoor Journey: Exploring the multisport life through the crucible of endurance
14
Member
379 days
triad posted 51 weeks ago.
One of the best ways to keep your hydration consistent is to perform a "sweat test." Basically, weigh yourself in the nude before a strenuous 1 hr workout, perform the workout, then weigh yourself nude immediately following after towelling off lingering sweat. For every pound you've lost during that workout, that is approximately .5 liters of water lost. These are estimates, but have worked well for me.
Salt loss is also incredibly important to consider, but my method for checking is much less scientific. I look at the crusting on my clothes or my skin in order to guage the amount I need to replace. Despite the fact that I have not raced in an Ironman yet, my time in the Marine Corps caused me to be aware of proper hydration and performance nutrition for extended periods of exertion.
My training is done in Arizona, often in temps above 100 F. I usually do an intake of 3 to 1, water to sports drink. I don't like too much sports drink because of the sugar. I haven't gone down as a heat casualty yet, but as UFTriGator said, hydration IS an individual matter and articles and our advice should be taken with a grain of salt.
You can follow my progress @ http://triphile.wordpress.com.
For my 70.3 IronMan my goal was to intake 300 calories per hour and also 16-24oz of water per hour. I got those numbers from many articles I read. The 300 calories I consumed came mostly from accelerade/gatorade/gels. My question is that if I consume 300 calories from a sports drink does that count as water or do I consume the 300 calories from the sports drink plus the water ? The reason I ask was that when I got to the run I felt I had too much liquid in me so I do not know if I did it right.
My Blog http://cebarnes.com