| I'd like
to talk first about hydration. How much should you drink? Well it's hard to give
a number. Some racers try to say, well I drank a quart every hour. That may be
too much that may be too little. I think you want to drink enough so that you
are making urine every four hours. If you're going twelve hours without making
any urine, you've gone too far. Now what should you
drink? If possible, I like electrolyte drinks such as Accelerade. Everyone has
their own tastes, you have to find one which is palatable. Actually a lot of science
goes into these sports drinks. (View
Sports Drinks)There needs to be a proper balance of glucose to sodium in order
to enhance absorption of the fluid and electrolyte in your intestinal track. I
think you should use this full strength. If you dilute it half strength you kind
of through off the balance. Now on long races you're not going to be unable to
carry enough sports drinks with you to get from aid station to aid station. And
quite frankly its almost too heavy to carry even the powder with you for long
trips. You're going to need other sources of sodium,
such as salted food and other sources of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the
fuel that makes your muscles move. If you don't have carbohydrates in your system,
your going to bonk and you're not going to move. We talk about simple carbohydrates,
sugars. They don't last long in your system. Complex carbohydrates such as bagels,
rice, potatoes and some of the other commercial energy bars contain complex carbohydrates
that last longer in your system. Also whole foods last longer that processed foods.
Eating an apple takes a while for that to absorb, break down. It's going to last
a lot longer than just sucking on a piece of apple flavored hard candy. So
if you want to prevent yourself from bonking and staying out of my medical aid
tent. Drink enough, make sure it contains electrolytes, and eat enough carbohydrates
or your going be in here with me and this I.V. during the racecourse and not finish. | 
