18 Miles + Marathon Hydration Tips

 

Remember my glorious 15 mile run? 

I went into last weekend’s 18 miler optimistic that it would be just as glorious. I mean, what’s 3 more miles, right? 

Well, it wasn’t great. 

The good news is that I wouldn’t say it was bad, but on a scale of great to bad, it was hovering more around not so good.

I’m celebrating that I made it through and moving on to discussing the important stuff like marathon hydration tips. 

One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve increased my mileage is that when I hydrate little by little every mile or so, I make it through the runs feeling much better and my recovery is also faster and easier.

Turns out, there’s something to that. 

These are a few of the marathon hydration tips David and I picked up at last week’s seminar on nutritional and mental preparation for the marathon at New York University Langone Center for Musculoskeletal Care

Marathon Hydration Tips with Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Alison Peters

• Marathon hydration is about striking a delicate balance between not becoming too thirsty or too full 
• Calculate your sweat rate to determine how much fluid you need to replace during your run 
• When in doubt, take in about 2.2 oz. of fluid for every 15 minutes of activity 
• If you’re running the New York City Marathon, keep in mind there are no water stops for the first three miles 
• The more dehydrated you become, the more your performance will suffer and you risk injury 
• When you sweat, the highest concentration of what you lose is sodium so this should also be replaced  
• Signs of dehydration include: thirst, muscle cramps, irritability, fatigue,  weakness, confusion and vomiting 
• Put your weight on your bib so if anything happens to you, medics will know how to treat you based on your weight pre-race vs. during the race 
• Pre-hydrate accordingly: 17-20 oz two to three hours before the race, 7-10 oz. after you warm-up and stop 1 hour before the race 
• In the New York City Marathon, start hydrating after the Verrazano Bridge, keeping in mind there are no water stops until Mile 3. 
• A good rehydration strategy is to replace 20-24 oz of fluid for every pound lost and 200 – 300 calories of food immediately after the race