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The importance of water to any Athlete
You probably heard it a thousand times, ‘make sure you drink plenty of water during a race, or you’ll suffer’. Do you always take notice of this? Most of us have been in events and thought I feel fine, I don’t need to drink at this stop, I’ll keep going until the next one. Plenty of us probably don’t drink properly during our training programs either. So why is it so important? What is all the fuss about?
What is the role of water? The importance of water to the body cannot be underestimated. It plays a crucial role in our well being, by reducing the impact of toxins through dilution and excretion via the kidneys, carrying nutrients, regulating body temperatures and feeding vital organs, including the largest of them all the skin. We lose half a liter a day through normal body functions like sweating and evaporation and the more we exercise the more we need to replace. But how much do we need to drink? There have been a number of studies carried out on the amount of water runners need to consume during a race, but what’s clear is that much depends on the environmental conditions, the individual’s metabolic rate and the speed with which they are running. Shephard and Kavanagh (1978) discovered that our glycogen stores actually release water, which therefore plays an important role in combating dehydration caused by sweating. This immediately reduced the amount of water that was recommended for runners to consume. Noakes(1985) concludes that ‘a runner who sweats at a rate of one liter per hour during a four hour marathon race would incur an actual dehydration of only 2kg , because 2l of water would be released by glycogen metabolism. Therefore, during the race, that runner needs to drink 500ml/hr to maintain fluid balance’. Even when we’re not running our normal daily water requirements are one and a half liters a day! When should we drink during a race? What is clear is that runners should drink at every water stop, even if it’s only a few sips and even if you don’t feel the need. It is essential to feed the body throughout the race and not try and make the recommended intake at the end of each hour of the run. It should be a constant process. One of the dangers is to ignore the early stops because you feel good and try and make up for it at the end, when you’re glad of the rest at the drinks station. By then the damage will have been done and the dangers of dehydration, bloating and hyponatremia become very real. References: Shephard, R.J. and T.Kavanagh (1978). Fluid and Mineral needs of middle-aged and postcoronary distance runners. The Physician and Sportsmedicine 6 (May), 90-102. Noakes, T (1985) Lore of Running. Leisure Press.