Oiselle Team Voleé and USA Triathlon Nationals team member, Allie Burdick was running and looking to finish the NYC Marathon in 3:15. She had trained, and was well prepared, but something happened that nearly forced her to drop out of the race entirely. Her hydration plan had failed her.
Registered dietitian, Nancy Clark is an advocate for personalized nutrition plans based on your dietary needs and training plan. "Nutrition is not a static science", says Clark. "The trick is knowing how many calories you burn per hour and what foods you like to eat that help you refuel after a run."
Nutrition and hydration plans are specific to each runner. Nancy Clark recommends experimenting daily to see what works best for you.
In Allie's pre-race preparation, she allocated over 2 1/2 hours to hydrate and fuel before the start of the race. She drank over 20oz of water, ate a bagel, banana, and two chia bars and felt pretty good up until it was time to move into the starting corrals. Once in the corral she started to feel light headed and dizzy, a warning sign of what was to come.
Soon after passing mile 1, Allie realized she was really hot and still dizzy. She felt off her game but thought it would be best if she started on her nutrition plan early, consuming some GU Chomps and taking in some Gatorade and water. She pushed on until mile 16 when her stomach started to cramp.
Allie's body was starting to shut down. Stomach cramps at mile 16 led to muscle cramps at mile 20 until the finish line. Though she wanted to walk and quit she somehow persevered and finished. What happened? Why did a well-trained athlete like Allie, who had never experienced stomach cramps, or cramps in her legs so bad she wanted to stop, have this happen to her?
Here is Allie's personal account of what happened on race day (read her entire blog here):
As in most marathons, there were many accounts from NYC marathoners who cramped and felt dizzy during a race in which they had trained for extensively. What happened?
Athletes typically address both carbohydrate replacement and fluid replacement during the course of a race, but sometimes neglect the importance of maintaining the proper balance of electrolytes, fluids, and carbohydrates (fuel) in the body to maintain blood flow, muscle contraction, and even brain function.
As mentioned in Electrolytes for Runners: What You Need to Know from Runners Connect, without balanced electrolytes, the body's processes begin to break down. If you are trying to rehydrate by drinking a lot of water, failing to consume electrolytes at the same time can upset the balance of electrolytes in your bloodstream.
Drinking lots of water during a very long race in the heat, for example—this can even lead to a dangerous condition called hyponatremia, where blood sodium levels drop too low. Therefore, keeping your electrolytes and fluids balanced is critical for both performance and health.
Dehydration Results In Lower Blood Pressure And Slows Bodily Processes. Active individuals should be aware of the acute effects of dehydration on performance. With just a 2% loss of water in the body, heat regulation becomes impacted. With a 3% drop in body weight from water loss, muscle cell contraction is impacted. And at 4% loss, there is 5-10% reduction in overall performance that can last up to 4 hours.
We need to hydrate. But how can you hydrate and replace electrolytes without the harmful additives like sweeteners and artificial flavoring common in sports drinks that are harsh on your stomach?