Well, this is going kind of far afield from the original post... but it's the internet.
Did you only add electrolytes or were there also carbonhydrates that you added? There's scientific evidence that carbonhydrates makes the difference. Amount of electrolytes in sport drinks is so minimal that it doesn't make a difference.
Flammee, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but can you point me to that scientific evidence?
Using electrolyte products has made a world of difference for me.
I'm 36 years old. I have been a runner for about 10 years, but a physically mature (and active) adult for ~ 8 years prior to that. Before running, I did a
lot of hiking and recreational biking. While I was not a "cyclist", it wasn't unusual for me to bike ~ 50 miles in a week, just sort of tooling around. I'd do stuff like bike 12 miles to the beach, then bike back.
I always struggled with the heat, and badly, and I've always been a salty sweater. I dislike Gatorade because it is too sweet, and I don't like sweet drinks in general. I'm a water-drinker, but not a compulsive overdrinker, and never was. There were times when I went on dayhikes and would have to stop for a couple of hours and sit in the shade (I live in the north, so we're only talking about upper 80s). I worked in a commercial laundry during my late teens and early 20s, and I passed out a few times in the machine room. If it got above 85, I would feel miserable when barely active. Really, I felt like crud all summer long.
But two summers ago, I started popping a Nuun tab (these don't have carbohydrates) when I felt crummy. I was really suspicious of these, but a friend of mine who does Bikram Yoga gave me a tube of them. I don't feel crummy in the summer anymore. I haven't puked in the heat. I haven't passed out. My hands no longer swell up. I haven't wanted to call the WAHmbulance on warm-weather runs. In years past, I really HAD to get up at 5AM and run. When I tried to run with my lunch group, I would have to stop at the 2 mile mark and let them go on ahead while I sat in the shade.
I think it's a bit more complicated than the magic bullet of the Nuun tabs - I'm not really consuming that many of them. However, the ones I DO consume have given me that boost up to allow me to do some acclimatization training.