Sodium. how do i regulate the amount?

skedaddle

Barefooters
Sep 3, 2011
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I'm just curious how you guys regulate your sodium intake on long runs. There seems to be so many varialbles on how much you need on any given day.
I know i loose a fair bit as my whiskers taste like they've been washed in a bottle of soy sauce after X many miles.
Can you have too much sodium?
What form of sodium replacement do you use?
When would you consider sodium replacement?
Just want to be better informed on the subject, i've been using coconut water for electrolites up until now, just not sure if that's enough anymore.
 
Well, if you believe Tim Noakes' research (and I'm inclined to; that man knows how to reference scientific studies), the fact that your sweat is salty means you're not in any danger of sodium depletion. You're actually eating more than your body needs. Your body wouldn't be letting sodium escape in your sweat if you needed to hang onto it to maintain correct blood concentration during exercise -- and it keeps that concentration within a very narrow range of values. I'll let the real long-distance runners chime in with their first-hand experience on use of sodium supplements; my own long runs are only in the 1.5-2 hour range. I'll bring a small bottle of water on hot days, but otherwise don't supplement with anything else.
 
Thank's folks, i'm often out four + hours, i read somewhere that the average person can store enough salt for three + hours of exercise. I know i run dehidrated, i usually carry two handhelds, one with water and one coconut milk, but im still dropping 2 pound on my long runs, which isn't good.
My plan is to get my hydration up so i've purchased a camelbak but i'm a little worried about overhydration and salt loss. I feel like i'm not in Kansas anymore, it's time for me to more mmmm m m m m mature in my aproach, jeez i hate that m word, but its a serious business this Ultra running and i want to give it the respect it deserves.
 
I use Nuun, High 5 Zero is Ok as well. Typically I'll have 500ml an hour of fluid, alternating carb drink and nuun. In the hours where I drink nuun, I'll get more of my energy intake from solids or gels
 
nope, I believe it's an American product, compressed of electrolytes that come in a small plastic tube, very convenient, just chuck one tablet in 500ml water, it fizzes a bit and then you drink it. The High-5 is the same. Both come in various flavours, including caffienated variants

I buy them on line with a bulk discount, I also drink them on intercontinental flights, as I think they help with jetlag.

http://www.nuun.com/

here's the US site, looks like they are repositioning themselves as a "lifestyle" product rather than a sports product.
 
Thanks ElyDave, i see they sell Nuun on Amazon UK, so i'll check them out. Seems like a lot of the sports products are positioning themselves as lifestyle products, go into my local convenience store and you'll see rows of sports drinks next to the packaged TV dinners. crazy days.
 
Well, if you believe Tim Noakes' research (and I'm inclined to; that man knows how to reference scientific studies), the fact that your sweat is salty means you're not in any danger of sodium depletion. You're actually eating more than your body needs. Your body wouldn't be letting sodium escape in your sweat if you needed to hang onto it to maintain correct blood concentration during exercise -- and it keeps that concentration within a very narrow range of values. I'll let the real long-distance runners chime in with their first-hand experience on use of sodium supplements; my own long runs are only in the 1.5-2 hour range. I'll bring a small bottle of water on hot days, but otherwise don't supplement with anything else.

This is exactly what I do. If i have salt deposits on the skin, I don't take extra salt (no s!caps, no sports drink).
 
but how do you know over the course of an ultra, when the salt was deposited? It will dry on th eskin from the start as the sweat evaporates.
 
but how do you know over the course of an ultra, when the salt was deposited? It will dry on th eskin from the start as the sweat evaporates.

I use my face as an indicator. In warm weather, I wash it off to cool down at every stream crossing and aid station. It's far from an exact science, but i'm finding there's really no need to supplement salt on most runs as long as I don't over-drink.