As the temperature drops and the seasons change, we can sometimes be deceived into drinking less water during our training, which may lead to dehydration.  Be careful that the cold weather is not masking the amount of fluid you are losing during your training.

Being dehydrated can affect your performance during training as well as on race day. Did you know that even a 1% dehydration level is a 2-lb loss for a 200lb person? Dehydration can also affect the rate at which your body metabolizes calories.  With a 1% dehydration rate your body can decrease its ability of burning calories up to 5% of its efficiency.  Although you may not feel the sweat while you are training your body is still losing fluids.  Therefore, we need to remember to continue to stay hydrated.  Below are a few hydration tips to prevent performance decline during your training:

1.  Do not wait until you are thirsty to start drinking water.  If you feel thirsty you are already at a 3% dehydration rate and possibly up to a 15% decline in performance activity.

2.  Two hours prior to your runs/walks, hydrate yourself with an additional 16oz. of water.

3.  During the cold weather training, warm your core by drinking herbal tea or hot chocolate made with no added sugar cocoa and warm milk.  This works great to replenish electrolytes.

4.  Know how much you sweat during your trainings and replenish accordingly.  Track both pre and post work out weight naked.  For every pound lost due to exercise you need 16oz. of additional fluid.

5.  For trainings that will be more than 90 minutes, remember to replenish with an additional electrolyte drink, gel, beans, etc.  The most important electrolytes to be concerned with are sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Remember our goal is not to weigh less after our training.  If you do, it only means you have dehydrated yourself which means you will more than likely perform at a slower rate and slow down the rate at which your body burns calories.  Before cold weather trainings think about having a nice hot cup of herbal tea or no added sugar hot chocolate made with low fat milk.

Happy, Healthy Running/Walking!

Prudence