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Long distance runners
and other endurance
athletes have long been
educated to believe that
drinking lots of fluids
during a long distance
or endurance event was
critical. And if you
didn't drink enough
water, you ran the risk
of dehydration.
Researchers -
studying 488 runners in
the 2002 Bost Marathon
found that the bigger
danger is in drinking
too much fluid (water or
sports drinks) rather
than not enough. They
found that 62 of the 488
runners, more than one
in eight, had a serious
fluid and salt imbalance
after the event. And
three of them were in
the danger zone.
Hyponatremia - a
condition where drinking
too much water or other
fluids to the point
where the salt level in
the body drops too much
- can develop during
marathon races where the
runners drink constantly
to stave off
dehydration.
Runners who actually
gained weight (anywhere
from 4-11 pounds) during
the event and very thin
runners are most at
risk. Runners who drink
sports drinks with very
little salt in them are
least at risk. The goal
of drinking during a
race is to replace water
that is lost, not to
take in more than you
are losing.
A good way to learn
how much is right for
you is to weight
yourself before a heavy
training session. Then
drink and record how
much liquid you consume
during the training.
Then weight yourself
again. If you find that
you weight more after
the training than
before, you should cut
down on your liquid
intake. By performing
this exercise, you will
learn how much liquid
you really need to
ingest during an event
and be able to pace
yourself accordingly.
Hyponatremia can
begin with confusion and
lethargy and can
progress rapidly to more
severe symptoms. They
can include twitching,
seizures, stupor, coma
and even death.
In recent years,
hyponatremia has killed
several amateur marathon
runners as well as
competitors in the
Marine Corps Marathon.
To learn more about
hyponatremia and proper
hydration during events,
visit http://usatf.org/groups/coaches/library/hydration/
Steven Chabotte is a
freelance writer that
writes for The Nutrition
Guide at
http://www.thenutritionguide.com
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