This is about how I refilled water and salt on race day, because during the race I realized that this refill made a huge difference... no cramps, no overheating while climbing in the hot weather, no spiking heart rate, no dizziness, no feeling overheated, and I still had energy for the final downhill, crossing the finish line with energy to spare.
This article is a share of the refill plan I planned before the race, to serve as a guideline for everyone to plan their own.
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Refilling water means refilling enough water to replace the sweat lost during each hour of racing.
The question is, how much is enough? The answer is 80% of what we lose... For those who know their rate of loss, this is easy to plan, but most people don't know unless they go test it... Sometimes we think we refill a lot, but in reality, it might not be enough.
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I had the opportunity to do a Sweat Test with Pocari Sweat x Wind Training to find my sweat and electrolyte loss per hour, giving me accurate values to plan my refills on race day.
760ml/hr is the amount of sweat I lose while running.
740mg/hr is the amount of electrolytes I lose with sweat while running.
If the weather is hot, like in the afternoon, I will lose more sweat and electrolytes. The refill amount must increase accordingly (as shown in the illustration).
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Let me add a little explanation here: Electrolytes are 5 minerals lost with sweat, with sodium being the main one, accounting for 70%-80% of the total. Therefore, when refilling with Pocari, Saltpro, Bix, or Tailwind, I mainly look at the sodium amount.
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Therefore, the task is to calculate how much to refill to be enough... The figure is 80% of what is lost (in the illustration).
Refilling water: 80% = 608ml/hr in the morning, 664ml/hr in the afternoon. But I thought that for me, that wasn't enough because I really sweat a lot, so I went with 100%, which is 750ml/hr, or to make it easy to remember, one and a half soft bottles per hour from the morning until the end of the race.
Refilling salt: 80% = 592mg/hr in the morning, 648mg/hr in the afternoon. I have 3 formulas:
1) Refill Tailwind, which provides both salt and energy for periods without CP (solid food).
2) Bix salt effervescent tablets without energy for periods with CP that has solid food.
3) Saltpro salt capsules to supplement the next hour of 1) and 2). You can swallow them without mixing them with water.
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Once I had the values of what I needed to refill and the salt I used, I put them into a plan for the race... The CM3 distances between each CP are quite far. Once we know how long we will take between CPs, we can plan it (illustration).
Between CPs, I have to drink 2 soft bottles of water and almost empty a 1.5L hydration bladder. As for salt, after entering a CP, I have to take 1 Tailwind packet and 1 soft bottle. In the next hour (before entering the next CP), I take Saltpro... Then at the next CP, I put 2 BIX tablets in 1 soft bottle, and take Saltpro in the next hour as well.
I wrote these plans down on paper and laminated them to look at during the race. On the course, I just follow the plan so I don't waste time thinking about what to refill at this CP or how to refill at the next CP.
All of this is my refill guideline that kept me from cracking at CM3 in the extremely hot weather... And besides refilling water and salt, running at my own pace, not pushing beyond my limits, and using trekking poles all the time, both while climbing and controlling my pace during the downhill, were also factors that helped me not crack.
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If we don't test, how will we know if we refill enough water? On a race-sim training day or race day, count the amount of water you drink per hour and observe yourself—are you overheated? Does your heart rate spike even though you are running slowly? If so, it's not enough.
If we don't test, how will we know if we refill enough salt? Observe yourself—do you feel dizzy, weak, numb fingers, or lightheaded? If so, it means you don't have enough salt.
Training is the best time to prepare, observe yourself, and plan and prepare your equipment for race day... If you are missing anything, think of Runnercart. We are ready to fill in what you lack, both in equipment and knowledge.
