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| Moderation, jackass |
Now that you
know all there is to know about proper hydration, and the harmful
effects of dehydration, allow me to throw at you physiology’s curve
ball: HYPONATREMIA.
Hyponatremia is the complete, total opposite of dehydration. It is the infrared to dehydration’s ultraviolet. The right to its left. The Superman to the Bizarro Superman.
Hyponatremia is when you saturate your body with water while losing sodium in the blood. In other words, is a good ole fashioned water logging.
It happens
when you sweat and replace fluids with water and do not replace sodium.
Hyponatremia causes fatigue, weakness, cramping nausea, vomiting, bloating,
dizziness, headache – and death! Yes, death!
Because its
symptoms are actually similar to dehydration, it used to be misdiagnosed. And
for the runner who does not regularly jog with a physician, mistaking it for
dehydration can be exacerbated by innocently consuming more water.
Hyponatremia
occurs most often in hot, humid, long races, especially to runners running
longer than 4 or more hours, though it can happen in short races too.
What do you
do?
- Stick to sports drinks after 1
hour of running
- Don’t drink more than you sweat –
so limit drinks to 1 to 2 cups per water station.
- Be sure to consume sodium –
sports drinks -- late in the race. Since sports drinks are mostly water,
there is little threat of getting dehydrated.
Another of my friends trained for and ran in her first Marine Corps Marathon, almost 10 years after my buddy and I ran our first. Like most new runners, she was warned of the possible threat of dehydration. Accordingly, she consumed buckets of water before and during the race. There was no “after” because she was hospitalized and nearly died from Hyponatremia. In fact, just re-read the anecdote above about by friend who suffered from dehydration, and substitute that word with Hyponatremia. The stories are virtually the same except while he drank too little water, she drank too much.
