“Would you please pass the salt?” Not a common phrase we hear anymore around the dinner table. With all the research behind sodium and warnings about keeping daily levels under 1,500 mg, we all limit our salt intake right? That is what I did prior to the Virginia Beach 1/2 marathon…
Two weeks ago I ran the toughest race ever. It was only 13 miles. Something I had accomplished many times before and even two days in a row or more. But this race was different. The hottest and most humid morning ever. At mile 4 I became very ill. I kept running. About 7 miles in I noticed dried salt building a small village on the front of my compression socks. I drank more liquids. At mile 12 I went back into the race to find my father – in – law and finished with him as I had promised. After reading several research articles after the race, I should have stopped at mile 4…
I have what is called ‘hyponatremia’ or in lamens terms, a salty sweater. I am part of less than 1% of people who experience ‘hyponatremia’. It is a metabolic condition where there is not enough sodium (salt) in the body fluids outside the cells. So when I run long and sweat in the hot humid weather, my sodium concentration levels become critical…hence at mile 4 in Virginia Beach, that should have been my first warning sign. When someone has hyponatremia, they often think they are dehydrated so they start drinking more fluids…which makes it even worse because it allows the body to get rid of the sodium (hence the high levels of dried salt on my compression socks) at a very fast rate. When I stopped running in VB and took my shoes off, my feet were ghost white…a sign that my body was starting to go into survival mode by ridding all the blood from my extremities and sends it to my vital organs…scared yet?
SO…to combat this wonderful new-found love of mine, I have to increase my daily sodium intake during training season (which is all year…who am I kidding!) to 3,000 – 5,000 mg! That is 3 to 4 times higher than what is recommended. I am also no longer running with water and switched to Gatorade/power-ade only. I am also carrying salt-caps (pills) with me when I run and take one every 20 minutes. AND I’m asking to please pass the salt every time I eat!
The outcome so far has been unreal. I ran 20 miles last weekend (using the formula above) and felt fantastic the whole run. I ran 10 miles last night using the formula and felt amazing. After 12 years of running, I figured it out!
So lesson learned. I have a 15K race this weekend and a full marathon in 2 weeks! I am looking forward to continuing to ‘test’ my new formula! Cheers!
Drew26.2
Drew26.2 