Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Drink Mmmmoore!

Today a coworker and I were chatting. He lamented not being able to exercise very much, because it made him feel so bad, and the following days. His description was classic signs of dehydration. I asked if he was a heavy sweater. He responded "how did you know?". I gave him some info that I've kept for reference.



With this conversation in my mind; I'm checking my sweat rate tonight. The process is simple weigh before ride. Ride. Keep track of how much you drink. Weigh when done. Add your weight change to what you drank, divide by the time, and you have your sweat rate.

Today is abnormally cool. Rain showers have sideswiped my side of town. I drink about what I usually do. Never feeling thirsty. With the cooler weather maybe I'm overdoing it? I'm home and run the numbers to a shocking result. I'm not drinking near enough. American College of Sports Medicine guidelines are no more than 2% body weight loss during exercise. I was right on the border of that -with lower temperatures. Remember - I never felt parched. It's true what the physio people say. Thirst is a poor indicator of hydration need. I need to take my own advice!




The ride was good. Three sets of 30-30 intervals. Well, sort of. Just as was wrapping up the last rest period, a rider passes. Then another. Then about four. I've been caught by a group ride. Been a looong time since I've ridden with a pack. So I jumped on. Man I love pack riding! Takes concentration. The distration from burning legs, plus the desire to stay with the a pack make for fun and speed. A great day!

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