I’d like to hear people’s experiences. I just started trying to pay more attention to hydration/Sodium intake due to some bad races last year.
According to the PH hydration plan/recommendation, it only has Sodium as a pre-race loading phase with none taken during the race. It recommends plain water with gels/carb source.
A little background, 50+ Cat 2 MTB racer, races are typically 105-135 minutes in duration. Temp variants from 65-95 degrees F. I have had a sweat test as well. Moderate Z2 loss of 40 oz/hr with about 1100mg Na loss/hr.
Has anyone tried this? Just pre-hydrate w/ high Na concentration drink then merely H20 and a carb source during?
That seems wrong. I had a PH sweat test loosing 1085mg of sodium an hour. My recommendations were to supplement 1500 before/after the race and 1000mg during the race/intense workout lasting 90+ minutes.
Outside of recovery rides, I have been consuming 1200mg per hour during training (I mix my own and use sodium citrate) since November 2022. I combine this with about 95g carbs per hour. I’m on HV plans and have found I preform much better doing this and seem to recover much better. Previously, I was severely low on sodium and water as not only am a higher than average salty sweater, but also a heavy sweater pertaining to water loss.
how much salt does your food have in it? enough to buffer (not completely replenish) what you’re losing? Sodium is pretty darn important for cellular function, so I’m skeptical of a plan that says “don’t worry about it”.
In my original post I stated my sweat test results, I have also watched the podcast. That is how I ended up contacting PH who gave me the hydration plan. Pretty sure that was in my original post as well.
Here was my question: "According to the during race strategy it appears that plain water or a water with a glucose source is all that is recommended. At least when I press the query question mark.
Is this true or am I misunderstanding it"
Their response: “You are indeed correct there! As your race is of a shorter duration, pre-loading will be important and vital for you starting hydrated and then recovering after the race with a stronger electrolyte drink. During the race you should be absolutely fine to just take on water and then your 45g of carbs.”
Again, they were very responsive however this just does not seem right to me. Hence why I wanted to get others input!
When I read your question, I figured the plan involved a pre-load and post recovery. And that was the response. What seems wrong? FWIW from May thru October I consistently train and ride Wed fast group rides in 80-90+ heat / low humidity. Similar durations of 105-135 minutes. Preloading works for me. And I don’t consume a ton of carbs on the bike, around 0-50g/hour depending on what I’m eating off the bike.
My Precision Hydration test result was 450mg/hour; very low.
However, my sweat rate was very high. I don’t recall and it’s not in my report.
So, I upped my sodium intake per their guidelines and I stopped blacking out in the evenings every time I stood up. I also stopped drinking too much water after rides.
Allen Lim told me to season my food with salt and obviously get salt as sodium citrate during rides. He said he only knew maybe 5 other people with such a low sodium loss number. It was the sweat rate that was getting me in the end.
