Yeah Nick… sorry I never clarified that. I misread that on the day I sent it but realised before my event. I was taking in more sodium through the tailwind than I realised and then when i was switching to water (due to sweetness) I wasnt taking in the sodium and struggling.
I have since dialled down the dose and now take the tailwind for the duration of the event im doing and it seems to be working. Upping sodium (and steady liquid carbs) intake was defo a good improvement.
One of the challenges for those with a combination of high rates and high sodium concentrations is getting the sodium back in without creating GI distress.
On warm day I’ll sweat 1 - 1.5 liters an hour but have a high sodium concentration of around 1900mg/L. If I’m doing a 5 hour ride that’s a lot of sodium to replace.
I’ve used Skratch, which noted about is about 400mg per 500mL bottle. Depending on the day I’ll average 1 - 1.5 bottles per hour, so that leaves a pretty big deficit. Skratch is isotonic which should help improve absorption. However as you add other things to the mix, such as additional carbs and sodium, it can make your gut hypertonic and this can lead to poor absorption and ultimately to bloating. To counter it you really just have to take in some plain water, but it can be a tricky thing to figure out.
Along with hydration mix, it’s really important to pay attention to how much sodium is in what you are eating on the bike. SIS gels (the standard ones) have no sodium. Torq gels have 50mg sodium, Carbs Fuel have 100mg and NeverSecond have 200mg. If you are taking one NeverSecond Gel every 20 min that’s 600mg additional sodium versus zero if you exclusively use SIS - big difference. NeverSecond intends for you to use their products together so that in part explains why their mix is lower in sodium concentration.
Preloading can help a lot. As mentioned above LMNT has 1000mg and I’ve found I can handle a 750mL bottle with one packet of LMNT preride really well. This is on the low side for preloading. I tried taking in Skratch Hyperhydration (1700mg sodium) in a similar amount of fluid during the hour before riding and did get bloated during the subsequent ride, but your mileage may vary. Dr Pfaffenbach on a recent TR podcast mentioned a study where 3 - 4gm of sodium were used to preload, but not to try that without trying lower amounts first.
The type of sodium may also make a difference - sodium chloride versus sodium citrate. Back when Coach Chad was around he did a deep dive on this and reported that some people don’t tolerate high amount of sodium chloride and its thought the chloride part of the equation can upset your gut. Skratch uses sodium citrate, which also has the theoretical advantage of citrate getting metabolized to bicarbonate.
Post-ride replacement, especially for the salty sweaters, is key too. I’ve found this to be super critical in terms of recovery and feeling better the next day.