Saturday, August 6, 2011

Electrolyte Recommendations

On my race calendar, I have two longer races planned—a ten miler in three weeks and a 10k at the end of September.  The ten miler is a local race put on by my local hospital.  It is a timed race, but is also small and friendly to beginners. The race is run along a rail trail. Many of my daughters former nurses will be there running, which is what got me interested in this race to begin with.  My September race is a much larger race.  It will be run on the streets of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  It is a Caribbean themed race—complete with Caribbean music and costumes.  Sounds fun? Check it out!  With these long races coming up, I have been trying out different electrolyte replenishment options.
On my run today, I experimented with GU Brew, an electrolyte replenishment tablet.  Today was a long run day for me.  I did a 10 K (6.2 miles) in just under 80 minutes.  Not a PR, but I was happy with it.  The GU Brew comes in a plastic cylinder and has twelve tablets in it.  The tablets are about the size of a quarter.  I unscrewed the lid off of a bottle of water, cracked the tablet in half, and put each half in the bottle.  The mixture lasted me though my whole run, but I have to confess, I was not a fan of it.
I have tried a few other electrolyte drinks, Gatorade and PowerAde. I am not really fans of these either.  I feel like the taste of both is over powering and not refreshing while to drink while I run.  I chose the GU Brew because they say the taste is light.   I will agree that the taste was light, but still not refreshing to drink while I run.  I guess I am a water only girl. 
That leads me to a question for you—are there any electrolyte drinks you recommend that I have not tried yet?  I have been trying some other non-drink electrolyte options, and will be doing some reviews (and giveaways!) of them soon.   Or am I destined to be a water drinking only runner?

So—for the Luna Bar giveaway!  The winner is runningonwords!  Please e-mail me your name and address so I can forward it to Luna.  Congratulations!   (amysmith7@comcast.net)
More giveaways to come--stay tuned!
I would love to get to know you!  Facebook friend me!

A dream is a wish…
--Amy

10 comments:

  1. I'm experimenting with Coconut Water right now. It's more of a recovery drink than one you would drink on your run and so far I like it. The taste takes a bit to get over, but there are flavored ones as well. I think I'm trying the pineapple one after tomorrow's run. I can't really give an opinion of it yet, but hopefully soon I'll have a review about it...

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  2. I like the sport beans with just plain water. That way I can get a shot of electrolytes when I need them but don't have to deal with a odd taste through a whole bottle of water.

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  3. Woo hoo, I just e-mailed you!

    My favorite electrolyte drink these days is Nuun (citrus fruit flavor, not all flavors are created equal). Honestly, though, I usually just take salt pills so I can use my Camelback and drink all the water I want.

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  4. I'm a big fan of Nuun - lemon lime or mixed berry are my favorites. I love the taste and it definitely kills the salt craving that I start getting during long runs.

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  5. I only drink water while I run and take some Gu Chomps. I find they help a lot. I do look forward to my Gatorade when I get home though!

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  6. Just saw this in Runner's World - A study on cyclists found consuming 60 calories of honey (1 tablespoon) with water every half hour works as well as an energy gel in improving sprinting efforts at the end of a long workout. Just a thought. :-)

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  7. I want to try the Honey Stinger gels or just straight honey and see if that helps. Hopefully I can get a longer run in sometime this week.

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  8. I find that sports drinks make me thirstier if they are mixed wrong, so I usually rely on my GU chomps and gels. I've tried GU brew but wasn't a fan of that either. I have found that some races mix the sports drinks so they are more watery than usual. I'll usually take those during races because they don't make me even thirstier. I don't know if they actually help, but it's refreshing.

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  9. What works for me is watering down Gatorade. I mix 1/4 Gatorade and 3/4 water in my water bottle. I freeze my water bottle prior to a long run especially in the summer months. Good luck.

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  10. Did y'all see this month's Runner's World that said 1tbsp of honey with water every hour while running has the same effect as other electrolyte replacements? There are so many other benefits to honey too. I haven't tried it yet, and have no idea how to make it convenient, buuuuut cool to think about! :)

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