Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY!

Pelotontopodium

Jul 25, 16 10:09

Post #1 of 16 (1798 views)

Currently I'm riding with one bottle containing 1 Nuun Energy tablet, another just water- both 24oz. By 45 minutes in, the Nuun bottle is gone and by the hour / 1.5hrs in, I'm gulping down the remaining water. Granted the weather hovers 90's - 100's here in OC, it seems as if my thirst in insatiable and I wonder if I'm drinking way too much liquid. The kicker is that after downing these bottles, I still do not feel even remotely hydrated- basically parched. Is this a mental thing I can work on? Do I need to re-analyze my body vs. hydration needs? Or is this amount completely suitable given the circumstances?

Would love to hear some thoughts.

Too add, I'm definitely above my target riding weight and my sweating style while active is "torrential pouring" if you will.

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 25, 16 10:16

Post #2 of 16 (1777 views)

Pelotontopodium wrote:

Currently I'm riding with one bottle containing 1 Nuun Energy tablet, another just water- both 24oz. By 45 minutes in, the Nuun bottle is gone and by the hour / 1.5hrs in, I'm gulping down the remaining water. Granted the weather hovers 90's - 100's here in OC, it seems as if my thirst in insatiable and I wonder if I'm drinking way too much liquid. The kicker is that after downing these bottles, I still do not feel even remotely hydrated- basically parched. Is this a mental thing I can work on? Do I need to re-analyze my body vs. hydration needs? Or is this amount completely suitable given the circumstances?

Would love to hear some thoughts.

Too add, I'm definitely above my target riding weight and my sweating style while active is "torrential pouring" if you will.

Don't overcomplicate it. If you are thirsty, drink more, you need it. It is not a mental thing.

Simplify, Train, Live

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 25, 16 10:17

Post #3 of 16 (1776 views)

In high temps, I will drink ~48 oz./hour. One of my simple measures for over hydrating is how much or how soon during/after a ride I need to pee. If I do not pee for hours after a ride, I know I under-drank.

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Mike Prevost] [ In reply to ]

Pelotontopodium

Jul 25, 16 10:22

Post #4 of 16 (1764 views)

Thanks!

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 25, 16 10:39

Post #5 of 16 (1733 views)

Do a sweat test. Weight yourself (nude) before and after a ride. Subtract values and then incorporate fluid intake = Approx water loss for duration. Will tell you immediately if you're under or over hydrating.

My sweat rate in high temps is way over 48oz per hour. If your doing about 36oz an hour then you're almost guaranteed to be under hydrating if you're feeling thirsty

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 25, 16 10:45

Post #6 of 16 (1710 views)

Pelotontopodium wrote:

Currently I'm riding with one bottle containing 1 Nuun Energy tablet, another just water- both 24oz. By 45 minutes in, the Nuun bottle is gone and by the hour / 1.5hrs in, I'm gulping down the remaining water. Granted the weather hovers 90's - 100's here in OC, it seems as if my thirst in insatiable and I wonder if I'm drinking way too much liquid. The kicker is that after downing these bottles, I still do not feel even remotely hydrated- basically parched. Is this a mental thing I can work on? Do I need to re-analyze my body vs. hydration needs? Or is this amount completely suitable given the circumstances?

Would love to hear some thoughts.

Too add, I'm definitely above my target riding weight and my sweating style while active is "torrential pouring" if you will.

Are you hydrating before your rides too? I've found that my hydration during a ride seems to work better if I'm starting out as hydrated as possible so I'm not playing catch-up while riding, especially when temperatures climb.

Also - why not a Nuun tab in the second bottle?

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 15:16

Post #7 of 16 (1468 views)

Are you peeing a lot? If you're not peeing, you're not drinking too much.

Here on the Gulf Coast, I can easily see going through a pair of 20-oz bottles in 90 minutes. I once lost 5 lbs on a 3.5-hour ride in 85-degree weather when I was drinking more than one 24-oz. a bottle per hour.

The Nuun's got a good bit of sodium, which might make you feel thirstier -- that's a good thing in my mind. I agree with the person who asks why you're not using Nuun in both. When it's hot, I never drink straight water.

<The Dew Abides>

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [dewman] [ In reply to ]

Pelotontopodium

Jul 27, 16 15:30

Post #8 of 16 (1449 views)

Did two 24oz bottles with Nuun Energy tabs yesterday and by the hour, both were gone. Temp was high high 80's to high 90's. I stopped to pick up a ~50oz. water bottle and by 1:30, that was almost finished too. Thats 720mg of sodium and ~100oz. of water for 1:30hr of ~80-95% HrMax intervals effort. This seems like a ridiculous amount of water + nutrition. I'm going to weight myself on the next ride but as someone previously mentioned, perhaps there is no need to overthink it. Drink more when thirsty and less when not...

Last edited by: Pelotontopodium: Jul 27, 16 15:31

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 15:32

Post #9 of 16 (1442 views)

Some people just go through a lot of water. Being thirsty much of the time (Polydipsia) can be a sign of diabetes.... but usually it means you actually need to drink more :)

In those temps I would have gone through even more than you! Sounds normal.

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 16:00

Post #10 of 16 (1411 views)

That's a lot of liquid. But if you ain't peeing, you ain't over-drinking. Be careful with drinking too much straight water in hot conditions. You need to replace your salts to avoid hyponatremia.

Are you possibly starting the ride in a dehydrated state? That sometimes happens to me in the mornings, when I haven't had much to drink yet, or on late-day rides in the summer when I've been sweating lightly all day.

And do try the weighing test. Maybe the stomach's not emptying?

What's the nutrition you mention? I don't think Nuun has more than 10 calories.

<The Dew Abides>

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 16:02

Post #11 of 16 (1405 views)

Nuun makes me homicidially thirsty. It's completely independent of weather or effort. I don't ever have anywhere the same level of thirst drinking plain water. I've come dangerously close to drinking dirty water from the ditch after consuming Nuun. I need chase every Nuun bottle with at least three bottles of plain water. Needless to say, I've written it off except for rehydration following a long workout. Most of the higher strength hydration products have a similar effect but the tablets like Nuun or Gu are by far the worst.

Are you similarly thirsty drinking only water?

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 16:04

Post #12 of 16 (1402 views)

90-100F? Need one bottle of fluids per hour. At least. You are drinking more than that. Nothing wrong with that. Just plan accordingly.

Two nuun tablets per bottle. Not one. Any reason why a plain bottle of water? Drop two nuun tablets in each bottle.

If you are staying out 2+ hours and can't refill, now would be the perfect time to experiment with HIM and IM hydration options. Two bottles between behind saddle. Bottle between aerobars.

Last edited by: Dilbert: Jul 28, 16 10:56

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 17:42

Post #13 of 16 (1348 views)

In the temperatures we have had recently in NY I have just about doubled my usual liquid on rides, last Saturday I rode for 5:30 and put away a whole gallon of Gatorade and we'll over half gallon of water, still down about 9 pounds post ride. All water weight. As others mentioned you should be okay as long as you have to take a piss on long rides, if not you are probably too far into deficit. I try to drink before I get thirsty and eat before I get hungry on the bike, especially when going long.

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 18:10

Post #14 of 16 (1323 views)

Drink more after you ride, and before you ride. Your body can only absorb water so fast, a lot of it has to happen afterward. Having a stomach full of water just before you leave to pour buckets of sweat is very helpful. As mentioned, don't neglect the salts. Cut the workout time in the heat if you get too dry.
Repeating in different words: peeing clear doesn't mean you've had enough to drink. It means you have had enough to take a step in dehydration recovery, but quite possibly much more is needed.

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Pelotontopodium] [ In reply to ]

Jul 27, 16 18:15

Post #15 of 16 (1318 views)

Hydrate all day long. Don't just try to hydrate while you're riding a bike hard, in the heat.

Calculate your fluid requirements, monitor your hydration via your pee, and train sensibly.

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Re: Help! I'm freakin' THIRSTY! [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]

Jul 28, 16 10:09

Post #16 of 16 (1102 views)

My peak IM training was during a Gulf Coast summer. On the longer rides, I'd carry five 24-oz bottles -- two behind the seat, one on the downtube, one on the seat tube, and one between the aerobars. And even that wasn't enough some days! It's flat here, so the extra weight was not an issue. Only problem is trying to keep them from getting hot. Even freezing an insulated bottle leaves you with warm liquid after 5-6 hours.

<The Dew Abides>

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