all the reading i’m doing says that I should be using either salt tabs or something like that to keep a salt balance throughout an IM event. i was wondering what everyone does during an IM. Are there people out there that dont use salt tabs, and just use gatorade/food or what not to meet their needs?
I think they are more for the longer events when you need the sodium and potassium without the sugar. See…many people cannot handle sugar and especially protein in longer events. Plus, you have your handful of people that stay totally away from sugar for some ungodly reason. I like sugar. Sugar:energy. I used to use the nuun tablets. However, I noticed myself not taking in enough sugar. I think that is one of the problems. If you use the nuun as a sports drink you lose the sugar and carbohydrate benefit. However, if you are in an ironman, you may only need the sodium and potassium in abundance.
everyone comsume sugar during a ironman. Do you realise that fructose, sucrose. lacotse, maltodextrin and many more are all sugar… every single athlete in a ironman will consume enourmous amount of sugar during a race…‘‘nobody stay away from sugar’’ … it s impossible!!! and the need for protein in races isnt something essential…but everyone can handel sugar…some type of sugar better than others
and for some people, there is a bigger need to electrolythe and for some others…they just need less…
Do you realize you need to take some classes in English?
yeah, i do, sorry about the poor english, my first language is french and i speak french all my life as the province of quebec in canada is french speaking. Never had any english class unfortunutly. I hope i wasnt rude in my reply…, if so, i apologize. i was just pointing that what you said didnt make sence so the OP could realise it s important to consume sugar in a race.
Yeah…I see what you are saying. Perhaps I should proofread my own writing. I meant to say: some people prefer a lot of sugar and some have difficulty digesting a lot of it with prolonged training.
Do you realize you need to take some classes in English?
First sign of a person losing a disagreement is to make a personal attack.
BTW How well do you write a second language?
.
.
I think they are more for the longer events when you need the sodium and potassium without the sugar. See…many people cannot handle sugar and especially protein in longer events. Plus, you have your handful of people that stay totally away from sugar for some ungodly reason. I like sugar. Sugar:energy. I used to use the nuun tablets. However, I noticed myself not taking in enough sugar. I think that is one of the problems. If you use the nuun as a sports drink you lose the sugar and carbohydrate benefit. However,** if you are in an ironman, you may only need the sodium and potassium in abundance**.
Where’s Paulo when you need him?
I think it depends on if you sweat a lot. I cramp up a lot late in a race in hot weather. If it’s a hot long race, your electrolytes will get out of wack if you don’t replace them. In cooler weather - I don’t think it’s as important.
I get all my nutritional needs met by one thing: Infinit. My custom blend has the carbs, amino acids, electrolytes and caffeine. Don’t need to carry anything else. If you make a custom mix, it will calibrate electrolytes based on how much you think you are sweating, but you should measure it and they tell you how. You can add protein to it if you like; I personally don’t want protein in the mix.
IMFL06 and IMLP07 NO SALT, but moderate weather
Bike: Bike Infinit(1 bottle) + GE(3 bottles) + bananas
My base food is fake fig newtons or granola bars - depends on my tastebuds in the weeks leading up to the race
Run: Cola + Ice with either a Water or GE chaser –
No food at all. Everytime I try a little fruit or a single cookie on the run I regret it as it makes me nauseous.
I did have one gel(yuck!) at LP and one cup of broth at FL, but beyond that nothing else consumed.
For AZ I am planning the same strategy, although my food will be the moistest possible as masticating on the bike is difficult to chase with beverages.
I’m don’t do IM but I eat potato chips. Not during an event but as part of recovery. I’m not talking Pringles, I’m talking old-school greasy, “bet you can’t eat just one chips.” I found myself craving them and eventually just in. I sometimes drink Gatorade it has gobs of sodium in it.
i think some ppl get crazy with the salt tabs. My first HIM, in June, a warmish day (but I like the heat, it does not affect me) and I was hydrating with gatorade endurance on the run. Having a bad run due to asthma but didnt’ know it at the time. Started taking salt (endurolytes) at the suggestion of EVERYONE around me. On the bike I had 3 gels and went through a large bottle of water and a large bottle of Heed. Felt FINE. On the run as I took in more gatorade endurance and salt and ppl KEPT telling me to do, I felt worse and worse. But being my first HIM, I did what they said and learned my lessons later.
I weighed myself pre and post race. I GAINED 7 pounds. Yes, 7. It came off within the next few days obviously, as all the levels returned to normal. I am one that apparently does not need all the salt! I dont’ even bring water with me on runs of less than 10 miles or so (unless it’s all out one direction on trails far from civilization). Efficiency can suck sometimes!
to keep a salt balance
That’s the key point. A lot of people attempt to take in what they lose. Trying to drink 40-60 oz of fluids, 100s of mg of sodium, and 500+ cals every hour. Fluids, with a balanced electrolyte profile (not just sodium) are critical, and then a couple hundred or so calories every hour is all that most people need. If you guzzle tons of plain water, you will dilute/leech electrolytes from your system. If you overload your system with calories, your stomach will just shut down. Depending on the conditions, you will most likely need some electrolytes, but not the tons of salt some people advocate.
Check out this article for great information on electrolytes. http://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=ARTICLE&ARTICLE.ID=1274
i think some ppl get crazy with the salt tabs. My first HIM, in June, a warmish day (but I like the heat, it does not affect me) and I was hydrating with gatorade endurance on the run. Having a bad run due to asthma but didnt’ know it at the time. Started taking salt (endurolytes) at the suggestion of EVERYONE around me. On the bike I had 3 gels and went through a large bottle of water and a large bottle of Heed. Felt FINE. On the run as I took in more gatorade endurance and salt and ppl KEPT telling me to do, I felt worse and worse. But being my first HIM, I did what they said and learned my lessons later.
I weighed myself pre and post race. I GAINED 7 pounds. Yes, 7. It came off within the next few days obviously, as all the levels returned to normal. I am one that apparently does not need all the salt! I dont’ even bring water with me on runs of less than 10 miles or so (unless it’s all out one direction on trails far from civilization). Efficiency can suck sometimes!
so, you have no problem with the heat, that is great for you and make you potentialy very good for hot weather races!!! but the point is that if you are good in the heat, it s probably because in part of a low sodium concentration in your sweating or simply low sweathing rate. I m not sure why you wanted to take on extra salt in your case.
But people dont go crazy about salt. If you are like me, heat isnt something natural to performe in and i lose so much salt that it needs to be replace. I will take a lot in and will not suffer the side effect you did because my body needs the electrolythe.
it s a very personal topic and people need to experiment to find out. for some, there is no need for supplement but for others… it s a question of surviving…
I used Hammer salt capsules at my first HIM last weekend (Steelhead). It was the first long race (ex: marathons) I’ve ever done where I didn’t get headaches afterwards. I’ll continue using them for marathon and HIM training / races. Going that route seems easier to me than hitting the Infinit system. If I were to do an IM, I’d probably go all-Inifinit. But for HIMs & long runs I’ll stick w/ pills and course-provided drink.
I like Lava Salts. Only sodium, none of the other stuff.
I switched to Salt-Sticks cause I thought they were better and I was completely bloated and stopped taking them. I was using 2 an hour as I was used to, think I should have only used 1 an hour if that. They have other stuff then just sodium.
Use what you train with. In training if you find yourself getting tired, emotional, unmotivated, sluggish, and an over-all woes-me attitude, that is when I find myself sodium bonking.
Training in So Cal in the canyons, I would use 2 lava salts an hour, 90+ in the canyons and moderately high intensity. At IMLP, it wasn’t really hot (until the run) and my intensity was low and I was not losing fluids. I think I took in 6 salt tabs all day (14 hours for me) and I was fine (well, with salt levels anyway)
Train long, and pay attention to what your body tells you and adjust.
jonnyo! yes that is the exact lesson i learned! I was listening to the others around me only bc it was my first HIM and I knew I didn’t know much about nutrition (partially bc my body seems to do ok on not much, and then replenish later). So although I didn’t know that I didn’t need it, ppl were telling me I did. ugh. Now I know! I also should have paid attention to my sweat and spit…it was still very salty so I probably just should have taken water, when I wanted it, and not when I didn’t. But now i can’t wait to redeem myself at the distance!
Yes in general I love the hot weather races, when ppl start dropping I’m in the zone. Not that I perform much BETTER, just that I can maintain. But in the cold…i’m pathetic.
It seems to work the opposite way for me. If I get too much salt, it draws liquid into my intestines and I get gassy and have the runs after my race/workout. I still need the other electrolytes, however, so I use the Hammer Endurolyte powder/capsules, which is light on the sodium compared to others. When I need to drink Gatorade EF from the course, I make sure that I have enough water in my system before I switch to GEF. As was stated above, tolerance for heat, sodium, and other electrolytes can vary considerably by individual. Experiment in your long training runs/rides to see what works best.
I really like Thermolyte tabs. I find that in really long and hot workouts I can get a bit queasy and develop massive headaches 90% of the time a few Thermolytes will take care of all of my problems.