I’ll be doing my first 1/2 IM distance race on September 1. To date most of my bike sessions and bricks have been no longer than 5 to 5.5 hours and I have never taken in Salt during those sessions. The weather in Ottawa at that time of year can swing from one end of the spectrum to another and so there is a chance that it could be a very hot day. Incase it is very hot, I want to be prepared to take in salt and am going to give it a try on some of my training sessions over the next month.
A buddy of mine buys empty gel capsules and fills them with table salt. I’m wondering if anyone has thoughts on the effectiveness of doing this vs. buying salt tabs. Is there a different chemical make-up? Would the iodine added to regular table salt be a concern in the quantities I’ll be ingesting?
He’s very knowledgeable and has enjoyed success in IM tri’s, so I assume his home made method is effective. Still, I’d like to hear other’s thoughts.
Endurolytes - Good
Thermolytes - Better
Salt Stick - Best
The idea of filling little gel caps with table salt seems like a waste of time and doesn’t pack the added benefits of other chemicals like Potassium and Magnesium like the products above.
Hey Jason, I will also be doing the 1/2 Canadian during the long weekend.
When I did IMLP this year I had with me 10/15 Eload caps (from Running Room) with on the bike which I did not touch and ended up throwing them away @ some point on the run… I took about 650 mg of Sodium per hour on the bike (450 from Infinit and 200 from Cliff Blocks (Margarita flavor) and apparently that was enough for a warm and sunny day (I drank Gatorade Endurance on the run, unfortunately unavailable in Canada, that has quite some sodium).
Depending on what your nutrition is, you should be able to get most of the needed sodium from gels/drinks. I will only go with Infinit on the bike (probably a bit more concentrated) and whatever they have on the run even though I never use the Carboom gels (unless Somersault use different gels this year).
Make sure you are fully hydrated the week before (which does not mean to drink like a Camel doing a full refil after a week in the desert) and maybe increase a bit your salt intake (which I do).