A Method to The Madness

I seem to have worried some people with yesterday’s activities and subsequent post. I didn’t try to dehydrate myself; I tried to see how much fluid I would maximally leak in an hour. I tend to over-hydrate, which is more dangerous, in its own way than under-hydrating. And all of this is different from overheating. I gained weight during this year’s River Run because I drank way too much water during the second half of the race. I weighed more when I got home than I did when I left. This happened – and happens – because I sweat more than most people I know, and I want to avoid becoming dehydrated and suffering all of its effects. Leg cramps suck. However, as I start this new journey into more extreme endurance sports I’m running into new potential problems. If I drank too much during a 15k the chances of me suffering from hyponatremia during a marathon or even a half marathon are pretty high, and I don’t want to be that guy vomiting on the side of the road or dying from cerebral edema. My uncle ran this very problem when he did his first Ironman. He drank way too much during the bike stage and had to walk for the first twenty minutes of the run. Unfortunately, the first symptoms of drinking too much and not enough are very similar, which is why experienced endurance athletes still fall prey to both. On the plus side there’s a lot of lee weigh on both sides. Plus or minus five or six pounds for me isn’t dangerous. I’ve lost twelve pounds on the golf course before. But knowing how my body reacts and responds is extremely important, especially with my natural “push it” attitude. I’m beginning to understand why these triathlete freaks keep records of everything they do regarding their training. It’s a ridiculously intricate balancing act between making sure my blood doesn’t get too thick or to thin, but that’s why it’s addictive, and that’s why there’s such a huge sense of accomplishment when it all goes to plan and I get better.