8 Race Day Hydration Tips

My 8 Race Day Hydration Tips

Hydrating during a race can be tricky, especially if you haven’t experimented much previously. Whether you carry your own water with you on your training runs or never run with water, you should be hydrating during an event. Here are eight race day hydration tips.

  1. Even though water is offered on the course, still bring your handheld water bottle or waist pack.  Water stations are only located every 1-2 two miles and it will be comforting to have water accessible, just like your training runs.
  2. Know what sports drink your event is offering and try it out on your training runs prior to race day.  Not every sports drink will agree with your stomach.  Or carry your own sports drink with you.
  3. Drink water at every water station and drink a sports drink at every other.  So at some stations, you will be taking both water and sports drink.
  4. If it is especially hot or humid on race day, take an extra cup of water and splash it on your neck or on the top of your head.  Be careful not to get water in your eyes, causing sweat and salt to sting and cloud your eyes.
  5. When grabbing a cup of water or sports drink, the cups are either made of paper or plastic.  Gently pinch the cup so that cup is flat and drink out of one of the corners.  This prevents splashing in your face.
  6. Take an energy gel every 4-5 miles or 45 minutes of running.  Try consuming your gels over an entire mile while sipping on it.  Try taking gels in between water stations, so that you can wash it down with water from the water station or your own water bottle.
  7. There are typically trash cans after each water station for discarding your cups.  You should try to toss your empty cups and wrappers into the garbage.  Things aren’t always a slam dunk.  If you miss, there are typically volunteers who do clean up throughout the area.
  8. Remember, it’s okay to walk through water stations.  Taking a well-deserved thirty to sixty second walk break every few miles is a great way to break up the run and keep you from getting discouraged.  Even the most experienced runners do this.

If you have any other race day hydration tips, I'd love to hear them!