Now that the temps are going up, I realize a need to be prepared with some kind of supplement when I head out to ruck.

When I look on Amazon there are all sorts of options at about every price point.

What I'd like to have is some prepackaged option (gummy, gel) in my pack as an "emergency" quick option, a preworkout option (maybe?), and finally a powder to mix with water.

Note: I carry a hydration pack but when I was out on my 5 mile ruck yesterday afternoon I could tell that my body would have been happy with something beyond plain water. I have a nalgene that I would carry with the premix. The preworkout would be for times I'm leaving with plans of going 7+ miles.

Check out Liquid IV. I take it predominately post run to replenish as I feel like that's when I get the most out of it, but I have taken it pre run as well.

I've been using Osmo.

Pre workouts and cardio don't typically go together because they are usually loaded with caffeine. I almost exclusively use Tailwind for anything over 90 minutes +/- and plain water otherwise. Salt tabs or pickle juice plus some real food if it's going to be a long day.

ptothemo said:

---

Check out Liquid IV. I take it predominately post run to replenish as I feel like that's when I get the most out of it, but I have taken it pre run as well.

---

It's not too salty?

The saltiness isn't understated, but it's not too much for me. I do generally crave and tolerate salt more than a lot of people, though.

Tailwind

AggieOO said:

---

Tailwind

---

Tailwind looks like a good product, but seems like it does more than I'm looking for. It sounds like it functions as a 'snack' as well as rehydration. I think a serving came in at 200calories or so. I'm really just looking or oral rehydration salt (ORS) type products.

Am I missing something or looking at the wrong product?

If you aren't looking for calories, use nuun if you like drinking something that tastes like chalk. Or you can just take any salt tab (enduralytes, s caps, etc).

Salt Tabs or Base Salt

Vernada said:

---

AggieOO said:

---

Tailwind

---

Tailwind looks like a good product, but seems like it does more than I'm looking for. It sounds like it functions as a 'snack' as well as rehydration. I think a serving came in at 200calories or so. I'm really just looking or oral rehydration salt (ORS) type products.

Am I missing something or looking at the wrong product?

---

The reason you need more is not just salt. The calories fuel it. Other options Infint, Scratch, Base Hydro. All of these are to give you what you need for an hour of activity. Some have lower calories than other. I normally take in 200-300 calories an hour including electrolytes during my workouts. Sometimes more in the summer.

I use Nuun. They are electrolyte tablets that you add to water. Yes, some flavors taste terrible, but they have something like 30 flavors so you can probably find one that you like.

Salt pills, Skratch single serving, Emergen-c, Nuun

I've used Nuun for the last 4 years.

coop-aero-06 said:

---

I use Nuun. They are electrolyte tablets that you add to water. Yes, some flavors taste terrible, but they have something like 30 flavors so you can probably find one that you like.

---

I found grape to be good. Nuun taste like garbage to me unless I'm working out, then they taste great.

I tend to like Skratch Labs, which looks like it is very similar to Tailwind in terms of a nutritional profile.

I've been a big EFS fan for a long time. Loaded with electrolytes and calories.

Skratch labs and tailwind for me if it's over an hour. Actually used it yesterday and I only did an hour due to how much I was sweating.

Could have used some Tailwind yesterday. Went straight water and I ran out of gas at the end of my 1:45 run. Haven't got the early heat and humidity of TX summer back into my head yet.

I prefer my electrolytes in pill form. Look up a product called Salt Sticks on Amazon. The recommended dosage is one pill per hour of exercise. I sweat a lot and notice a big difference when I use these vs. when I don't use them.

Saltstick, HEED, or Nuun depending on what I want in terms of calories, premixed, and electrolytes. Saltsticks, water, and actual food are my go to.

Maybe a dumb question, but....

How do you tell if you're just having a bad day, went to hard, out of energy from lack of nutrition, or out of energy because you aren't hydrating properly?

htxag09 said:

---

Maybe a dumb question, but....

How do you tell if you're just having a bad day, went to hard, out of energy from lack of nutrition, or out of energy because you aren't hydrating properly?

---

Not a dumb question at all. This is one reason people will keep dietary and sleep logs when they are exercising or training. It helps you see patterns that may explain or correlate with your performance.

As far as dehydrated, lots of people go off urine color but you can also gauge off of thirst, sweat, and a couple other markers that I can't recall right now. I've always heard of you have 2 or more indicators (ie thirsty and darker urine) you are probably dehydrated. It does take some time to learn what your body needs and what it feels like when you're missing that.

Thanks for all the input, ideas, suggestions.

I think I'm going to try a handful of things to see what works with my routine:

Hi-Lyte - electrolyte replacement tablets
Tailwind Endurance Sampler Pack
Skratch - individual servings

Hammer Endurolytes

How much does one have to run to need these? I only run about 4 miles a day but Im sweating like crazy.

Nosh said:

---

How much does one have to run to need these? I only run about 4 miles a day but Im sweating like crazy.

---

I think it depends.

The reason I started this thread was because on mile 4 of a planned 5-mile outing, I started to feel a little weird with some occasional light-headedness in spite of drinking plenty of water.

It was a really warm day and the humidity was higher than normal so I was sweating like crazy.

Thats interesting. I have felt that way on a few runs but always figured it was because I was hungry. I always eat after I run and it goes away. I also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables but I will look into something like this if I need to. I just dont know when "i need to."

this is one of those things that is also going to be different person to person, and may even change for you some as your fitness level changes. but the more you run the better you will get at listening to your body to be able to tell these things. as an example here are some of my thresholds

nice weather and mostly shade: if i properly hydrate ahead of time, i can usually do 1-1.5 hrs without any water during the run but will be very thirsty when i finish. i would likely benefit from bringing hydration but i hate carrying things when i run

nice weather but mostly sun: that threshold drops to 45 min- 1 hr

hot weather: i can maybe push to 30 minutes without water, but will be getting close to overheating.

for electrolytes, if i am at any of those thresholds or just above, i will just wait to replenish electrolytes until i get back but once i start pushing beyond about 30 minutes past each of those thresholds, i can feel a noticeable crash without some sort of electrolyte drink during my run.

these are just my personal numbers, yours may vary, but that's part of the sport, figuring out what works for you.

Really interested in some of these recommendations but also nervous because I don't want to start relying too heavily on additional supplements. Regardless it's new territory for me, so don't hesitate to let me know if I'm not taking advantage of a certain method.

I stay away from pre-workouts all together
Organic whey protein after a hard workout
Pedialyte powder pack(s) for electrolytes
Coffee in the morning no matter what
Meats, fruits, and veggies
Occasional Whataburger from time to time

I prefer the taste of Skratch Labs hydration mix. Nuun and Tailwind taste like what I think urine would taste like. And Gatorade is too sugary.

I favor Vitalyte. Low sugar, mixes and cleans easily, uses 4 (I think) electrolytes, inexpensive, and easy on the stomach. Always a staple when I was heavy into canoe racing. Can get it at REI

As follow up:

It looks like I've settled on the following:

Skratch packs in my ruck. I use these on short outings. 5-6 miles. (Less than two hours)

Tailwind in my hydration pack for long outings (2+ hours)

I also have some HiLyte ORS tabs stashed in my Ruck just in case.

I really appreciate the Tailwind recs. That was not what I had in mind, but for my long outings it's what I need. I did 15 miles today over a little more than 4 hours with a 30# plate in my ruck and didn't have any issues at all. Could have gone longer if I had more time.

Diluted pickle juice has gotten me through my last two MS150s.