Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon Runners' Hydration Practices and Perceptions

Abstract

Context:The behaviors and beliefs of recreational runners with regard to hydration maintenance are not well elucidated.Objective: To examine which beverages runners choose to drink and why, negative performance and health experiences related to dehydration, and methods used to assess hydration status.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Marathon registration site. Patients or Other Participants: Men (n = 146) and women (n = 130) (age = 38.3 ± 11.3 years) registered for the 2010 Little Rock Half-Marathon or Full Marathon. Intervention(s):A 23-item questionnaire was administered to runners when they picked up their race timing chips.Main Outcome Measure(s): Runners were separated into tertiles (Low, Mod, High) based on z scores derived from training volume, expected performance, and running experience. We used a 100-mm visual analog scale with anchors of 0 (never) and 100 (always). Total sample responses and comparisons between tertile groups for questionnaire items are presented. Results:The High group (58±31) reported greater consumption of sport beverages in exercise environments than the Low (42 ± 35 mm) and Mod (39 ± 32 mm) groups (P < .05) and perceived sport beverages to be superior to water in meeting hydration needs (P < .05) and improving performance during runs greater than 1 hour (P < .05). Seventy percent of runners experienced 1 or more incidents in which they believed dehydration resulted in a major performance decrement, and 45% perceived dehydration to have resulted in adverse health effects. Twenty percent of runners reported monitoring their hydration status. Urine color was the method most often reported (7%), whereas only 2% reported measuring changes in body weight.Conclusions: Greater attention should be paid to informing runners of valid techniques to monitor hydration status and developing an appropriate individualized hydration strategy.Key Words: dehydration, sport beverages, hydration monitoring Key Points• Most runners had experienced performance decrements that they attributed to dehydration. Almost half the runners had sustained heat-related illness symptoms that they related to dehydration.• Despite these adverse events, few participants monitored their hydration levels or used specific hydration plans.• Better dissemination of accurate scientific information about appropriate hydration practices may increase runners' safety.

Post-prandial carbohydrate ingestion during 1-h of moderate-intensity, intermittent cycling does not improve mood, perceived exertion, or subsequent power output in recreationally-active exercisers

“…Differences between the participants in the present study and competitive endurance athletes featured in other studies [36,37] may be related to exposure of competitive athletes to literature promoting the importance of CE for performance. It is also probable that most participants in the current investigation were unlikely to have had experiences in which they felt a lack of exogenous carbohydrates hindered exercise performance in comparison to the competitive endurance athletes used in other investigations.…”

“…While regularly physically active, our participants were neither competitive nor elite endurance athletes, who have been shown to have strong convictions that CE can improve performance [36,37]. In one study, following a 40-km time trial with water ingestion only, competitive cyclists were split into 2 cohorts with 1 group being told they were going to consume a CE and the other group being told they were receiving a carbohydrate-free artificially sweetened beverage.…”

Riesgo de deshidratación entre deportistas y sedentarios con discapacidad intelectual / Incidence of Hypohidration in Athletes and Sedentary Male Adults with Intellectual Disability

“…2006;Cleary et al 2012;O'Neal et al 2011). Sin embargo, hasta la fecha, estas cuestiones no están resueltas en la literatura científica para personas con DI.…”

The Effect of Ergogenic Supplements and Mediterranean Diet on Cycling Performance. Differences According to Duration and Intensity.

“…Sport beverages gained popularity as they attribute to both energy-giving and hydration-and electrolyte status maintaining in endurance performance. Experienced and older athletes are more likely to prefer sport beverages and to follow a drinking schedule during exercise [58,88]. Energy drinks seem, also, to have a positive effect on performance [78] through hydration and energy supply [24,37] and fatigue reduction [2,14] and thus, they are of vital importance for endurance sports [39].…”