Out Running Your Problems

One of the things I have often wondered about is if dehydration can have such major effects on people why are the majority of people chronically dehydrated? Recent studies show that 75% of North American suffer from chronic dehydration. If it is such a big problem why isn't there a solution?

Part of the problem is that is that people often rely on thirst to remind them to drink. This seems like a logical way to remember to drink. When I get thirsty I'll just go take a drink. However, thirst is a delayed response to dehydration. By the time you get thirsty most of the time you are already dehydrated. Additionally, when people get busy or if they are working out the sensation to drink is often reduced.

http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/was-korey-stringer-a-top-tier-linemen.129239531/

Korey Stringer is one example of how our internal dehydration gauges often don't alert us that we are becoming dehydrated. Korey Stringer was an All-American football player who played for Ohio State University before being drafted as a first round pick to the Minnaesota Vikings. Korey played for the Vikings for 6 years and earned pro-bowl honors. However, in August 2001 Korey was at pre-season training when he collapsed from heat stroked due to dehydration. Korey was rushed to the hospital but the following morning Korey passed away from heat-stroked related complications. 

If you are interested in Korey's story, they have a Korey Stringer institute that you can find out more about him and heat-related illnesses at:

http://ksi.uconn.edu

I found this story particular interesting because as a professional football player Korey was obviously in shape. Yet even people who are in shape, fit, and work out regularly can suffer the effects of dehydration, and at the extreme can even die due to dehydration.

In the wake of Korey's death the NFL and other sports organization has started implementing a plan I think is a great idea no matter if you are a pro-athelete or a desk-jockey. The plan is to have a daily hydration schedule. The hydration schedule is a basic daily plan of how you will stay hydrated throughout the day. Here is one example of a plan:

https://wikis.engrade.com/knowsweat/tl5

Whatever your plan is, I encourage you to get a game plan together so you can stay hydrated and avoid the consequences of dehydration.

Hydration, Who gives a darn......ME, You?

Growing up I never really thought about keeping hydrated or drinking water. If I was thirsty I would drink whatever was around, usually the milk in the fridge, and keep doing whatever I was doing. When I played little league football we would drink at half time or when we were on the sidelines. It never really occurred to me that there was much of a correlation between the activities I was doing and my hydration level.

Fast forward to the summer I was finishing my undergraduate degree and heading off to law school. I decided to run in a marathon that summer. This was my first marathon and I really didn't know what I was doing. I trained the best I knew how. I would go out and run 10-15 miles and try to eat healthy. When the day of the marathon came I was fairly confident I would do well and ran hard out of the gates. Mile after mile I kept passing up the hydration stations because I didn't want to slow down to take a drink, worried that stopping to drink would hurt my overall time. Well I did finish the marathon in under 4 hours, which was my goal time. However, by the end of the marathon and afterwards I was exhausted, sore, and just wiped out.

Doing Okay

I wish I could say I learned from my mistake, but nope. The next year I decided to run another marathon and had the same results. I guess I was a slow learner. However, before the next summer's marathon I decided to figure out how to make the marathon less painful. I read up on different people's experiences and advice and came to the conclusion the best thing I could do was to take a few seconds at the hydration stations each mile and rehydrate myself. That is what I did my next marathon. Wow, what a difference. Even with less time to train given my busy law school schedule and a new child to take care of, using this "new" strategy I was able to run a quicker marathon (okay by just a couple minutes) and I was not nearly as sore and wiped out at the end of the marathon. Don't get me wrong, I was still tired afterwards, but I wasn't nearly as sore and was able to begin my normal running schedule the next week.

Not so Okay

So with this hard learned lesson about hydration, I am a convert to hydration. After learning of the importance of hydration in running in marathons, I continued to learn the importance of hydration in my daily life. I started to notice those days I had a little headache or was dragging a bit were the days I hadn't drank much. The more I started to pay attention the more I noticed the direct correlation between my hydration level and my health.

Why did I do this?

This has led me to starting this blog. I wanted to share what I have learned about the importance of hydration, ways to stay hydrated, technology developments, hydration related issues. I also wanted to learn from others, what they know and their experiences. I hope I am able to share what I know and hear from others about what they have learned, thereby helping everyone to better their lifestyles by staying hydrated.