"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Too much water, thinned out blood?

Is it possible to drink too much water during a race/ride?

Is it possible to drink too much water during a race/ride?

Of course. I am usually guilty of this. I drink a lot. If there is a drink in front of me I drink it. I have to make an effort not to drink both bottles in the first hour.

What makes you think you drink to much?

how do you know when you're reaching that point?

i don't think i can feel my blood thinning. and i've never had to pee during a race. or a ride.

how do you know when you're reaching that point?

i don't think i can feel my blood thinning. and i've never had to pee during a race. or a ride.

I am not familiar with blood thinning from drinking but here is what happens to me...

First, I only drink water on all my rides unless it is a special circumstance. I do eat a lot on the bike though. I find it just works better for me. Anyway if I drink to much I can feel it because the water starts sloshing in my stomach and not digesting. I start to "feel" heavier and maybe slightly sluggish. I guess it is from watering down electrolytes/salts in the body. Not sure though.

Unless you have a kidney issue, you should have to pee if you drink too much. I don't think thinned out blood would be the issue with drinking too much, rather low electrolyte concentrations. Google hypoatremia.

I've had hyponatremia (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hyponatremia/DS00974) before. I kept drinking massive amounts of water doing a century on a very, very hot day. Didn't eat or use any electrolyte replacement bits. Symptoms were pretty much bang on for heat exhaustion which means you should drink more water.

If you find yourself suddenly not having a headache post ride after eating something very salty then you need to keep a closer tab on electrolytes. The odds of serious injury from this are pretty remote. Feeling and performing like crap are the issue at hand.

blood too thin.

take more EPO

No.

Assuming you keep your water bottle in the bottle cage, drinking more water will move that water off your bike and onto your body. Since you're bike is now lighter, you'll be much faster.

No.

Assuming you keep your water bottle in the bottle cage, drinking more water will move that water off your bike and onto your body. Since you're bike is now lighter, you'll be much faster.

Post of the year!

Post of the year!

Heh...

Thanks!

No.

Assuming you keep your water bottle in the bottle cage, drinking more water will move that water off your bike and onto your body. Since you're bike is now lighter, you'll be much faster.

Save the bull**** responses for forums with "41" in their URL.

It's rare, but people have died from hyponatremia. I did the Marine Corps Marathon in 2002 and a woman died of it in that race. Basically she ran very slowly and drank water (not sports drink) at every mile.

I've had hyponatremia (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hyponatremia/DS00974) before. I kept drinking massive amounts of water doing a century on a very, very hot day. Didn't eat or use any electrolyte replacement bits. Symptoms were pretty much bang on for heat exhaustion which means you should drink more water.

But if you do, eventually you wind up in full on seizure, incoherent, vomiting on the side of the road, and after a (*hopefully quick*) trip to the hospital, pumped full of saline.

drinking TOO much is a serious issue.

What is the likelihood of a bike racer drinking enough water to have this happen - to any significant degree?

i.e. can one drink so much water, over the time span of before the race and during, that electrolyte levels drop low enough to affect race performance?

Save the bull**** responses for forums with "41" in their URL.

You should try to post in the right forum too (http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=148).

Your more grouchy than old pcad when his hemorrhoids are acting up.

What is the likelihood of a bike racer drinking enough water to have this happen - to any significant degree?

Too many variables. Basic high school biology isn't a good enough tool to model something like this.

Here is a 4 part discussion on it by the man himself

http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2008/09/hydration-and-exercise-part-1.html

If you dont have 20min to read this the moral of the story is to drink when you are thirsty.

What is the likelihood of a bike racer drinking enough water to have this happen - to any significant degree?

i.e. can one drink so much water, over the time span of before the race and during, that electrolyte levels drop low enough to affect race performance?

Water intoxication (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication) (also known as 'hyper-hydration' or water poisoning) is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by over-consumption of water.[1] Normal, healthy (both physically and nutritionally) individuals have little to worry about accidentally consuming too much water. Nearly all deaths related to water intoxication in normal individuals have resulted either from water drinking contests, in which individuals attempt to consume more than 10 liters (2.2 imp gal; 2.6 U.S. gal) of water over the course of just a few minutes, or long bouts of intensive exercise during which electrolytes are not properly replenished, yet massive amounts of fluid are still consumed.

... so doubtful

however:

Hypernatremia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypernatremia)or hypernatraemia (see American and British English spelling differences) is an electrolyte disturbance that is defined by an elevated sodium level in the blood. Hypernatremia is generally not caused by an excess of sodium, but rather by a relative deficit of free water in the body. For this reason, hypernatremia is often synonymous with the less precise term, dehydration.

Hyponatremia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia)(British: hyponatraemia) is an electrolyte disturbance (disturbance of the salts in the blood) in which the sodium (Natrium in Latin) concentration in the plasma is lower than normal(hypo in Greek; in this case, below 135 mmol/L).


TLDR: Water and Salt are serious buisness!

Here is a 4 part discussion on it by the man himself

http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2008/09/hydration-and-exercise-part-1.html

If you dont have 20min to read this the moral of the story is to drink when you are thirsty.

That was pretty much exactly what I was looking for - thanks!

drink when you are thirsty.

That was pretty much exactly what I was looking for - thanks!

Mind blowing
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/2845517870_1ca49baae9.jpg?v=1221043932

Some people can get hyponatremia even without drinking too much water... they just sweat out a lot of salt. I'm one of them. Before I understood what was going on, I got bad hyponatremia during my first Death Ride, which was a particularly hot one. I wound up feeling absolutely terrible on the last pass- my stomach was bloated with water that wasn't being absorbed, and I couldn't get my heart rate over 125.

When I get low on electrolytes, sports drink tastes bad and food isn't all that appealing either. I figured out what the problem was on a hot hilly double metric. I got that sick sports drink tastes bad feeling and dumped out all my drink. At the next rest stop I ate a handful of pretzels. Just a few minutes later, I felt better. So I ate more. I think I stood there for 10 minutes chowing down on salty pretzels but I was ok for the rest of the ride.

After that ride I researched it. I'd never made the connection to the salt that would be all over my clothes an skin after a long hot ride. Now that I know, I carry both endurolytes and regular salt tablets on long hot rides. Endurolytes alone aren't always enough for me.

Mind blowing


you can be flippant about it, but after years about hearing things about drinking schedules and what not this is some world isnt flat kind of stuff about hydration. Just read the article and Friel talks about how he really had to change his thinking to incorporate this information. For at least 15 years I have always heard "If you are thirsty you are already dehydrated" which these studies directly contradict and show that over hydration is more prevalent in athletes and that may be attributed to old wives tales like "If you are thirsty you are already dehydrated"

I got that sick sports drink tastes bad feeling

the one where your mouth tastes funky and no amount of water or spitting can alleviate the taste?

Some people can get hyponatremia even without drinking too much water... they just sweat out a lot of salt. I'm one of them. Before I understood what was going on, I got bad hyponatremia during my first Death Ride, which was a particularly hot one. I wound up feeling absolutely terrible on the last pass- my stomach was bloated with water that wasn't being absorbed, and I couldn't get my heart rate over 125.

When I get low on electrolytes, sports drink tastes bad and food isn't all that appealing either. I figured out what the problem was on a hot hilly double metric. I got that sick sports drink tastes bad feeling and dumped out all my drink. At the next rest stop I ate a handful of pretzels. Just a few minutes later, I felt better. So I ate more. I think I stood there for 10 minutes chowing down on salty pretzels but I was ok for the rest of the ride.

After that ride I researched it. I'd never made the connection to the salt that would be all over my clothes an skin after a long hot ride. Now that I know, I carry both endurolytes and regular salt tablets on long hot rides. Endurolytes alone aren't always enough for me.

That is crazy. I have never heard of people sweating higher concentrations of salt.

That is crazy. I have never heard of people sweating higher concentrations of salt.

A former teammate's nickname was "Crusty". After any summer ride/race, he'd have salt crusted all over his bibs/jersey. It was pretty nasty looking.

A former teammate's nickname was "Crusty". After any summer ride/race, he'd have salt crusted all over his bibs/jersey. It was pretty nasty looking.

That's me...

I can guarantee that isn't you.

Your condition may reflect his, but you are not him.

I can guarantee that isn't you.

Your condition may reflect his, but you are not him.

Thanks for the clarification. :notamused:

the one where your mouth tastes funky and no amount of water or spitting can alleviate the taste?

I haven't noticed that. It's more like it's a problem with the drink.. its just really unappealing.


That is crazy. I have never heard of people sweating higher concentrations of salt.

I don't know if my sweat has more salt in it than other peoples or if I just sweat more. I adapt well to heat. As long as I keep water and salt in me, I am totally happy with 95 degrees. I slow down a little when it's over 105. So maybe I just sweat more.

In the interest no one dying from bad or conflicting advice, let me just say, drink a good sports drink, in the recommended proportions (like 1 scoop per 12oz of water) and drink when you're thirsty, but regularly. If you do this there is almost no chance of hyponatremia and, outside of extreme circumstances, no chance of becoming dehydrated.

Your body is rarely wrong about these things. The trick is listening to it.

In the interest no one dying from bad or conflicting advice, let me just say, drink a good sports drink, in the recommended proportions (like 1 scoop per 12oz of water) and drink when you're thirsty, but regularly. If you do this there is almost no chance of hyponatremia

Sports drink doesn't have enough electrolytes for some people on some rides in some amount of heat.

Fair enough. But in general the amount of sodium in most sports drinks puts it in line with the osmality of blood. At least enough to stem the loss of salt. But if you're doing endurance events on hot days, some extra sodium may be useful. But I've seen people go as far as carry salt packets with them. You can go overboard either way.

In all the stuff I've read... your body uses faster than it absorbs. That's why the you should drink before you are thirsty; because once your body signals your thirsty, you now at a negative that takes time to recovery... and dehydration is cummaltive. If you are already even a little dehydrated.. even on a realtively mild day you'll probably have issues and
IF you drink TOO much. yes it feels like you stomach is full and just sloshing around... and why some folkd throw up...
Your body has great safety mechanisms.. if you drink the really SWEET energy drinks.. bet you have gastrointestinal issues... If the only sport drink that is offerd starts with a G; I cut it at least in 1/2 with water TOO much sugar.... I prefer another product and use their E-caps on really HOT days to make up for what's NOT in the sports drink...

Seems like common sense. Unfortunately common sense is usually wrong... I'm sure the "science" on this will change at least twice before we're too old to care.