Hydration Preferences

[magikwalt]

Sometimes the dice just keep coming up craps no matter which way you throw them.

[Norris]

Speaking of craps, I had a bad experience with fructose on a C2C attempt during which I drank 6 quarts of the store-bought Gatorade (which contains only fructose). At Round Valley I had to use one of those little wooden houses and abort the mission. Shortly after that (this was before I realized that one of the benefits of mtsanjacinto.org is having our own resident expert in Ellen) I bought an expensive, heavy, scholarly tome on Sports Nutrition from Amazon.com which explained to me that consuming large quantities of fructose during extreme exercise can lead to intestinal distress. Around the same time, I noticed that the Gatorade powder has a completely different set of ingredients, and no fructose. I started using it. A week or so later, I encountered a hiker on the summit who had just climbed Marion Mtn trail. He was drinking from a bottle of store-bought Gatorade. So I gave him my lay-person's version of the fructose lecture. The following week I encountered him again, he was doing a complete traverse of San Jacinto, including a huge loop going up the Deer Springs trail and back down Devil's slide. He told me he had switched from Gatorade to Gatorade powder and had noticed a significant improvement in his performance. As I recall, he said he put up a personal best on Skyline. He was profuse in his thanks for turning him on to the Gatorade powder. So, just some anecdotal evidence that what you drink really matters.

[Hikin_Jim]

... evidence that what you drink really matters.

Exactly why most of us stick with beer -- the ultimate performance beverage.

[magikwalt]

Careful Jim, as a new father you need to step back from the beer and leave that to us professionals. Safety first!

[MikeJ]

According to the label, bottled Gatorade (both regular and G2) contains both fructose and sucrose so it should work well. The powder contains sucrose and dextrose.

Even so, drinking Gatorade full strength gives me stomach cramps. When I use the bottled product I always drink water with it. When I use the powder I mix it about 2/3 strength.

Lately I have been going with water plus a gel that contains both electrolytes and carbohydrates. I've used it for running with good results. I haven't tried it with hiking yet but it seems like it should give similar results.

[Marknhj]

I've done eighteen Skyline's in the past eighteen months and have felt nauseous after every single one (including a few dry heave experiences). I always start feeling horrible after Flat Rock and struggle up that section; as soon as I stop I feel like I'm going to throw up. I've never felt nausea on a non-Skyline hike.

I used to drink straight bottled Gatorade, then tried watering it down 1:1, and this year took the ratio down to 1:2. Made no difference. Last Saturday I only drank water, but took two extra gels and half-a-dozen Endurolyte tablets en route. Felt the best ever, zero nausea and a pr...

[Ellen]

Howdy All

I'm really glad we have so many different options for meeting fluid, carbohydrate, and water needs. The higher sodium gels such as Powerbar gel provide about 200 mg of sodium -- as much as 8 ounces of a higher sodium sports drink.

There are many electrolyte replacement products as well -- Nuun, Salt Stick, etc. I also recommend carrying some of those little packets of salt that you can get in fast food restaurants -- it's easy to pour them in a bottle or Camelbak.

Regarding sports drinks -- everyone has different preferences and tolerances. Again, the key is to find what works. Some folks like Mark do better with drinking water and obtaining carbohydrate and sodium from gels and/or tablets. I use Gatorade Endurance, Steve (Bluerail) uses Cytomax, others use Powerbar Endurance or Accelerade, etc.

I'm happy to answer questions regarding fueling for hikes and/or marathons, triathlons, etc.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Ellen]

PS A plea to the faster Skyline doublers...Please don't drink all the Fat Tire draft beer at the tram bar

[magikwalt]

Okay. Ellen's information about the difference in formulas for hydration really hit home last Saturday. I for one will be much more focused on getting enough sodium into the fluid and food I am ingesting before and during a hike where I expect to exert that much effort. At a minimum, some salt packets from a drive through window are going to be part of my emergency kit.

[tinaballina]

For some stupid reason i decided to fill my second bladder with cytomax for the second skyline trip-HUGE mistake. it was awful, i will never do that experiment again on such an important hike.