Pre-Race Hydration

You can do a lot to help your hydration before you even start the event. In fact if you are preparing for a long run you need to start thinking about preparation the day before.

As a measure of how hydrated you are, your urine should be pale in colour. Darker than normal urine would suggest you are dehydrated to an extent.

You should avoid alcohol in the days leading upto the event. Alcohol will dehydrate you.

From a hydration perspective you should avoid caffeine before a race. Caffeine is a diuretic and will therefore cause some dehydration. However, caffeine is also a stimulant and some will argue it can improve performance – setting aside the moral aspects of caffeine use. If you do use it, you should atleast keep in mind its negative impact on hydration.

Start a regular intake of fluids in the 24hrs before the event. There are various rules of thumb as to how much you should hydrate before an event depending on the distance. However, you should also pay close attention to the conditions. Running in temperatures of just 13 degrees centigrade upward will lead to much faster dehydration than say 5-10 degrees as your body sweats.

Before a race hydrate with either water or a sports drink. Sports drinks will often contain electrolytes which are lost during the event and therefore useful. However, some prefer to keep to water for pre race hydration.

Aim to drink 1-2 litres prior to the event. In the final hour before hand stop drinking to avoid having to stop mid race. Hydrating during the event and post race hydration are covered separately.