I’ve got on my ankle socks, my black Adidas capris and my baby blue 24th Annual Nordstrom Beat the Bridge to Beat Diabetes t-shirt I got at work a couple years ago when I signed up to participate in the race. (I didn’t actually go, though, which makes me feel guilty every time I put it on.)
My hair’s in a messy pony tail and I’ve got on my headband. The only thing I’m missing is my shoes. And my kid, since he did end up going down for a nap.
After I put him down, I wandered around the kitchen in my jogging clothes for a bit, then drank my second glass of water this morning.
I really need to drink more water. I know I should be drinking at least 6 to 8 8-ounce servings a day. But I rarely get that, even when I consciously think about it. And, now that I’m running, I’m sure I should be getting even more. But how much?
Thankfully, we have the Interwebs.
Basically, from what I found, the average person should drink enough water to replace the fluids they lost throughout the day. That works out to be about 8 8-ounce glasses. Some recommendations just say to drink when you’re thirsty, but I never realize I need some hydration until it’s too late (usually right before bed when I’m parched and don’t want to consume a bunch of water because I’d rather not be up all night traipsing back and forth between my bed and the potty).
The best article I found on the subject is from the Mayo Clinic:
“If you exercise or engage in any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to compensate for the fluid loss. An extra 400 to 600 milliliters (about 1.5 to 2.5 cups) of water should suffice for short bouts of exercise, but intense exercise lasting more than an hour (for example, running a marathon) requires more fluid intake. How much additional fluid you need depends on how much you sweat during exercise, the duration of your exercise and the type of activity you’re engaged in…”
But not too much extra water, the article warns. Why? Consuming a lot of extra fluids can be just as bad as dehydration. I guess this is a problem among marathoners. Here’s an interesting article from Runner’s World on the danger of drinking too much water.
So, it looks like I’ll be okay if I get at least 8 or 9 glasses, maybe 1 or 2 more if I sweat a lot…like if it’s really hot outside. From the looks of the sky outside, I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that today.