Never Underestimate the Importance of Hydration

Saturday was the final meet for the Southwest Preparatory Conference track and field season. It has been quite a whirlwind acting as volunteer coach working with the distance group (800m, 1600m, and 3200m runners). We had two runners in the 800m and one runner in the 1600m for the final meet. I'm incredibly pleased with the effort our dedicated runners have put into practice this year, but if anyone has ever coached high school or teenagers in general you know it is a struggle to develop responsibility in them and to taking care of themselves. There is only so much preaching you can do as a coach.

All Saints Episcopal School, where I coached, doesn't have the depth seen at many of the other private schools that make up our conference, but there are always a handful willing to go the extra mile (pardon the pun) to succeed, and that's what truly made the experience great. 

At the meet, our two 800m runners did very well, achieving a personal record or coming close to it. We had one individual who's had a phenomenal season, but was tainted with some allergy issues in the past few weeks, which is a whole other battle to overcome in itself if you live in Texas. He was geared up to run the 1600m (1 mile/4 laps around the track) and we were looking at a time under 5 minutes for his finish. Bad luck struck with only 200m left to go, and he collapsed right off the track. The culprit, dehydration and lack of energy. 

I cannot stress enough as a runner and a coach how important it is that you not just focus on your running and techniques, but it's a package deal and fueling and hydrating yourself for performance is paramount to success and well being. 

Our runner was okay after about 3 bottles of gatorade and 3 or 4 water bottles and a lot of ice and shade from the excruciating 90 degree weather. 

Here's some Hydration Information to help keep you on track during training:

• There really is no cure all for how much one person should drink in a day, it depends on your activity level and your individual needs. Here's an article with the basics on Defeating Dehydration.
• Pay attention to the signs, and know when to stop: cotton mouth or dry mouth, extreme thirst, less need to use the restroom, dizziness.
• Some less obvious signs: headache, constipation, abnormally dry skin which can lead to fever and added stress on your heart.
• It must also be noted that it's not just water you should be taking in, if you reach the point of extreme dehydration, especially due to heavy activity, you need to replace the salt in your body. That's where sports drinks like gatorade com  into play. 
• If you take any kind of medicine, from ibuprofen to an antibiotic for a sinus infection, your body is going to need more fluids.

Top 3 finishers in the girls 1600m, don't end up like number three at the finish line.
Check out the Dallas Morning News for some more photo coverage from the meet.
Photo by Khampha Bouaphanh