[altoids]

For those of you who use Succeed! electrolyte caps (or similar products), when do you start using them? At what distance would you think this is important to use?<br><br><img alt="" src="http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/ultrafit_1929_521461" style="border:0px solid;">

 

[Hippo]

It depends on the heat, your effort level, and how well your body naturally manages electrolytes. I think for most people anything less than 90 minutes is pretty safe without.<br><br>
My body gets coated with gritty salt-sweat-residue very quickly, apparently I don't manage electrolytes very well. If I'm drinking Gatorade Endurance I'll just drink. If the available drink is regular gatorade I'll add a little, if it's Powerade or water I'll add a lot.<br><br>
I also watch for early signs of hyponatremia. For me it's puffy fingers and feet starting to swell and blister. The next sign for me is nausea, fluid sitting in my stomach and sloshing around. I will stop at that point and make sure I get it fixed: they say the next step beyond that can be renal failure.<br><br>
Playing with the early symptoms doesn't have to be scary. Generally the really bad stuff doesn't happen unless you drink a lot of water when you're already symptomatic. Perhaps the time you need to worry about it the most is after you finish. I've seen more people start to get in trouble at the finish line than during runs/races by drinking water there.

 

[merigayle]

As a chick, my fingers swell just from humidity, so i cannot go by that. I take Succeed caps on runs over 10 miles. Usually 1-2 per hour.

 

[Gingerbread]

Starting when? About how long into the run?

 

[merigayle]

When do i start taking them? If it is a long run, 30 mins in. Then once every hour, or every 30-45 minutes if it is hot out.

 

[altoids]

Okay, so for a 3 hour run on a hot day, I'm not crazy for thinking that I should be thinking about these.

 

[roots]

Good question.<br><br>
I normally only use them on long runs or races. For short runs, say anything under 2 hours (its all relative), I use the sodium from my normal diet and from any sports drink consumed before running.<br><br>
If going further than that, I consider using S! caps, normally at a rate of 1 per hour.<br><br>
Hippo brought up good points regarding the day's temperature, as well as the signs/dangers of hypoaptremia.<br><br>
Also good to know are the differences between S! caps vs. Endurolytes. They look identical, but very different in composition. S! has about 8x the usable sodium than of Endurolytes. But Endurolytes have a potassium component that S! does not. Main point regarding this comparison is that one must consume about 8x E-caps to gain the sodium in one S! cap.<br><br>
Before going overboard with S! caps, I would simply monitor your dietary sodium intake to see if a little added table salt will help.

 

[merigayle]

roots- succeed do have potassium in them<br><a href="http://www.succeedscaps.com/main_scaps.html" target="_blank">http://www.succeedscaps.com/main_scaps.html</a><br><br>
I drink sports drink as well on any long runs.<br><br>
You can go overboard with the S! caps, i did that last year at Old Dominion and was very bloated <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[Gingerbread]

Well, except when I eat out or consume canned soup, I don't have a lot of added salt in my diet, which is part of what I think contributes to my cramp issues. I'm going to experiment. If I don't take anything, even on a cool or cold day, I'll start cramping up about 1:30:00 into a run.<br><br>
My 9 mile run a few weeks ago had me getting sausage fingers, but only an attempt at a cramp, which I stretched out, just at about the hour and a half mark. I did drink gatorade at 45 minutes in that run. On my 10 mile run, I had a bit of gatorade just before starting, and at 40 minutes and then again at about 1:40, I think. No cramping issues really. Plus, the day before both of these runs I had restaurant pasta with marinara sauce which <i>must</i> have a whole lot more sodium than I usually eat because I find it generally tastes salty to me. I'm trying to figure out what to do if I eat at home the day before a race, like I did before the crampy HM this past Sunday <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[merigayle]

i eat baked lays the day before a race <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"> and drink gatorade.

 

[Gingerbread]

Mmmmm, potato chips!! My favorite! Except for the baked part.

 

[DEturtle]

I used the S! caps and just got some Lava Salts tabs to try. So far I am liking them, usually use them during workouts longer than and hour and a half. I also like the Herr's kettle chips russet potato chips. Yummy.

 

[Gingerbread]

MMMMM! I LOVE Herr's potato chips! We only recently have had them available here. In my local town general store of all places. I don't think I've seen them in the larger grocery stores yet.

 

[Flounder]

I eat loads of sodium - I rarely use S-caps on training runs. But if its gonna be a real saucey day and I have a long one planned - I will take 1 every 30-45 minutes. I am a sweater - It is not uncommon to lose10+ pounds on long humid runs even with my 70 ounce camel back.<br><br>
I've never had a problem with cramps - with or without s-caps. I just get real slow and dizzy as I get dehydrated.