Dehydration is a tricky little devil. Many times you don’t even feel it coming until it’s too late. For instance, if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of dehydration so you can see it coming. These aren’t the only symptoms, and some symptoms will vary from person to person. These are simply the most common and easy to recognize.

• Thirst: Like I said before, if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. This is not an emergency symptom (we’ve all been thirsty many times, I’m sure) but it’s one sign that you’re getting dehydrated.
• Chills: When you get dehydrated, you get cold. Also, your hair seems to be standing on end. This happened to me today. When this happens, you generally know you are pretty darn dehydrated. Be on the lookout for this one. If your hair is on end, it’s time to do something.
• Appetite loss: When you get fairly dehydrated, you will start to lose your appetite. If you don’t feel like eating for a long time when you probably should be, you may be dehydrated.
• Face reddening, or flushing: You’ve probably seen this one in your friends. When you start lacking hydration, you start getting red in the face. Flushing does not mean getting pale, remember. It means getting red.
• Weakness: When your muscles are not getting the water (and thereby oxygen) they need, they start to get tired, and you begin to feel weak all over. Usually, if you’re feeling this way, you’re pretty badly dehydrated. It’s not one you can really see coming, usually.
• Dark urine: It’s worth noting, there are other things that can cause this to happen, so you can’t be sure it’s because of dehydration, but if you see it in combination with the others, you can be pretty sure of what’s going on.
• Blacking out: When you’re dehydrated and you stand up after sitting or lying down for some time, you’ll generally get a “head rush” which causes you to black out. Again, other things can cause this (dramatic change in diet, for instance) but dehydration makes it worse.
• Cottonmouth: Cottonmouth is the feeling of dryness in the mouth that you’ll feel when opening and closing your mouth. It means that the molecules in your mouth are not getting enough fluids. This can come on gradually, so you can be on the lookout for it.

Now that you know what to be looking for, what can you do about it when you see these symptoms, or just realize you’re dehydrated? There are a number of things you can do to treat some or all of these symptoms and get your body back the hydration it needs.

• Drink water: This may be the most obvious, but if you catch it early, it’s the most effective. Drink slowly and in small sips until you start feeling better.
• Replace electrolytes: This is key. When you sweat, you lose more than water. Sports drinks like gatorade and powerade replace electrolytes (salt) that you also lose when sweating.. Also, Succeed! tablets give you back the salt you are missing. Short of that, try pretzels and other salty foods to give replenish what you’ve lost.
• Avoid caffeine: Caffeine is one of the worst things you can drink when you are dehydrated. It actually dehydrates you more, so stay away from it. That being said, sometimes there is nothing better at mile 55 than a nice cold cup of coke. You decide.
• Take emergency action: If you are very severely dehydrated, get someone at an aid station to call an ambulance for you. If you’re on a training run, get help if you can. As we’re about to see, it’s not something to play around with.

Here comes the scary part. Remember when your mom would tell you what would happen if you did something bad? Well here’s the blog equivalent. I’m going to tell you what can happen if you let dehydration go unchecked and become severe.

At 5% fluid loss

• Increased heartrate
• Increased respiration
• Decreased sweating
• Decreased urination
• Increased body temperature
• Extreme fatigue
• Muscle cramps
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Tingling of the limbs

At 10% fluid loss

It’s important to keep track of how much water you are drinking. The exact amount differs from person to person, but it’s generally recommended to drink at least 20 fl. oz. per hour of activity, and this amount probably goes up in the later stages of an ultramarathon.

The best thing you can do is be alert. Be on the lookout for these symptoms. If you see them happening, make sure to get something to drink. Try not to let the dehydration get severe, but if it does, take action. It’s not worth risking. You don’t have to drop out of a race (unless it’s really, very bad) but you may want to take an extra few minutes at the next aid station to get some extra gatorade and eat some pretzels.

Summer is one of my favorite times to run. Nothing beats the feeling of running on a hot summer day, with the sun shining and all your cares at the trailhead. Just be careful, and you’ll have a whole lot more fun!

Got any stories about being dehydrated, or seeing other people dehydrated? Have any good remedies I didn’t mention here? We’d love to hear any of it, and your fellow runners would appreciate the advice. Just leave a comment. And get ready for the summer season. It’s gonna be awesome.

Well lucky for you I have three solutions, all of which are quick and painless.

1. Use the product that was made for this problem: Camelbak Cleaning tablets. While the most expensive solution provided (but seriously folks, 8 tabs cost 10 bucks… you aren’t that cheap are you?), this is probably one of the easiest solutions. It’s like from a television infomercial: just drop in the tab in a bladder half full of water, and let the tab do the rest. It creates a foam that eats away at all the grunge and grime that has been building up in your bladder for the last few months (or if you are like me, the last few years!). The tabs use Chlorine Dioxide which isn’t harmful to you (though I don’t suggest you get the tabs like skittles), and it can clean a 100 ounce bladder.
2. Use denture cleaning tablets. Yep, just go into your grandfather’s medicine cabinet, steal a few of these babies, and just follow the same instructions as if they were Camelbak Cleaning tablets. They are very easy to use, and you’ll have a clean bladder in no time. Plus you’ll save yourself a couple of bucks if that is what you are looking for.
3. Use a mixture of bleach and water. Works just as well as the first two suggestions above, but make sure you rinse especially well! Nobody wants to get a few miles down the trail and get a sip of bleach and water… trust me, I wouldn’t recommend it! This solution of bleach and water is actually fool-proof as long as you rinse well. Just submerge your bladder and tube in the mixture for about 90 minutes, and for the last time, rinse well! This solution works just as well as the above two.

For cleaning out the tube, where a lot of the mold seems to call home, the Camelbak brush specifically made for the purpose of cleaning out the tube, works great. If not feel free to use pipe cleaners, which also seem to get the job done. Bleach and water in the tube will also perform well, as stated above.

Drying the bladder is the easy part: while you can use the instrument that looks like a ribcage made for the specific purpose of drying the bladder, a coat hanger works just fine. Fit the coat hanger inside the bladder and hang it up next to a window or an A/C vent, as a slight breeze will help dry out the bladder quicker.

Hopefully you now have the wonderful knowledge and expertise to get your Camelbak bladder back in shape… after all, these bladders are simply made to last. If you don’t believe me, check out this video where folks at Camelbak blow up a bladder the size of a beach ball (no, I don’t work for Camelbak, I just love their products):

Enjoy!

Do you have any better suggestions on how you clean out your bladder? We’d love to hear it!

As I write this, there are some people out there who have maybe several 50 milers, a handful of 50Ks, and perhaps a 100K under their belt who are eyeing that fall 100 miler. It’s a big question, and only you will be able to answer the question “am I ready?”

In general, if you are new to ultrarunning, it may be a good idea to knock out a few 50Ks, and an even better idea to run a few 50 milers. Don’t bite off more than you can chew! If you have a few 50 milers under your belt, all within the cut-off times allowed in those particular 50 races, they will prove beneficial in your physical ability to knock out a 100 miler, and more importantly, your mental ability to stay strong through those last few miles of the race.

All depending on your training, may I suggest to start out on a conservative 100 miler (Umstead 100, Rocky Raccoon 100). On the same token, there is no reason not to run some of the more challenging courses however (Wasatch Front 100, Hardrock 100). The only barrier to entry is that some of the tougher 100 milers require you to have some sort of qualification, whether it be completion of another 100 miler, or a certain time in other 50 milers similar in difficulty. Not many 100s have qualification standards that are impossible however; every ultrarunner interested in a 100 has to start somewhere!

Keys to bumping up the distance from a 50 mile race to a 100 mile race is the fact that you may be running all night, and you may be very tired in the later miles of the race. Hence, practice running at night in the dark. It will get you used to running with a headlamp, what it is like to run in the dark, and perhaps battle a little sleep deprivation. If you can get a few 3-4 hour runs at night under your belt, you will be sufficiently prepared. Running at night sleep deprived for the first time in your first 100 miler can be very overwhelming – practicing running in these conditions will help you build up a tolerance.

Training on terrain similar to the 100 miler of your choosing can also be beneficial. If you are planning on running Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Miler, I’d train on a lot of rocks if I were you. If you plan on signing up for the Mother Road 100 Miler, train on road. If you plan on running Hardrock 100 miler, try to train at altitude with lots of elevation gain and loss. You get the point? Of course, there are no laws saying you can’t train for Hardrock 100 in Florida (can you say Matt Mahoney?).

With the proper training and physical preparation, the other 90% of training is all mental. You can be in great shape, done all the proper training, and still not perform well as for whatever reason your just “aren’t there”. It’s similar to playing golf, you can be the #1 player in the world, but if you aren’t mentally sharp, your performance may suffer.

With that being said, you are truly ready when you decide you are ready. Just choose the one you want to do and start your training. Don’t be afraid of failure! Until you have run a 100, there’s no way
of being sure that you can finish. That’s no reason not to try. Don’t give into the demons in the last third of the race that will tell you to quit. It’s going to hurt… I mean, you’re running 100 miles! Your life is now, and you only live once. If you feel that you have sufficiently gotten your feet wet in the world of ultrarunning, throw your hat in the ring and give it a shot.

Just be careful, 100 milers are addictive!

Preparation for the actual race (pacer, cut offs, what foods to eat, expected finish time) is all in another post.

The Amphipod handheld water bottle is the best water bottle I have ever held. Period. I hate to make this sound like propaganda, but I have almost nothing bad to say about the new Amphipod Hydraform bottle.

The old bottles struggled some, in my experience, with the mouthpiece leaking after the bottle had been used a bit. They also lacked any place to put things, which, for some runners, made them not an option. The new upgraded model has addressed all these issues and makes the Amphipod Hydraform the new best product on the market.

What makes the Amphipod so great is a combination of great design and ruggedness. It is a near-perfect blend of form and function. Let’s take a closer look…

Pros:

• Design: The unique shape of the bottle allows you to hold it with very little effort. In fact, with the strap tightened (which is not uncomfortable at all), I can (and often do) completely let go of the bottle and still be holding on to it. It’s also skinny enough that I can use my fingers since I can let go of the strap. It’s nice to be able to open gels or get in my pockets with the bottle still strapped to my hand.
• Pocket: They finally put a pocket on the strap of the bottle! Many other bottles have had this for a long time, and it used to be the only thing really holding the Amphipod back from dominating the market. Now I can carry things in the pocket, and they don’t get sloshed around because the pocket is well-designed. It’s also big enough to hold a decent amount of stuff. I’ve put 3 gels in it, and it looks to me like it could fit 4 at least. It’s also big enough to hold a skinny bar, like a Clif Mojo (my favorite). This was the main thing the bottle was missing before, and now it has one!
• Toughness: I have fallen on this bottle more times than I care to admit. It’s taken the full blunt of my weight against rocks, roots, trees, and the ground many times, and has never sprung a leak. I’m sure if you stabbed it with a knife you’d poke a hole in it, but falling on jagged rocks hasn’t done the trick. Its flat shape also helps when you fall on your hands, since it doesn’t roll.
• Mouth Piece: I am personally not a fan of the bite-and-drink style mouth pieces on water bottles (love them on CamelBak’s, though). I prefer the pop-up style of the Amphipod. I have known the bite-and-drink mouthpieces to tear, leaving them useless, and I personally think they are awkward to drink through on a water bottle.

Cons:

• Loose Strap Binding: This has been a problem with both the older bottles and the new style. The strap is attached to the bottle at the bottom by a band that can be removed (for washing, etc…) However, it is not elastic or stretchy rubber, so once you take it off once or twice, it gets loose and will sometimes fall off when you take the bottle out of your hand. It never falls off while on your hand, but sometimes if you take it off to switch hands, eat, or um… relieve yourself, the band comes off. It’s not hard to slip back on, but it is a bit annoying. It seems like they could easily fix it by making it a little bit elastic. Amphipod, if you’re listening, this is the one thing you still really need to fix.
• Mouth Piece: Some people swear by the bite-and-drink style mouth pieces, and don’t like the fact that you have to open this piece the way you do. I open it with my teeth and close it with my off-hand or other bottle. I have heard some people complain about having to open it this way, but I do not find it inconvenient.

Summary

The Amphipod Hydraform handheld is far and away the leader in the market. You can literally hold the bottle without even closing your fingers around it. Now that it has gotten a pocket in the strap, there is no other bottle that comes close to being as great. Some people prefer the bit-and-drink mouth pieces over the pop-up one featured on the Amphipod. If this is really a problem for you, you may want to use another bottle until Amphipod releases a model with the bite-and-drink style (I’m sure they will soon enough). However, the mouthpiece on the Hydraform is very easy to open and, since the upgrade, does not leak.

Since the Hydraform has gained a strap and lost the leak, I see no reason to be using any other water bottle. It’s simply the best there is.

What water bottle do you use? If it’s not the Hydraform, what do you like about your bottle more? Have you had problems with the Amphipod? We’d love to hear anything you have to say in the comments.

There has always been debate about this subject… what exactly is an ultramarathon? How long is an ultramarathon? Maybe you are asking yourself, “I have run several 50Ks, but have yet to run a 50 miler…am I an official ultrarunner?” Perhaps these answers can be answered differently depending on the individual you ask. Dictionary.com defines an ultramarathon as “any footrace of 50 or more miles”. Wikipedia defines an ultramarathon as “any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional 26.2 marathon distance”. My mother defines ultrarunners as “crazy people”. Like I said, it all depends on who you ask.

However, for those of you are new to the ultrarunning community, it is general consensus that an ultramarathon is any race whose distance is greater than 26.2 miles. Ultrarunning.com, a great resource that has a great calendar of ultrarunning events around the world, only allows race directors to list their race if they are longer than 26.2 miles. Here’s something to think about: maybe a good definition of an ultramarathon would be any race that you can write a story about. Race reports just aren’t as exciting unless the race is longer than 26.2 miles; it is tough to write an inspiring story of your latest 5K, and no one wants to hear your exact splits of that local half-marathon in town a few weeks ago. Nothing against marathons, but they seem monotonous in comparison to ultramarathons.

While there are ultramarathons that are odd distances, such as 29 miles, 38.5 miles, and 41.2, the most common distances of ultramarathons are 50 kilometers, 50 milers, 100 kilomters, and 100 milers. Why? I am not quite sure, other than them being nice round numbers. Besides, it sounds cool when you tell a friend, “yeah, I ran 100 miles/100 kilometers”. It has a nice ring to it. Timed events, such as 6 hour events, 12 hour events, 24 hour events, and multi-day races (such as 3-days, 6-days, and 10-days) do exist as well, but they aren’t as common as distance races. In general, these timed events are run on a loop course to make it easy to keep track of the distance covered by a participant. Would a 4 hour race be considered an ultramarthon? Debatable – maybe I’ll direct a 4 hour event and find out.

Generally speaking, ultramarathons are held on trails; single track trails, dirt paths, and jeep roads are very common in any ultradistance. That’s not to say that there are ultramarathons held on roads, because there are some very popular road ultramarathons (have you heard of the Badwater 135?). Because so many of these events are on trails, they tend to be run on difficult terrain. Elevation profiles are often part of the race packet, along with cutoff times, aid station descriptions, and specific rules of the event (pacers, littering, getting lost, etc.).

While this subject of what exactly an ultramarathon consists of is debatable, I just wanted to get this subject out of the way by laying ground rules of the general consensus. With that being said, you will not see us talking about how to train for a half-marathon most efficiently, or a training plan to run a 4 hour marathon. We may talk about how marathons can be good training for ultramarathons, but that is as far as we’ll go!

Have any races that aren’t 26.2 but should be classified as an ultramarathon? Want to make an argument against our point of view? We’d love to hear your case!

• Running Tips and Advice - Ways to run faster, longer, and stronger. We’ll cover small things, big things, and everything in between. No topic or question has escaped our steel-trap minds. We’ll cover nutrition, running styles, training tips, race strategy and more.
• Gear Reviews - Your gear is very important, so it’s important to get the best gear you can. We’ll give you the head’s up on shoes, shorts, water bottles, etc… We’ll use it, abuse it, beat it up, then tell you how it held up. We’ll also rate it, so you can tell if it’s a ‘go’ or a ‘no’ at a glance.
• Trail Reviews - We love finding new places to run. In fact, it’s almost like an obsession. So, each time we go somewhere new, we’ll let you know about it. We’ll write it up, review it, and give you the rundown on the stats as best we can (stuff like elevation gain, altitude, length, etc…). But, we also know it’s hard to get the feel of a trail just by reading about it, and we don’t want you to waste your time going somewhere you won’t like, so we’re gonna do you one better. We’ll be taking our video cameras with us when we hit the trails, so you can see exactly what it’s like. We’ll mark things like splits and intersections so you’ll be able to know exactly what to look for, show you interesting things along the trails, and point out the great views. Not only that, but this way we’ll have some documentation when we get eaten by a bear. You wouldn’t want to miss that would you? It’ll be just like being there! (OK, so maybe not quite, but it’ll still be awesome!)
• Race Reports - After a race, while we’re sitting in an ice bath drinking Ensure, we’ll whip out the laptops and get to work telling you know how it was. We’ll also show you other people who have done the same so you can get all different perspectives.
• Lots of other awesome, mind-blowing stuff - Like I said, we’re bursting at the seams with ideas here. There’s going to be a ton of cool stuff for you awesome people and we’re thinking of more every day, so stay tuned to find out what we’ll come up with!

We are really looking forward to getting to know you all and helping you run faster and get better. We’re going to have a ton of fun and we want you to, too. Leave a comment. We’ll respond, I promise. And we’ll get to know you better that way.

Got something you’d like us to talk about? Got some ideas of other things you’d like to see here? Let us know in the comments. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.