It wasn’t until I started training for a half marathon in a heatwave that I appreciated the value of maintaining healthy levels of hydration while running. It took a fair few sweaty and tiresome runs to realize just how much salt our bodies lose during exercise and how this impacts both exercise performance and — more importantly — our overall health. Enter electrolytes, important minerals in our body that play a crucial role in hydration and something we runners need to make sure we replenish.
Although I always bring at least one bottle of water with me on a long run packed into one of the best hydration backpacks, I never thought dropping an electrolyte concentrate into my water supplies would be a key part of my weekly running routine. Fast forward to a year of experimenting with different hydration strategies, and now I can’t imagine training without electrolytes.
