Offa's Dyke Run - things learnt Lesson 2 - Hydration

This was a major thing we had all considered but had not really realised quite how much liquid was needed during a 10 hour day. We had practiced on 3-4 hour runs but 10 hours in summer required anything up to 6 litres of water.  The other thing we learnt was the importance of taking electrolytes whilst running. So we dealt with the water issue in different ways.

• Some people preferred using a bladder which could hold up to 2 litres and made it easy to drink on the go but has the downside of being fiddly to refill.
• Some people used water bottles on the front of their packs or vests which again made on the go drinking and refilling easy with the downside that capacity was limited. 
• Others used water bottles in their packs which were harder to get to on the run.

As far as electrolyte was concerned there were two options powder and tablets. Tablets seemed to be the easiest to use but some hard core runners solved the electrolyte powder issue by putting the powder in their mouths and then drinking water.  This is a tough thing to do so if it appeals try it out before gong on a run.

My solution for hydration was to carry two 500ml soft bottles up front in my Ultimate Direction pack. This was generally enough for most legs but when it got hot on the last day I would have done with more. I used electrolyte tablets and had one bottle with electrolyte and the other without. This seemed to work for me.