32 degrees wrote:
I see salt pills or tabs mentioned on rec.running occasionally ... usually
in conjunction with longer endurance types of events.
Whats the deal - are they supposed to help you retain water? electrolyte
balance?
Yup, the idea is to replace electrolytes and keep them in balance. As
mentioned by JFT and Pete, I'm not real big on just salt tabs. Too much
water, and you get hypokalemia. Too much salt and not enough water, you
still have an imbalance.
http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/h/hypokalemia.htm for more on
hypokalemia.

For the Chippewa Tri this year (6hr event), I mixed a gallon of Cytomax
about 2/3 strength, and added in a packet of Gookinaid ERG, to boost the
electrolytes. I went thru 3 liters of that mix during the canoe and
bike legs, and then just did water and Gu the last hour (run). I also
used 4 or 5 Gu during those legs. Seemed to work out pretty well. I
didn't seem to crust over as badly as I've done in the past and
recovered a lot quicker.
On the whole, I probably could've just used Gatorade with the Gookinaid.

Marsh Jones


But, I've never seen them mentioned here....

any input?
good?
bad?
necessary?
don't work?

JK