This excited runner needs to dial back the fluids just a bit, as you want a faint yellow tinge to your urine rather than aiming for it to be completely clear. (But, hey, this meme made us chuckle!)
With this post, we’re kicking off an occasional new column called Three Things Thursday. We’ll cover a range of topics to enlighten and inform your running in short, easily digestible chunks. (Think of this column as GU Energy Chews in written format!)
Being properly hydrated can mean the difference between a run that ends in fist pumps and one that ends in speed bumps. (Sorry, just had to get that rhyme in there!) Seriously, though: Studies have found athletic performance suffers greatly if your body is in need of fluid–or if it’s too flush with it. Here are three ways to tell you’ve got the balance right:
Your pee resembles Crystal Light Lemonade.
Envision your urine on a color wheel: If it’s clear, your body has more H2O than it can use; if it’s at the other end of the spectrum, reminiscent of Big Bird or a glass of Chardonnay, you need to reach for some Nuun or water. Experts describe the ideal urine color as, “clear with a tinge of yellow.”
You get up to pee once a night.
While we all value a good night’s sleep, your bladder should waken you in the middle of the night, demanding you to empty it. Your body secretes a hormone that limits urine production but a well-hydrated, active mother runner should drink enough to not be able to snooze for around eight uninterrupted hours.
Had to demo the pinch-test, if for no other reason than to showcase how perfectly my manicure coordinates with the numbers on our 13.1 sweatshirt!
Your skin lacks elasticity.
Try this simple on-the-go test to see if you need to quaff more fluids: Pinch a roll of skin on the back of your hand, using the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, then release it. If your pinched skin bounces back within a few seconds, you’re good. But if the skin stays pitched like a tent or takes its sweet time easing back into place, drink up.
For a tasty, 20% discount on our favorite hydrator, Nuun, use code amrnuun at Nuun website.
Great post! Thanks for the much needed and important info. Excited for this new column.
So I am not the only one waking up multiple times on the middle of the night for the bathroom?! I drink so much water that I can easily take trips to the bathroom every hour!
lol! Davina+Perret…….I was so excited this morning to realize that I only got up once last night to pee! my normal is 2 or 3 trips depending on how late I go to bed!
I like the Three Things Thursday……..and the awesome fingernail polish / sweatshirt coordination!
I’ve never heard the getting up at least once a night to pee means you are well hydrated. When I have to get up, it means my blood sugar is too high and the kidneys are trying to take care of it. I’d be interested in knowing where you got that information.
Hey Kate–
Dimity here. I told SBS that tip, and I got from–wait for it–an expert (likely an MD or a nutritionist) when I was doing a story about hydration for Runner’s World. I very clearly remember that tip (I kind of love tips like that that distill things down), but it was two computers ago (read: no notes) and I’ve just spent about 20 minutes trying to find the article, but no love. Which means the tidbit either got cut or the article isn’t on the Internet. So I realize this is a really murky reply, and not the answer I’d love to give, but it’s the best I can do right now. Sounds like your blood sugar/kidney correlation is more sound, and I’d go with that. Thanks for writing in–and we’ll try to provide more backup in the future for tips like that. Many happy miles–Dimity
Although I am always hydrated the skin elasticity could be because of hypermobility, my skin stretches ridiculously far and back easily because of this!
It’s an amazing paragraph designed for all the web users;
they will get benefit from it I am sure.
I consider one pee trip per night sleeping through the night –
Good to know it’s not because of a weak bladder – as hubby claims.