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Questions from "G" ( Ultra List ):

Q: The experts have me totally confused at this point.

E.g. At the AT 100 last year, I ate some boiled potatoes dipped in salt and within 15 minutes my
hands and fingers swelled up. Obviously an overabundance of salts, yes? I drank a lot more and
cut back on my electrolyte/salt intake, and after a while all was fine. I was whizzing every 20
minutes, like a mule.

Some might say that it was more likely to be excess fluids not excess salt. Obviously being there
told me something else. Also, the situation is much more complicate.

Is there a rule of thumb or two that we are safe in following? I normally feel that if I swell up it is
because I am retaining fluids in my cells. If so, that is because of excess salt, not excess
fluids...HELP!!

A. Yup, it's complex because we have not one element but three ( at least ) to deal with: water,
sodium and Anti Diuretic Hormone. A runner doesn't have a diagnostic lab nearby while running so
just has to go on the basis of basic observation.

As you note, swelling is not a foolproof way to diagnose these situations.
It could be too much water, it could be too much salt, and/or it could be a high level of ADH.

One thing that's pretty safe to assume is that extra weight is from retained water. Few people can
eat enough solid food during an ultra to account for weight gain. Ergo, weight gain is almost certain
to be too much water retained. If stepping on a scale in a race, be aware that scales can be off, and
clothes can absorb water ( especially if you ran through water and got your shoes and socks
soaked ). But if you're 5-10 pounds up, it's probably from drinking too much.

Note that swelling itself if not a 100% indicator of drinking too much. If you take too much sodium,
the water in your body could move to extracellular spaces ( causes swelling ) but it could be just
re-distribution of the water in the body without actual weight change.

I prefer to go by how my stomach feels. If it is ok ( not queasy, and absorbing food and water well ),
I figure my sodium and water level are ok. If my weight is ok and my stomach feels queasy, I need
more sodium. Too much weight means too much water, so back off on fluids.

Weight gain and throwing up means too much water. Back off on the fluids and then check on the
sodium level.

Note that throwing up also causes loss of electrolytes - so it is really a serious problem.

It is better to monitor these things and adjust them before they get out of hand. Once the body is
way out of balance, it is hard to recover.

One point of interest is that over the years I have had many, many reports from people running 100s
who got their stomach in bad shape where they couldn't eat anything without throwing it back up,
but they were able to finish the 100 by taking only water and S! Caps. A high percentage of those
reported that eventually their stomach felt ok and they ran well to the finish without any more food
intake.