# How long to get completely hydrated?



## The Flash (May 6, 2002)

With my upcoming race weekend, I have 4 days left to get as hydrated as I can....How much should I drink per day to get the maximum level of hydration? Can it be done if 4 days?

The Flash


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

The Flash said:


> With my upcoming race weekend, I have 4 days left to get as hydrated as I can....How much should I drink per day to get the maximum level of hydration? Can it be done if 4 days?
> 
> The Flash


I would guess that unless you're starting out seriously dehydrated that getting fully hydrated would take far less than 4 days and probably not all that much fluid.

I'm not even sure how one would measure hydration, I don't recall ever seeing it quantified in a study. The typical "measure" seems to be drink until you're pissing clear urine?


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## bill (Feb 5, 2004)

if you become severely dehydrated, I understand that it can take many days to come back all the way to where your tissues are fully rehydrated. A really bad day can require more than a couple of days to rebound from. What I have found in situations where I have allowed myself to get dehydrated is that, once you see that deeper color, and you start pounding water, the color will lighten, but if you stop pounding water, the color will deepen again fairly rapidly (like, within an hour or a couple of hours), which I take as evidence that your blood concentration of water can rise well before your tissues rehydrate. 
If you are just trying to make sure you are topped off, and you regularly maintain good hydration, I usually try to be careful to drink a lot the day before an event.  I then typically will pound a couple of bottles two to three hours before the event. You don't want to need to pee twenty minutes into it.


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## Mr Wood (Feb 23, 2006)

Be careful you don't over-hydrate. You can die from Hyponatremia. Hyper-hydration is not something you really need to do. Clear urine is a pretty good indicator that you are well hydrated.


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## bill (Feb 5, 2004)

while the consequences of this are dire, I don't think that it is very easy to do. Not impossible (didn't some poor girl in a radio contest just die?), but not that easy to do. I think it's the difference between having some sips when you think of it to all but force-feeding bottles at a time.
An hour or three before a fifty-miler, I typically will drink 2-3 bottles (what's that, like, a quarts or two?). I might drink one bottle on the road, and I'm good.


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## normZurawski (Jul 25, 2006)

bill said:


> What I have found in situations where I have allowed myself to get dehydrated is that, once you see that deeper color, and you start pounding water, the color will lighten, but if you stop pounding water, the color will deepen again fairly rapidly (like, within an hour or a couple of hours), which I take as evidence that your blood concentration of water can rise well before your tissues rehydrate.


I believe this generally means you need more salt to balance out the blood plasma blah blah blah I don't recall the exact details. If you take in just water, your body gets rid of it because you're taking a step towards hyponatremia.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Salty*



The Flash said:


> With my upcoming race weekend, I have 4 days left to get as hydrated as I can....How much should I drink per day to get the maximum level of hydration? Can it be done if 4 days?


As others have noted, unless you are dehydrated now, it won't take much to get you there. Just make sure that you take in enough salt, which will help keep the water in your body. Otherwise you're just pissing water (and losing salt) that could leave you worse off.


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## The Flash (May 6, 2002)

The complicating factor is that I'm very salt sensitive, so I take hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic) so my blood pressure stays low. I also sweat a ton and I'm in Florida, so I always feel like I am at least a little dehydrated at all times. I'm going to up my liquids intake a bit before Saturday, and my doctor is good with my not taking that stuff until after the race.

Like Kerry said, I need to find that balance with just enough salt intake to be hydrated, but not too much that my veins are popping....

The Flash


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