Dehydration: Think 7-Up, Not Mountain Dew...and Ultrarunning

Here in the mid-Atlantic our spring has been mild and the early plants and flowers are pushing hard.  Soon the weather will get and stay warm, and runners will be facing their first run in real heat, possibly far sooner than they are acclimatized.

So...it's time to repost something from 3 Aprils ago:

Dehydration: Think 7-Up, Not Mountain Dew

I'm talking about something pretty personal here: the color of your urine. 

No, not your beverage of choice when you are super thirsty.  

 

 

Image credit

Image credit

 

It's getting warm and it's time to consider running safely in the heat.

Once in a prior life I was on an extended telecommunications survey project to Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, TX.  In July.  90+F plus 90% humidity.  


Where if you laid your manhole cover puller (kind of a crowbar) down in the sun, you'd better be wearing gloves when you picked it up, or you'd blister your hand.  Where according to the heat and humidity tables, you were only supposed to work about 20 minutes before taking a break in the shade.

Anyway, the base safety officer gave us a safety briefing required for all workers, about working in the heat.  She told us something that always stuck with me: you can easily gauge your hydration levels by the color of your pee (and indeed whether or not you are even peeing).

She said, when you observe the color of your urine, you should think 7-Up, not Mountain Dew.  Your pee should be more on the clear side rather than a heavy, yellow color.

If your pee is too dark (or being produced in very limited quantities) you need to be drinking water.  Now.  Indeed, when you know conditions are such that you will be sweating, you need to be drinking well before you even get thirsty.

I have consistently applied this rule of thumb to Ultrarunning.  When Nature calls along the trail and you pull off for a bio-break, observe the color of your urine.  It may keep you out of serious trouble.  

This observation comes from the the school of hard knocks.  Once in a road race I was trying to PR on an ugly hot and humid day.  I didn't scale back my expectations but instead doubled down and ran even harder.  That worked OK for about 5 miles...then I remember suddenly feeling disoriented, unable to run straight, then nothing.  I woke up in an ambulance and had to be treated at the hospital for heat exhaustion.  So it's a big deal.

Think 7-Up, not Mountain Dew.

Peeing, College Dorm Life...and Ultrarunning

Ran across this gem in the local paper:

Wilson College fined 98 students $10 each when no one confessed to causing puddle of urine

Wilson College this spring received $980 after requiring all students living in a particular residence hall to pay a $10 fine when no one admitted to causing a puddle of urine found on a tiled floor. 

In an email to students announcing the fine for everyone if no one came forward, a college official said urine is a biohazard that requires professional clean-up and cannot simply be mopped up.

"I have no way of knowing if it was from an animal or person, however, someone needs to take responsibly for this ASAP. You have until Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. to let me know who is responsible or the entire residence hall will be fined," the email read.

In addition to saying urine is a biohazard, Sadowski told students "it is never appropriate for you or your animal to urinate on the floor," and added that they must clean up after themselves if they "ever lose bodily fluids in a public space." 

"So by leaving your bodily fluids in a public space, you are effectively closing the area until the next physical plant staff shift. This is generally highly inconvenient for both you and your fellow floormates."

No one came forward to claim responsibility for the mess, so all 98 students who lived in the building at the time were fined. According to the residence hall handbook, "In instances where the responsible party cannot be determined, entire communities may be held accountable through the fine system." 

I get it, the whole personal responsibility thing, and the levying of the fine was in accordance with the rules of residence hall life, but to say that "...urine is a biohazard that requires professional clean-up and cannot simply be mopped up" was a little over the top.

So if Mister Tristan (the 7 year old human being, not the blog) misses the toilet a bit and sprinkles the floor, I'd better call in that professional biohazard team.

A close second as the best quote in the article is this one, that "...it is never appropriate for you or your animal to urinate on the floor...they must clean up after themselves if they 'ever lose bodily fluids in a public space.' " 

I think the college administrator meant well, but as many of us often do, she went on a bit too long, forgetting one of the cardinal rules of effective communication: less is often more.

The link to Ultrarunning?  Most people don't think much about their urine, but Ultrarunners better.  The color and volume are good indicators of your hydration state, so in a sport where water in the backcountry is a serious thing, it matters whether you are peeing (no pee = not enough water intake).  The color also matters: think Sprite, not Mountain Dew, and if your urine tends towards the latter, again you have an indicator that you are behind on the water curve.

These rules of thumb continue after you get home.  I know that a post-run beer can taste mighty good, but better limit it to one until your urine is back to normal.  Otherwise you're setting yourself up for a raging dehydration headache, which is never fun.

Peeing on Bushes...and Ultrarunning

One thing I don't miss about working life--especially, associated as I was with the military--is how people in authority feel compelled to change things even if the old way was tried and true and worked.

I call it the Peeing on Bushes syndrome.  The new boss has to mark her/his territory, much like critters do.  Or at least they think they must do that to demonstrate...leadership?  Power?  Wisdom?  Or something.

The reason I'm thinking about this is that the bride will shortly be dealing with a new regime in power at her job.  The new top dog is (in)famous for her management style in meetings:
"No, no, nothing's decided, just want to get your thoughts and inputs on xxxxx"... when in reality it's been a done deal for weeks.  That bush has already been peed on, and the illusion of participatory management is especially demoralizing for the workforce.

The nexus to Ultrarunning?  In the backcountry, of course, there is a lot of peeing on bushes.  But it's in the natural sense, not the power play sense.