Controlling Sweat Rate?

911sc

Though i have actually never measured my sweat rate, my guess is that it is very high.. Few miles running is enough for my clothes to be soaking wet, 20min into a circuit training class and i am pooring sweat.
Hence on long run, i always carry a supply of water in a Camelbak.

At the moment, i can run 13miles without need for water as weather is cool and humid. Summer time, i must bring water with me. I bring my Camelbak on any run of 14+ miles. I must say i find it very enjoyable to be able to sip continiously along the way and it does not bother me to carry a bag (nice to store gel, snickers, phone for emergency, dry skull & gloves, etc...).
Bag is 2.1liter, and is usually empty after 18miles!!

Also, as i am always naturaly warm (hardly ever wear a coat, light jumper is plenty), I did a blood test & checked for Haemochromatosis (also as it runs a bit in the family - no punt!)- Levels are all normal.

Is there a way of controlling sweat rate or at least trying to reduce it so i can run longer with less water?

Raam

What kind of clothes do you wear when jogging? Are they technical garments?

--amadeus--

On the assumption that you aren't over-dressing on your runs I'm not sure that there is an awful lot you can do about your sweat rate. In fact I think I read that the fitter you are the more you sweat.

Since sweat is used to regulate your temperature doing anything to discourage it probably isn't a great idea, even if you could. That said I know that when I started running I drank far more than I do now, it was a habit (and to an extent a crutch). I knew other people did it so I did, a bit like the people you see doing "mini-marathons" of 5k who religiously sip sports drinks all the way round. I gradually reduced the amount of water I took with me and found out that I didn't need it nearly as much as I thought.

From what I remember though you are an experienced runner so you've probably tried cutting back already? Why do you think you need to cut back?

(like the nick by the way, had a 2.7 myself for a while and planning on getting an SC in the not so distant future)

911sc

--amadeus-- wrote: »

On the assumption that you aren't over-dressing on your runs

I do were technical garments & always shorts, preferably just a T-shirt if not too cold (+gloves and runner skull at the moment).

--amadeus-- wrote: »

From what I remember though you are an experienced runner so you've probably tried cutting back already? Why do you think you need to cut back?

Long distance running is newish to me. I only started running regularly distances over 10kms since last year. So, i have not yet tried to cut back.
But i think your point is a very valid one... habit and if one knows he has 2liter of water on his back, what's incentive has he not to drink?


Why cutting back? ( i knew that one will come up:))
My pace seems to degrade much quicker than the miles covered (some timing on my website under 2007 Adidas Race series. Photos of me and my friend CamelBak!!)..I am not expecting my pace to be the same regardless of the distance obviously, but would like to be able to maintain consistante pace for distance from 13 to 26miles run.
Would like to run Dublin marathon this year in less than 4h, so need to go below 9:09 min per mile on distance over 13miles all the time (i did a 9:00 per mile 30kms few weeks ago . First time ever at that pace, and only drunk 2.1 liter!)

As i mentionned in some other post, i am not running to win the race (would be the best think to put me off running as i would never win and be p$*@# off after each race:)), but rather to keep fit, enjoy it, personal challenges..and not be last!


If my sweat rate is too high, I may dehydrate too quickly regardless of amount of fluid I drink during exercise, and could be one of the contributing factor why my perf goes way down after the 13miles mark.

Note: I usually add stuff in the water to facilitate re-hydration during long exercice.

--amadeus--

There is a huge amount in that post that needs answering but the stuff that jumps out is...

First up if you want to maintain a consistent pace as the distance rises you will probably need to start out more slowly. I heard someone once say that you add 15 secs per mile to go from 5k to 10k, 15 more for 10k to 1/2 and 15 more for half to full marathon, so your 5k and marathon paces should be about a min apart. Don't know how well that holds for all but it's a guideline.

Also your times in training and on the day of teh marathon will be different - you don't need to be doing your LSRs at race pace.

And dehydration may not have the massive impact on your times that you think. Obviously extreme dehydration is dangerous but some dehydration is normal and expected during an endurance event. Research shows that attempting to drink an equivalent amount of fluids to those lost in sweat is inneffective (relates to the speed of gastric emptying IIRC). Best strategy is to drink as you feel the need, this is what research has shown to be most effective rather than drinking some targeted amount.

Experiment with it, what works for me may not work for you after all!