Breakdown of ULtrarunning Hydration products and Packs
Ryan Ramsby completed the 2024 Cocodona 250 and is now training for the Tahoe 200. 100+ explores the gear, nutrition, logistics, and training required to tackle 100+ mile races.
Hydration is everything when it comes to ultras. Get it wrong on race day and all of your hard work and prep is potentially out of the window.
The unfortunate thing is, it’s really easy to get it wrong. Thankfully, in multi day events, there is usually enough time to turn the ship around.
Hydration Products
There are two key elements to hydration, and I am going to do my best to break them down.
1.) Electrolyte Product
2.) Carrying your Electrolyte Product
I want to start off by saying, everyone is different when it comes to hydration, so, I am going to give my thoughts and folks can apply it appropriately.
Before buying a ton of different products and hoping it works, I would highly recommend getting a sweat composition test done.
Note: this is different from a sweat rate test. It only costs $100-$150 and can give you a very dialed look into your specific sweat breakdown.
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I personally did the test provided by Precision Fuel & Hydration.
It uncovered that my concentration is 1156 mg of sodium per liter.
Pair that with a sweat rate test:
Sweat Rate = Pre-Exercise body weight – Post Exercise body weight / exercise time in hours
It varies by heat and altitude, and you are now armed for successfully selecting a product that matches your profile.
For me, I have found great success with Skratch Hydration products. Each scoop is 400mg of Sodium and 80 calories.
I put a scoop in each of my bottles and consume as necessary. Taking into consideration any sodium added through gel or food consumption, it puts me right on target towards replenishing at the proper values.
For shorter efforts and to simplify my entire process, I also utilize Hyperlyte Liquid Performance, which has a great carb profile as well all in one. Each scoop is 500mg of sodium and 50g of carbs.
Now that you have an idea on selecting a product based on what meets your requirements, the next thing to determine is how to carry your hydration.
hydration packs
I recently tested two very popular 200+ mile packs.
Salomon Advanced Skin 12 Liter
UltraSpire Big Bronco 12 Liter
For me personally the Salomon was a better fitting more refined pack and is the one I will be using for my Tahoe 200 effort.
The Big Bronco is a good pack and will meet the carrying requirements of these multi day races, but there were just some things about it that I did not enjoy. I won’t dig too deep into the negatives, but I would say the UltraSpire Zygos 6.0 would be a better choice if you are an UltraSpire fan.
As far as the Salomon vest goes, there is plenty of capacity for the long 12-20 mile segments between aid at Tahoe. I will be running two 500mL soft flasks up front, as well as a 1.5L bladder in the back.
The new Advanced Skin design has a much improved bladder clipping system that makes it much more user friendly when needing to refill.
I am not a huge fan of bladders simply due to the inability to know how much you have consumed, but it does beat carrying an additional 3 soft flasks.
Salomon also makes a compatible filter cap that fits right onto their flasks, so I will carry this as well in case I need emergency water between aid.
One of the great things about Skratch Hydration is that they make individual packets that are easy to carry and give you a perfect dosage of product.
However, to save a few bucks, I do also buy the one and three pound bags and then portion them out myself with some tiny ziplock baggies I get off of amazon.
Make it stand out
Unfortunately hyponatremia and hypernatremia have similar symptoms, so it’s important to understand your body's needs and how to adjust accordingly before getting yourself into a dangerous situation.
Being able to self diagnose based on your specific facts can be the difference between a finish and a DNF.
If you really want to geek out on hydration and have a few hours to kill, head down the rabbit hole of osmolality…
