We’re still having a heat wave over here in Europe. In Italy they put out warnings; it’s supposed to reach 40°C/104°F this week. I do most of my running after 8PM but even then it’s still a struggle. I sweat a lot and need to make sure I keep hydrated.

A common misconception runners have about hydrating is that it only needs to be done in the time/space that they run. They’ll have a glass of water before they go, or try and make up for their sweat loss after a run. Hydrating, especially during the summer months, is an all day affair.

I always start my morning off with really large glass of water. I’m sure I slug down half a litre right there ’cause that glass is huge. A few years ago I bought a Sodastream…

Bubbles!

Water seems to go down easier for me if it has bubbles in it. With the Sodastream you can regulate how bubbly you want it. I keep four bottles rotating in my fridge so that the water is always ice cold. We also installed a water filter on our kitchen sink so that we can drink the tap water.

How much you should be drinking is very individual. I personally shoot for 1.5 litres during the winter and 2 litres during the summer. It may not sound like enough, but I also eat tons of fresh fruit and vegetables.

I don’t like ice but I will put in frozen fruit cubes to get a touch of flavour in my water. Just take some unsweetened fruit juice and make it into ice cubes. The cubes in the photo are made from blueberry juice, which is great for circulation and water retention…

To stay away from sugar but still give myself frozen treats, I put grapes into plastic bags and freeze them. Red and black grapes seem to be sweeter when frozen.

Take out of the freezer only as many as you want to eat. The first few will be harder, but as they acclimatise to the heat they get softer and turn into mini slush balls. Totally guilt free, it’s fruit!

If I bike in the heat for a long time (over two hours) I’ll make myself a post workout protein smoothie. It becomes ice cream when you use frozen fruit as the base. This particular batch was coconut water, frozen berries and egg white powder. The other day I substituted the egg white powder with Greek yogurt and it came out just as smooth with a tangy twist.

My summer lunches are usually just a huge salad. Loads of fresh veggies for more hydration accompanied by a carbohydrate such as rice along with a protein. To save myself time I wash all the veggies at once, cut them up and keep them in a bowl in the fridge.

I also keep tabs on how much I’m urinating and its color. This the best indication of whether I need to drink more (or less).

So this is my daily hydration strategy, in addition to usual water I drink when I go out for a run or bike ride. How about you?