How do you manage and optimize hydration on a competitive trail?
It's important to manage your hydration before, during and after your trail-running outing.
Before the trail
Hydration during a race (trail running in competition) must be prepared in advance of the event: at least 6 weeks beforehand.
It is essential to test all your refreshments and drinks before the race. This will prevent digestive and/or intestinal problems and ensure that your planned nutrition and hydration is sufficient for the effort involved, i.e. that it will provide you with what you need to stay "in shape" throughout your trail or ultra-trail.
Two or three days before, it's important to drink 1.5L to 2L of water a day to start the race on the right footing.
During the trail
During the race, you should drink as regularly as possible. Drinking a lot all at once would be a mistake, and could lead to easily avoidable discomfort.
The liquids ingested during a trail or ultra-trail run can also be used to increase energy and/or mineral intake, thanks to powders or lozenges dissolved in water. These hydration supplements are highly recommended for efforts of over 1 hour.
We advise you to alternate between drinking "pure" water and the drink. Bags with 2 flasks on the front are perfect for this. The flasks are easily accessible for drinking, of course, but also for refilling and keeping an eye on the remaining water level.
A little tip: if you use a GPS watch, some models offer little alerts after a few km or minutes, which can act as a reminder to hydrate!
After the trail
Post-race hydration is also very important, which is why we recommend you finish your race drinks first, and of course you need to drink a lot.
Our hydration solutions
There are several options for carrying sufficient water with you, whatever the length of your outing.
First of all, there's the option of water pouches that slide into the trail backpack, so the pouch's container is on the back and it's a hose coming back to the front that allows you to drink while running.
This format means more water can be stored, and the weight of the water is less noticeable.
We offer two water bag containers: 1.2L and 1.8L, both with a wide opening for easy cleaning, and their removable tubes are covered with a frost-proof membrane.
A little tip: the water in the pouch can be noisy. To solve this, simply turn the pouch upside down and empty it of air. This will prevent the water from moving around in the bag!
On the other hand, filling the pocket will be more difficult to access and therefore less quick. That's why more recently we've seen the introduction of flexible flasks that fit onto the front of trail rucksacks.
These have a number of special features:
- They are flexible and take up no space when emptied
- Sold with or without pipettes
- Ultralight
- Very easy to access
Raidlight offers 5 different flasks:
EazyFlask 350mL with straw ; EazyFlask 600mL ; EazyFlask 600ml with handle ; EazyFlask avec straw ; EazyFlask with filter
- The straw is height-adjustable: simply cut the bottom of the tube to adjust it to your needs.
- The black membrane surrounding the pipette protects it from the cold, preventing it from freezing in very cold temperatures.
- The strap allows runners to run with their flask in hand without difficulty.
The Raidlight filter can reduce protozoa and bacteria levels by up to 99.99% by capturing them with a hollow fibre membrane. The antibacterial carbon fibre eliminates chlorine and organic matter, as well as particular odours and colours. It's also sold on its own, for easy replacement once you've exceeded 4,000 litres of filtered water.
These flanges are compatible with the following trail belts :
The Activ Flask 2x300mL trail belt comes with two 300mL bottles, another ideal solution for your trail outings.
There are also rigid bottles, the Press-to-drink 700mL bottle and the R-Go 600mL bottle, the latter with a shape that adapts perfectly to your torso.
All these flasks and canisters are compatible with the following trail packs:
- Ultralight 3L Made in France
- Responsiv 6L
- Activ 6L
- Activ 12L
- Responsiv 12L
- Ultralight 12L Made in France
- Responsiv 18L
- Raid Legend 24L
- Ultralight 24-30L Made in France
Finally, to avoid the use of single-use cups at race refreshment points, it is now advisable and even often compulsory to carry a cup with you. At Raidlight, we offer the Eazy Eco-cup, a flexible, compact, ultra-lightweight cup with a ring for easy attachment to your trail bag or belt.
