can't never could because can't never would

saturday morning continued our out of the park running adventures! this weeks long run took us from battery park city, over the brooklyn bridge and into downtown brooklyn. we ran through fort green and williamsburg and then over the williamburg bridge back to manhattan. our route joined with a few blocks of summer streets before cutting cross town to the west side highway. we ran down the west side of the island finishing back at urban athletics in the downtown winter gardens of bpc.

i was resting and stretching with a few of my teammates after our run and i made a comment about feeling gritty and gross because i was covered with dirt from the road. turns out it wasnt dirt i was covered in, in fact it was salt that i had sweated out during the past 15miles!

generally when we sweat it contains salt (our pee too)- it's what allows us to excrete water and helps to cool us down. because we were running in extreme heat yesterday our sweat was evaporating and leaving the salt crystals behind. kind of cool, right?!

losing too much salt during a workout is a bad thing and can ultimately lead to a condition called hyponatremia, which means low sodium levels in the blood. sodium is required for our bodies to function properly so while working out its not only important to hydrate and replace the water that is lost but to also maintain sodium levels.

sports drinks are a good way to replenish the body of electrolytes and salt but they arent for everyone. personally, gatorade during a run upsets my stomach. instead i opt for "salt licks" or "salt shots."

licks and salts arent too glamours, they taste like the ocean, but desperate times call for desperate measures! we took a pit stop at a mcdonalds and grabbed a few of those mini salt packets from the condiment trays. all you do is pour the packet in your palm, lick it all up and chase with water. very simple and very necessary.