Winter Hydration
On the New England Classic you often hear volunteers calling out “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.” On a hot summer’s day it is much easier to keep up with your body’s loss of water because the heat is a constant reminder to drink.
Most people don’t think about hydrating in the winter. They believe that dehydration is a function of temperature. This is true to some extent but any time conditions cause the humidity level to drop, i.e. summer heat or man-made indoor heat, the body is susceptible to losing excess water.
In the winter when most of our time is spent indoors where humidity levels can drop to almost arid climate extremes, water loss can occur without our being aware of it. Feelings of thirst are unreliable indicators of hydration level because at the onset of thirst a person can be about 2% to 3% dehydrated.
Backcountry.com has some great winter hydration advice. How much water is enough? The Mayo Clinic has some good tips.