Need a reminder to take a drink

rodgers73

I'm terrible at remembering to take a regular drink when I'm out. I end up drinking about half what I should do.

I wondered if there was some way I could set a regular alarm/beep on a watch or a Garmin or something to remind me??

Any ideas?

cat_with_no_tail

Eh? You need to be reminded to drink when you're thirsty? Do you need reminding to go to the toilet when you need a wee too? Perhaps a reminder to leave the house through the front door rather than the attic window?


Seriously though, are you dehydrating when you're out? Or are you just trying to conform to what someone has told you you should drink?

Grill

I have the same issue. I set an alert on my Garmins at 15min intervals to remind me.

DiscoBoy

Your garmin probably already beeps and gives you a time for the past 5 miles. The distance can be adjusted. So you could set it to an interval at which you think you should be drinking.

sloppyschleckonds

I have the same issue. I set an alert on my Garmins at 5 mile intervals to remind me.

rodgers73

I have the Edge 705 - I'm guessing this functionality isn't a recent addition to Garmin models?

MountainMonster

I always struggle to understand how people forget to drink, I've always been the one grabbing for the bottle at the first sign of a dry mouth. How do you guys manage to hold out OK?

rodgers73

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Eh? You need to be reminded to drink when you're thirsty? Do you need reminding to go to the toilet when you need a wee too? Perhaps a reminder to leave the house through the front door rather than the attic window?


Seriously though, are you dehydrating when you're out? Or are you just trying to conform to what someone has told you you should drink?

I forget to drink before the thirst sets in by which time its harder to replace the lost fluids than it is by drinking them earlier in the ride.

darkhairedlord

rodgers73 wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Eh? You need to be reminded to drink when you're thirsty? Do you need reminding to go to the toilet when you need a wee too? Perhaps a reminder to leave the house through the front door rather than the attic window?


Seriously though, are you dehydrating when you're out? Or are you just trying to conform to what someone has told you you should drink?

I forget to drink before the thirst sets in by which time its harder to replace the lost fluids than it is by drinking them earlier in the ride.

Really, you believe that crap?

Grill

darkhairedlord wrote:

rodgers73 wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Eh? You need to be reminded to drink when you're thirsty? Do you need reminding to go to the toilet when you need a wee too? Perhaps a reminder to leave the house through the front door rather than the attic window?


Seriously though, are you dehydrating when you're out? Or are you just trying to conform to what someone has told you you should drink?

I forget to drink before the thirst sets in by which time its harder to replace the lost fluids than it is by drinking them earlier in the ride.

Really, you believe that crap?

From (a lot) of experience, I also find this to be the case. Once you're dehydrated, you're done in any sort of race situation.

rodgers73

darkhairedlord wrote:

rodgers73 wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Eh? You need to be reminded to drink when you're thirsty? Do you need reminding to go to the toilet when you need a wee too? Perhaps a reminder to leave the house through the front door rather than the attic window?


Seriously though, are you dehydrating when you're out? Or are you just trying to conform to what someone has told you you should drink?

I forget to drink before the thirst sets in by which time its harder to replace the lost fluids than it is by drinking them earlier in the ride.

Really, you believe that crap?

Try a 28 hour ride where you realise too late that your hydration is poor and its 2am and you cant get hold of any clean water. Your average speed and general sense of wellbeing start to drop off markedly.

redvee

On my Edge 800 I have a distance alert at 2.5 miles, a time alert at 10:00 minutes and a lap alert at 3.1 miles. It is the alert at 5km I use for drinking, I might drink more often than the 3.1 miles alert but still will have a mouthful of drink at the beep.

FatTed

Drink when your thirsty.

Read this from BMJ 18 July 2012
Mythbusting sports and exercise products
Carl Heneghan and colleagues examine the evidence behind the claims made for sports and
exercise products

Anonymous

And you are cycling along constantly asking yourself 'am I thirsty' right?

Drinking regularly (which would generally be before you feel you need it) seems more sensible to me.

When I am aiming for a time (cycling or running) I find the structure of taking regular drinks/food helps mentally too.
Do you really want the feeling of thirst to add to all the other pains?

If you are just out for a leisurely ride, then yes, maybe just wait until you are thirsty.
Perhaps stop at a pub 8)

Not sure I would ride tired (28 hours) on roads with traffic no matter how well regulated my intake was though.
Chances of bumping into a motorist doing the same thing (or worse) are just to great/risky.

ju5t1n

FatTed wrote:

Drink when your thirsty.

Read this from BMJ 18 July 2012
Mythbusting sports and exercise products
Carl Heneghan and colleagues examine the evidence behind the claims made for sports and
exercise products

Interesting paper.

I guess this is the part you're referrring to...

"...recent systematic review of the effects of exercise induced dehydration on performance in long cycling time trials suggested that drinking according to thirst sensations (as opposed to drinking more or less frequently) was associated with better sports outcomes"

Here's the link...
http://www.kickthecan.info/files/docume ... oducts.pdf

triban

Grill wrote:

I have the same issue. I set an alert on my Garmins at 15min intervals to remind me.

That's what i do too - i wasn't drinking enough at first, but this has really helped.

deimosjohnny

It is about creating the habit. An alarm creates (a reactive) habit which is good but unlikely to evolve the habit to a subconscious level, you will always need the prompt. The brain processing time or distance information (you do read these throughout the ride on every ride) is more likely to develop a subconscious habit rather than reactive when relying on the prompt of an alarm. Our brains are great time clocks, how many times do you wake ahead of your alarm when you are going on holiday! Repetition and routine train our brains so add the routine to your programme.

jscl

I'm with a few above, what is there to forget? Set off hydrated and just keep sipping away. Don't set yourself timed intervals to drink. If you're on a 10mi climb or whatever vs a 10mi flat or descent, the hydration demands are different. Just keep sipping away and keep one 500ml bottle per hour as a guide. I find that I drink less when it's cold or raining, but you still need to keep sipping away. Don't wait until you're feeling dry or thirsty because despite whatever is said, it does have an affect on you.

Additionally, if you tend to use products in your drink, just be aware of using caffeine all the time. Caffeine can encourage dehydration. On a flip side, it's no use drinking only water on a long day in the saddle because you're actuslly flushing yourself, which is the last thing you need. It's about finding a balance.

ai_1

Yep, I have a time alert on my Garmin to remind me to consider a drink and maybe some food periodically. When I'm pushing hard, my concentration on the task at hand means I'm not always paying attention to signals from my body indicating I should eat or drink until they become critical. A reminder is a good idea - it's not an instruction to drink, it's a reminder that you may want to. No need if out for a gentle ride.

Grill

Whilst it's nice that some are chiming in with 'there's nothing to forget' and 'just drink when you're supposed to', it doesn't address the actual issue. Some of us need a reminder, simple as.

Mikey23

Fair comment.. Take a drink bud

Grill

Mikey23 wrote:

Fair comment.. Take a drink bud

Bottle is downstairs...

mustgettaller

I read the BMJ article, and I think it makes very valid points about over-hydration during sport.

I've come to the realisation that I'm not drinking enough on long rides, perhaps prompted by a bias against over-drinking.

This was brought home to me on a solo 300km Audax, where I ended up with a dry mouth at around 200km, despite drinking what I thought was enough.

Then on the IoW Randonnee when at 120 miles (I was going round twice...) I was bonking and had a dry mouth. This was 'drinking to thirst' - but clearly I wasn't drinking enough. So something had to change.

On my next ride - the Hampshire Hilly Hundred, I deliberately drank more - generally using my 5mile lap beep on the Garmin to remind me. This was a lot better.

Last weekend, on the Bryan Chapman Memorial (600km), I made sure I kept up this regime, and for the first time on a long ride, was able to eat properly because I diddn't get dehydrated with a dry mouth.

So, my experience is that despite intending to 'drink to thirst', I need the routine/discipline of a reminder to help me drink adequately. It's more than "What's to forget" when there are other things like navigating (and trying to stay awake) to do!

cougie

I just ride with my mate who has a timer alarm to eat or drink every 20 mins.
So I just copy him ;-)

In winter I might not bother drinking at all - but in the summer I really need it.

mrfpb

While I "drink to thirst," this has developed over time so I am aware earlier when I am becoming thirsty. I drink a lot in hot weather as i sweat a lot. I can drink 3 litres on a 30 - 40 mile ride in the summer.

I also drink according to conditions, there are several places on my usual routes where it's less safe to drink so I may have a sip before reaching them. Knowing there is a hard climb ahead will prompt me to drink (and maybe have a gel) as I will want to focus my energy on climbing when I get there, not be worried about drinking. Alarms work for several people here, but do you guys vary them according to seasons?

Grill

I keep the alert but don't always drink when I hear it (usually drink every 30 or so minutes in the winter).

slowbike

mrfpb wrote:

Alarms work for several people here, but do you guys vary them according to seasons?

You don't have to swig on the buzzer - it's just a reminder - you could ignore it.

I prepped for a 100 miler (8500 feet of climbing) by having enough food for a bite every 5 miles. I didn't bother with an alert though - just kept an eye on the odometer. I didn't always bother eating on that 5 mile trigger either. For the first 10 I didn't worry at all as I'd only just had breakfast. Thereafter it depended on the conditions and if I'd just eaten at a feed station. I didn't bother at all in the last 5 miles as it wouldn't have any effect (probably not in the last 10 or even 15 - but there's a psychological effect for me)

FatTed

If you wish to sip water often I doubt there is much harm in it, To drink water to excess is dangerous, can cause hyponatremia couple of articles about sports drinks.

Deborah Cohen The truth about sports drinks BMJ 21 July 2012 vol 345 page 20-29

Yanis Pitsiladis To Drink or not to drink recommendations: the evidence BMJ 18 July 2012