Dehydration and cramp's secret weapon....Pickle Juice?

Some history before we dive in:
When K and I were growing up we, like most siblings (kids?), had some interesting (read: weird) contests/habits/tastes. For example, we used to take a cracker, 1 matching square of american cheese and then stack as many jalapeno slices as possible to eat them to find out who was tougher. I can't heat hot food to this day so I'm pretty sure my sister won. Yet another example - we used to LOVE dill pickle juice. We would split a jar of juice or if we were lucky enough our own jars and race to see who could finish their jar o pickle juice first.

I'm very fortunate to have one of the Richmond Marathon trainers working in my office. I exploit him regularly.

As discussed my previous post, I've recently starting Bikram Yoga. In doing some research over the weekend, I learned that at 150 pounds one can expect to burn 1000 calories in a single class. Now that's not what I happen to weigh but suffice it to say that based on that rule, I'm burning my 1000 calories plus a snicker bar.

I realized after reading that information that I need to be careful to keep my body fueled and hydrated. Even more so because I'm also running.

So last night I went to Yoga right after work. I made sure to drink plenty throughout the day and then I bought a 50 oz smart water bottle at the studio. I probably finished 40 oz before the end of the night.

My run this morning: This morning, I found that I only made it just over a mile before I was cramping in my side so bad that I had to stop and walk hunched over back home. I'm assuming it was dehydration given my class last night.


Naturally - I emailed my trust co-worker as soon as I got it (he's off traveling the world) and here's the secret he says: PICKLE JUICE


Email excerpt:
Remember pickle juice (I think we talked about this, right?) quickly relieves cramping.  But you need to become less susceptible.

Following are links to 2 good sites (out of 100's) with basic hydration guidelines/tactics:

http://running.about.com/od/nutritionandhydration/a/hydration101.htm

http://www.rrca.org/education-advocacy/hot-weather-running-tips/

Before you start saying to me: "are you sure? You can't trust everything you hear from friends....not possible...yada yada blah blah." READ THIS - a study done at BYU.

Pickle juice had “relieved a cramp 45 percent faster” than drinking no fluids and about 37 percent faster than water, concluded the authors of the study, which was published last month on the Web site of the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Bottom line: I need to reserve my yoga for my cross training days - no more than twice a week and leave 24 hours between yoga and my next run.  And never leave home without pickle juice.