Timothy Noakes - Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Noakes, Timothy, 1949-

Waterlogged : the serious problem of overhydration in endurance sports / Tim Noakes, MD, DSc.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4504-2497-4 (soft cover) -- ISBN 1-4504-2497-X (soft cover)

1. Endurance sports--Physiological aspects. 2. Water intoxication. I. Title.

RC1220.E53N63 2012

613.7'1--dc23

2011052800

ISBN-10: 1-4504-2497-X (print)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4504-2497-4 (print)

Copyright 2012 by Tim Noakes

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

This publication is written and published to provide accurate and authoritative information relevant to the subject matter presented. It is published and sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, medical, or other professional services by reason of their authorship or publication of this work. If medical or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

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This book is dedicated to the memory of Cynthia Lucero, PhD,
and all those who have died from the encephalopathy
caused by exercise-associated hyponatremia.

I wrote it also for those who yet grieve,
that others may be spared your unimaginable sorrow.

This book is the culmination of an investigation that took 30 years,
each moment of which was shared with my most special friend
and inspiration, Marilyn Anne, to whom it is also dedicated.

Cynthia Lucero
August 28, 1973 to April 17, 2002
2002 Boston Marathon bib number 15611

The Spirited Runner

While the world mourns for your departure
Your spirit lives on
You showed us how to live
And how to give
Four miles more you were only a Boston finisher
Four miles short you became a heroine
A legend
May you guide us
Through the clouds to heaven

Alan Lam

Reprinted courtesy of Alan Lam.

All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the
Tim and Marilyn Noakes Trust for Sports Science Research
and the Dr. Cynthia Lucero Center for Health Psychology.

T im Noakes doesnt do anything halfheartedly. In his youth, he ran marathons and ultramarathons and had many finishes in South Africas two most famous races: the 36-mile Two Oceans and the 54-mile Comrades ultramarathons. Years later, when he turned to book writing, Noakes, a physician thoroughly versed in all aspects of running and exercise physiology, produced the astonishing Lore of Running, which is certain to remain the definitive evidence-based running book for decades to come. Runningits a simple subject, but one worthy of deep exploration in the hands of a curious and inexhaustible mind.

Now Tim has turned his attention to water, another simple subject. And once again he has dug deep to produce a remarkable account. In Waterlogged, he explains how the commercial world came to exaggerate our need for daily fluid consumption.

I found myself immersed in this world nearly 15 years before I first met Tim. In 1968 I was invited to be a subject in an experiment comparing the effects of no fluids, water, and Gatorade on endurance performance. This study was designed by exercise physiologist David Costill, PhD, one of the first serious investigators in the physiology of endurance athletes. Gatorade was a new product then, concocted by Dr. Robert Cade to help the massive, out-of-shape, University of Florida Gators football team at their steamy first practices in August.

Costill, from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, had received a grant from the then-corporate owner of Gatorade, Stokely Van Camp. He wanted to see if the beverage would benefit highly fit, heavy-sweating, marathon runners. I readily accepted his invitation to participate in the study. Like most distance runners, I was eager to learn more about the physiology behind my performance.