Drinks during a cold run (Read 847 times)

Although cold in the UK (0 degrees C/ 32 F ) tonight I went for my scheduled run taking with me my trusty bottle of weak diluted orange squash in my grippy bottle. After about 3 miles I took a glug of fluid which by this time had an opportunity to cool considerably from the ambient house temperature. I was rather taken aback by the desperate coolness of the fluid and it got me thinking. As I am running in very cold temperatures these days my outer body temperature will be quite low, blood flow will be moved away from my body core to the major muscles and heart. If I am taken on cold fluids, is there a danger of me lowering my core temperature further causing me the danger of getting slight hyperthermia? I am aware that I do not need to drink as much during cold weather but I am concerned that I am doing more harm than good. Has anyone got any thoughts about fluid intake during cold weather , are warm drinks OK? I have a habit now after a cold run of having a nice warm cup of coffee or tea and put a nice comfy fleece on to regulate my temperature.

I rarely drink during cold runs either. You could wear a camelbak style pack under a few of your layers while out running so that your body temp can keep it a little warmer, or you could start the run with some heated water (just not so hot you melt hte plastic if you use a plastic container to carry with, obviously.)

Dehydration is a greater risk for hypothermia than drinking cold drinks unless the drinks are very very cold.

Thanks everyone, I suppose it is just habit that I have been running with my bottle and my fluid loss isn't that high to justify it...it is more a "comfort blanket".

I went for a 17 mile long run yesterday (15-19 degrees) and my drinks were totally frozen by halfway through the run - I couldn't even open the bottles because the water froze the tops closed. You can measure your fluid loss before and after the run by weighing yourself, and see if it's enough to justify it. I figure I'm still sweating (though not nearly as much), and I'm not that great at hydrating myself in between runs, so it's probably a good idea for me if I plan to be out there a while. I was sipping ice clumps before the water froze over completely and didn't think much of it.

I live on the prairies in Canada, and I would not dream of going on a 10+mile run without water. So here's what you do when it's cold (my definition of cold is a little lower than yours ) Put warm water into your bottle!...see that was easy My bottle is a single style held in a fanny pack type of belt thing, it holds about 500ml I think, if you add some Gatorade etc it will also retard the freezing process. But starting out with warm to hottish water and the small amount of bouncing theses bottles do in the samll of you back I have been able to run for 2 hours at -25*C (not sure what that is in F) and still not freeze up. And yes it is just as important to take on water when it is cold, and don't worry about hypothermia, your body is at work so the fires are burning. I set my Garmin to beep every 10 mins and then I take a mouthful, seems to work for me...