salt (Read 782 times)

No, it was just salt! Simple, really, you sweat, the liquid evaporates and leaves the trace elements on you skin (mostly salt). You can be perfectly hydrated and still experience this, sometimes even if you don't really feel like you are sweating! That only means that the sweat is evaporating as it forms. Oh, and welcome! Lynn B

Yeah, I get that often too... Now that you mention it, I think I may experience it more in cold weather? Perhaps because the cold air is also very dry so the sweat evaporates quickly.

Maybe, but I have always thought that in cooler weather I tend to sweat and then stop sweating so much and that's when I notice the salt. In warmer weather, I keep sweating and it keeps the skin wet so I don't notice the film as much...

I know what you mean - I get it, too. I actually asked about it here and I think they thought I was nuts. It's not the usual sweat salt, right? It's like you're suddenly crunchy, like the stuff on the edge of a Margarita glass? I tend to only get it on really long runs. But suddenly at mile 18-20, all of a sudden you could fill a shaker off of me. Doesn't seem to change with the weather, either. Ran a marathon in 20 degree weather and I looked like a salty snowman at the end.

Simple. You sweat. Sweat contains salt and water. Water evaporates, leaving salt. Sometimes it is humid out and the sweat does not evaporate as well (which keeps you from getting any benefit from evaporative cooling, which is why you stay warmer when it is humid). Sometimes it is dry out and the sweat evaporates very well, leaving noticable salt. It's the humidity, not the heat