[pct-l] The dangers of 'Cameling Up'

[Melanie Clarke]

In addition to water, bring nutritious snacks with you that you can eat
when your energy runs low, this is commonly referred to as "bonking".  You
will use up your body's stores of blood glucose and muscle glycogen long
before your muscles fatigue.  Cycling enthusiasts (like me) who will go
about 60-120 miles on a ride all bring snacks along with them in the
pockets of their jerseys for this purpose.  Long distance hiking is the
same.  Any long sustained activity will require replenishment after a
couple of hours or sooner!

Toga

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 7:42 AM, C <chrisfoley81 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi good morning everyone!
> Im looking to burn 7,000 calories this Friday by walking over 50 miles
> hopefully on the gyms treadmill...the most I've reached is 6,011...someone
> just topped it at 6,666...any ideas to help prevent me from not getting so
> sick afterwards...any secrets? Ideas?
> Thanks so much!!
> Chris
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 11, 2013, at 10:14 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:
>
> > Good morning,
> >
> > “Cameling up” resulted from one of the “if a little is good, a lot is
> > better” ideas.  Our bodies need sufficient hydration and an appropriate
> > balance of electrolytes.   If water intake to that level is good,
> unfortunately
> > twice that much water isn’t twice as good.
> >
> > Once that extra water has been swallowed it becomes largely
> > non-discretionary -- meaning my body will process it on auto-pilot.  The
> > extra water is just removed by the kidneys and stored in the bladder to
> be
> > dumped behind a bush when the urge is great.
> >
> > It’s probably true that many of us stop drinking before we’ve really had
> > enough to rehydrate ourselves, but to me that doesn’t mean I should drink
> > until I’m uncomfortable and bloated, it means I drink a few cups more
> than
> > I think I need.
> >
> > What the “camelers” seem to want to do is carry more water up the trail,
> > and to do that I find it far better to carry the additional water in an
> > extra 2.4 liter, 1.3 ounce, plastic ‘Platy sack rather than in my
> > stomach.  Even
> > as an ultra-lite hiker I much prefer to carry that extra 1.3 ounces
> rather
> > than discomfort myself for a number of miles until I excrete the excess.
>   I
> > can carry extra water in the ‘Platy -- and manage its usage -- far longer
> > than I can carry even one extra liter in my body.
> >
> > Steel-Eye
> >
> > -Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
> >
> > http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
> >
> > http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
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