Pomegranate Rehydration Drink

This week marks a year since I began running. I've come along way from huffing and puffing to get through a mile and a half.  With support from friends, family and even some of you lovely readers, I participated in the AIDS Marathon training program last summer to run the Chicago Half Marathon. This weekend I am running a 10 mile race that will bring my year total to 570 miles -- And I am signed up to run the full Chicago Marathon this October (don't worry, no fundraising this year).

I'm not one to use fancy sports drinks on a regular basis, but for longer runs they certainly help. Yet, at nearly $2 a bottle for artificial dyes and high fructose corn syrup, the cost is a bit hard to swallow. A few weeks ago, Lifehacker pointed me toward a recipe for rehydration drinks on WebMD and I decided to give it a try as I increased my mileage.  I don't think I will ever go back to the store bought brands again.

Pomegranate Rehydration Drink

(Please note that, according to WebMD, these drinks are only for adults and all ingredients should be measured precisely to prevent adverse effects. In the recipe below I decreased the sugar and water and added fruit juice. Please reference the original recipe and use your own judgement to make your drink.)

Ingredients

.75 quart water

.25 quart Pom Wonderful juice*

.5 tsp baking soda

.5 tsp table salt

.25 tsp salt substitute** 

1 Tbl sugar

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a 1 quart mason jar.  Screw on the lid and shake to combine.  I leave my mason jar of energy drink in the refrigerator and sip on it after my runs throughout the week.

(*The lovely folks at Pom Wonderful sent me some of their juice to try recently. You could use any type of juice here, but I would try to avoid juices with additives and lots of sugar. **Make sure it is potassium-based.  I had to search around a bit, but eventually found a brand called No Salt at my local Whole Foods.)