Water

I can happily run 6-10 miles without taking on board any fluids but now I am about to start the longer training runs I need to start thinking about hydration.

• I have a hand held bottle but I find this very frustrating as it is a distraction and a think tenses my arm. 
• I have a camelbak belt which holds a bottle, which is fine when running but not very easy to use and I do not need such a big bottle of fluid.

I do not know how much fluid I need to take on board during a run, but when I was helping at London Marathon I was talking to a Doctor with the first aid team at the finish and she said that the most common problems they had to deal with were dehydration and hyponateremia. I can understand the dehydration but the hyponateremia (which is too much fluid-water poisoning) surprised me. The Doctors did explain the reason, which I cannot remember, but the key thing was it did not actually take too much extra water to cause the hyponateremia.

So what am I going to do?

I am going to listen to my body (Tai Chi basics)  and use a couple of small 100ml bottles which I can put into my jacket pockets, filled with Orange Squash and see how it goes.