I have just read with interest the advice on immodium and being caught short, during a race and on training runs. My problem is more to do with the waterworks! I, of course hydrate before a race with drinking water. Both about 2 hours before and directly before a race. The excitement of the race makes me want to 'go' quite soon into the commencement of the race, most uncomfortable. Is it accepted practice or not to find a spot on the verge side of a race, or not. Oh I forgot to mention I am female. Men can stop very easily. I have never a female stop, but maybe I have never noticed. I would welcome andy advice and experience on this matter, as to how much water to drink before and how long before a race/training, and if anybody has stopped to carry out the necessary.
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There is no hard and fast rule on how much water to take but you might want to run with a water bottle and belt which will allow you to have little sips as opposed to sinking a large amount just before the race. You can pop some tissue in the belt too for when you pop over the fence/hedge/gate!
My advice is if you have to go then go where you can but if you go in thick bushes be ware of perverts as before I did the Mancheser marathon a couple of years ago (it started in a park)I popped into a bushes and this old man was sat there peeping at me!!! To be fair I think he was a tramp and I was probably invading his space more than he was invading mine!
At the London Marathon, the women seemed to "go" in groups, just like they do at parties.
Cheers, V-rap.
Having done just a few long races though; it has struck me that a lot of the pre-race relieving of the bladder is down to pre-race nerves, more that actually needing to go.
From personal experience I've found on long training runs (and indeed races) that I might need to 'go' after a couple of miles but have found that the endurance factor of the run itself has actually curbed the need to 'go' given time, and that by the end of a 1/2 marathon for instance, that feeling has totally gone. Everybody is different of course, but I believe the psychological state of being in a race makes us need to go (more that we actually need to) purely bacause that is one of our many apprehensions about being in a race situation.
In conclusion. If you need to go......Go.
Sheila Anne.
I am finding that I can drink up to 2 hours before a training run and then directly seconds)before I run and then top up with a sports drink asI run along. I have found that sports drinks do not find their way to the bladder so quickly as plain water. I did not know that once the bladder has some urine in it that it can be dissipated on a longer run into the body. Reassuring piece of information. Thanks everybody for your help on this subject. I will be putting it all to the test in a half marathon at Lake Vyrnwy in 10 days time or so.
I also for a long run make the last thing I do a quick pee, so have been practising doing this a little earlier, as in a race.
I'm doing Bristol on Sunday, so I'm going to try not drinking too much beforehand, but take water with me, and make use of the drinks stations also,
I had wondered if energy drinks went through me quicker,, but you think not, cecelia,
One thing I know for sure, I can't run and "hang on at the same time!!