To drink or not to drink

[L.F.F.]

You can lead a horse to water .....

But you can't make him not drink?

[Alexandra]

Amongst old folk admitted to hospital there are as many with hyponatremia - water overload - as there are with dehydration. This is partly due to the "whatever you do keep drinking" philosophy.

I would say it's more likely due to the "let's have a nice cup of tea" philosophy. Most old people (older than me, that is) that I talk to are not letting fear of either dehydration or hyponatremia affect their behaviour or indeed dwell in their thoughts at all. They sometimes hold back from drinking in order to avoid trips to the loo or, like younger people, they sometimes drink pints and pints because they enjoy it or it is a social custom or they want to cheer themselves up.

[Alexandra]

Mike just shut the fluck up about it now. The advice about runners being prone to drinking too much is largely relevant to fun runners and joggers who have a bash at a marathon or half marathon for the first time. Fell running is a completely different ball game - few fun runners and joggers run in the hills for a start and when the do they rarely race and if they race they very rarely enter tough long races, largely because they need experience to get accepted. Everybody else knows what water they need and feel quite happy carrying water with them in any event, regardless of whether they drink it or not.

I agree with most of this, although I realise, Stolly, you would prefer that I not prolong the discussion by saying so. HOWEVER "just shut the fluck up" is surely not by anyone's standards reasoned argument and I don't think it has a place in these Forums. AND you risk a visit from Spelling Bee.

[Nowton Park Harrier]

If you feel the debate has run it's course, stop reading it! If you have nothing to add stop commenting! I'm still fascinated by it and learning from it.

[saz]

Those must have been the runners setting of to do Hardmoors 50 a couple of weekends ago carrying 3 lites of water each

[Grouse]

I do need a cup of tea every five minutes.

[stevefoster]

[Hes]

me too..its a very important part of my daily procrastination.

I do need a cup of tea every five minutes.

[stevefoster]

Seriously though, always enjoy a brew, be it tea, coffee, a wee whiskey 2 thirds through the Howarth Hobble or a Guinness 2 thirds through a 20m recce of the Old Counties Tops, as my good mate Crumblydown would say, 'It'd be rude not too'
Never had cramp since i discovered Nuun's either, and boy have i had cramp in the past!

[Grouse]

A wee?