Do we need water?

There was a programme on tv yesterday (BBC4) and like so many things at the moment, it had a connection to the Olympics. Not only are rail and customs people planning to go on strike just when they will cause the most damage to the UK's image, but it seems the makers of sports shoes and sports drinks have been misleading everyone for the last few years with their pronouncements of how every runner needs two litres of their particular sports drink before, during and after they run, and must wear particular shoes that probably cost a fortune so that the runners performance can be maximised.

Experts examined each and every claim and rubbished them all. Water, and not too much of it, will do nicely. Drink when you are thirsty and be aware that pre-loading water can be dangerous. Comfortable shoes that allow the feet to behave naturally are what you need if you don't want to run in bare feet, which would be best of all. Yeah! I hope all these people who walk around clutching water bottles in one hand and mobile phones in the other saw the programme, and I hope they take note. After all, the evidence is out there, staring us in the face if we care to look. All those runners from Ethiopia, one of the dryest places on earth, where the children run miles to school on a morning and run home in the evening - are they carrying litre bottles of water to keep them going? Of course not. Yet they can run the socks off western athletes. Come on people, get a grip.

St Laurent de Batons

We spent a happy time cycling over to Montclar again this morning, by the main road this time, bought a few groceries and enjoyed an Italian ice cream cornet before we cycled back home via a new route, which was pretty, but with lots of hills. Eventually I stopped trying to cycle uphill and pushed the bike up all the uphill bits - such relief from using a different set of muscles! All in all it took us two hours, so I feel I can sit at my computer now and try for another chapter of the wip without feeling guilty.

 Just for the record, the sun wasn't out this morning, and I remembered to keep my mouth shut while cycling (in case of flies!) with  he result that we didn't feel the need to stop and take a drink, though we had a bottle of water with us.