Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Help - Avoiding public toilets in Paris

Ok, so now its time to be completely honest.

I have a problem. (Just 1 I hear you say??!!)

Running makes me need to go to the toilet, and I am not talking about number 1's. Apparently it is quite common for runners, however I am yet to find a solution.

This became an issue when training for the last marathon and I put it down to the energy gels I was using. I have had more than one bush stop in training but can't seem to stop my body needing to expel, anywhere between 5-15ks. I even took imodium on race day in Canberra but when I saw the public toilet sign at 16k, I knew I was headed straight there.

It's not the gels, it is still happening. Problem is, I don't think that Paris toilets are going to be as user friendly as Canberra (ie clean). Also, I was reminded on the weekend that I would probably need to carry a coin to even get into one.

The answer - not need a toilet when I run.

One suggestion I am still to try is a shot of coffee in the morning before I run, as I am not a coffee drinker, this will apparently get 'everything' moving.

Any other ideas?? Please??

2 comments:

  1. 2 solutions:

    a) Get up 2-3hours before the mara, eat breaky/drink coffee and go for a walk - that will get things moving and you'll have plenty of time to expel prior to race; OR

    b) 2 Lomotil or 4 Imodium tablets - will block you up for a week!

    Mark

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  2. I have similar issues that you do and am also a runner. You need to experiment with the different kinds of gels out there. It is likely the sugar that is sending you uncomfortably to the bathrooms. I can only use the cliffbar -shot blocks. The sugar is brown rice sugar and the only thing that my stomach can handle during runs.

    But finding your sugar is key to solving this problem.

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