While growing up and that too very early in life, I learned to hold the urge to pee. And then later to start drinking less water when I was out. It’s sad that because of a lack of clean public loos, most of us learn to find waysto avoid the most basic of bodily functions.

I was always scared of drinking water before my long training runs as well. At times, scared to even hydrate enough during the runs, knowing well that dehydration and not emptying the bladder can actually lead to UTI. And this continued for me till I decided to give up on my inhibitions. Not hydrating is simply not an option when you are out there.

And even though it’s the most natural of our bodily functions, we don’t talk about it openly. A fellow runner and blogger’s, article prompted me to write this.

Here are some of my pointers on how I get by, hope it would help –

1) I ensure my long training run routes includes 4/5 start hotels or clubs. I simply walk in to use the washroom- no one ever says anything – ever!.At times I have even done loops of 5 km for a 30km run just because I would pass a club with a clean loo.

2) You can’t really expect port-a-loos to be clean if you are the 400th person using it. Just getting used to this idea would help you tolerate the stink. You will feel blessed the next time you come across even a slightly cleaner loo.

3) Have your friends/running buddies cover for you if you are running in areas which have enough trees, rocks and less traffic. Trust me it takes time but one gets used to it. One just needs to get rid of their inhibitions.

4) During marathons, I always carry a small pack of wet wipes in my running belt. It has come in handy in the past.

5) Choose to do trail fulls over road. Find a bush – cleaner and natural. I know that’s not a solution but the satisfaction of doing a full still remains. Plus you get tagged as “hard core”.

6) I used to over hydrate in nervousness even for shorter distances. But over time I have realised that hydration should be a part of daily routine rather than just before the run. For a 10km in decent weather, you really don’t need to drink much water.

7) I haven’t tried the Pee Buddy, if anyone has and it works, I would appreciate if you can share your experience in the comments.

Do share your experiences and how you tackle this “trickly” aspect of running.