Dehydration

Young Septimus Severinus was worrying about my hydration. I have to say that the week he was walking with me was the hottest and, more relevantly, the most humid weather we have had in these parts since the ghastly summer of 2003. For those who don't know, the more humid the weather, the more perspiration can not evaporate to perform its normal cooling function, and the more and more you perspire. Result, dehydration.

Also, the body does compensate for regular dehydration. When I used to train for long-distance running, it was my habit to run more than 20 miles each Sunday morning. I obviously sweated more that day than others. The result was that for the next few day my weight would be up by several pounds because my body was holding water in anticipation of me doing the same distance every morning. Clever things, these bodies. On Thursday, regular as clockwork, my body would realise that either it had made a mistake or I had let it down in some way, so it would let me down by sending me to the smallest room (a late friend of mine used to say "Can you point me to the sound of running water") many times, and I would lose several pounds every Thursday, just evacuated water no longer required on voyage.

I believe that my body is aware of my current antics and is holding water in the same way, except that, because I am walking long distance almost every day, the "Thursday effect" never arrives.

This is not to say that I do not need to make special efforts to hydrate myself, because I am renowned for not drinking enough of anything. A doctor once told me that my bladder is square because it has rarely been full.

The pic above shows me doing my best to maintain hydration during a long, hot climb.