In his posts at terryrunningonempty.blogspot.com Terry Lonergan frequently describes one of his regular runs around 2 local reservoir and recently described that due to lack of rainfall, how empty they are becoming. But having read an article in this weeks Athletics Weekly, from an athletics performance point of view, dwindling water supplies may not be so much the problem but the water itself.
Stoud AC runner Derek Hough, has written an article where he points the finger of blame, not just for a decline in general running standards, but also for the general increase in the size and physical shape of the general population, over the last 50 years, on the water we drink.
He believes that the decline in western distance running is due to environmental pollution, in that chemicals in tap water and elsewhere have lead to fat gain.
He argues that Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDC) in the water supply are the culprit. EDC's get there by waste water being pumped into the river system for re-use in the water supply. These EDC's come not only from natural hormones that we all secrete but also from the likes of contraceptive pill hormones, medicines, detergents, pesticides, etc and affects the endocrine system, altering its normal function.
The endocrine system controls the secretion of hormones into the body. Hormones, of course, having a major effect upon how the body's growth and development are regulated.
The article goes on to argue that it is not the case that young runners are not training sufficiently hard but that an increased body size is contributing to a general lethargy by the population towards exercise such as running.
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