Hydrating is fairly simple but often overlooked by beginners. If you don't like water, find a work around: use flavoring. Hydration is important for a number of reasons: to produce sweat, to stablise body temperature and to allow key processes to take place in the body. Most people know that the average person should drink 3 (UK) pints of water a day. The more we run, the more fluid we need. Some runners follow the rule of an extra pint for every 5 miles ran. I personally believe this is not enough. I drink around 1 extra pint of water a day for every 2 miles I run. The key to staying hydrated is to not get thirsty. By the time thirst kicks in, you will have already lost 3 pints of fluid.

I only drink water, tea, milk and fruit juice. I avoid pop/soda at all costs, for every 100 ml of pop there is likely to be around 50 calories. A standard UK can is 330 ml, so this is just over 150 kcal - you would have to run 1.5 miles to burn this off. I seldom drink alcohol and coffee. If you are trying to lose weight, the easiest adjustment you can make is to drink calorie free fluids. This could include cutting down on sugar in tea (1 tea spoon = around 30 kcal) or replacing pop with water. Either way, half of your fluid intake should be calorie free.

Caffeine. There is a lot to be said about caffeine, some runners believe it is a wonder drug, and some believe it is preformance repressent - it can be both. If you worry about your caffeine consumption, you may like to know that a cup of tea contains 50 mg of caffeine whilst instant coffee contains around 75 mg. A study of caffeinated runners found that their race pace endurance was increased by 44% compared to the control group - it seems that in the right quantity caffeine enhances our preformance. However, caffeine can also have negative side effects such as twitching and insomnia. If you are not racing, I don't believe caffeine is much use even if you use it to wake up before a run - once you begin running, you will wake up anyway due to the increased intake of oxygen. If you do use caffeine to enhance race performance, you should prehaps consider the moral arguments - it is central nervous system stimulant, like a lot of other banned drugs. However, prehaps the most important point about caffeine you should know is that it is a diuretic. It will dehydrate you, just like alcohol, and thus you shouldn't rely on it for rehydration. Remember - everything in moderation.

As a beginner, I wouldn't worry too much about sports drinks. If you are trying to lose weight, avoid them completely and stick to good old water. If you become a competitive runner or increase your mileage, sports drinks can be convient. They can replace salts which you may lose a lot of on long runs. Many runners suffer headaches on longer runs due to salt loss and sports drinks can help prevent this by replacing electrolytes (salts). They can also provide the right types of energy for when your're on the run or about to run.

So, when should you drink? The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) states that before running, you should drink around 1 pint 2 hours before running, then a half pint 15 minutes before. This is generally what I do, but I would advise you to leave at least 1 hour between drinking and running, longer if doing speedwork. You will have to see what works for you using trial and error. The best way of checking hydration is to observe your urine color. The darker it is, the more dehydrated you are. A runner's urine should be as clear as glass, cirtainly before running. As for drinking on the run, I would not advise this for runs under an hour, and definitely not for runs under 30 minutes, unless it is very hot. (It is better to be safe than sorry and you have to be the judge of your own safety). This section will be more useful once your running has progressed. If you choose to drink on your run, you should take in around half a pint every 15 minutes. This is around 12 big mouthfuls. You should begin this process just before you begin your run. After running I drink 2 pints straight away and then 1 pint every 30 minutes until my urine returns to a clear color.

Hydration is very important, the key is to observe the color of your urine and not let yourself get thirsty. Drink more in hot weather, and drink just as much in cold weather! Don't be fooled by the cold, you can still become dehydrated. Don't make the mistake that a lot of beginners do.