Mo Farah wins 10000m and 5000m ..... has time to run away for fluids !!

At Colombo,  India  won the Series against Sri Lanka in Lanka  after 22 years ! – great comeback for the team, which lost the 1^st Test after dominating most sessions.  Test Cricket is longer duration – 5 days of at least 6 hours every day – other than lunch and Tea breaks – there is the drinks intervals.

In Athletics and in exercise,  lot of the body’s water is lost through sweat. This causes dehydration. Our body needs to sweat in order to maintain a normal body temperature. But in the process, a lot of electrolytes are also lost through our sweat.A shortage or imbalance in the levels of electrolytes in our bodies will cause fatigue, tiredness, sluggishness and a lack of energy.Drinking water can help to rehydrate the body after moderate exercises. But strenuous exercise lasting more than 1 hour will require more than a  replacement of the water that is lost through sweating. Electrolytes and carbohydrates lost during the exercise will also need to be replenished.  If one is running more than 30 minutes, one needs  to rehydrate on the run.

This post is on the Champion runner and the drinks break that he had during his winning run !

Mohamed "Mo" Farah, CBE, is the 2012 Olympic, 2011, 2013 and 2015 World and 2010, 2012 and 2014 European champion in the 5000 metres, and the 2012 Olympic, 2013 and 2015 World and 2010 and 2014 European champion in 10,000 metres.  On the track, he generally competes over 5000 m and 10,000 m, but also runs the 3000 metres and occasionally the 1500 metres. He made his marathon debut in 2014 in London.  Born in Somalia and a naturalised British citizen, Farah is the European record holder for the 1500 m, 10,000 m, half marathon andtwo miles, the British indoor record in the 3000 m, the British record holder for the 5000 m, the European indoor record holder for 5000 m, and the current indoor world record holder for the two mile.

He is a great hero in England and to them - repeat viewing of  Mo Farah winning never gets boring. His latest victory, in the men’s 5,000m world championships in Beijing, was his seventh consecutive world and Olympic title. Yet he celebrated it like his first: with a sonic boom as he crossed the line before falling humbly to his knees in prayer.It has become second nature for Farah to wait until 600m before striking for home. This time Caleb Ndiku, who won the 5,000m Commonwealth Games title last year, decided to set him a new test by going for broke with 800m remaining.The 22-year-old, who has run 3:29.50 for 1500m, drove hard in a brave attempt to break Farah and at one point established a lead of two or three metres but behind him there was no panic. Farah recalibrated and closed the distance until with 100m to go !

Farah, who retained his world 10,000m title on the opening day of the Championships, said after finishing just over half a second clear of Kenya’s 22-yer-old Caleb Ndiku,  that he really tested him. Ndiku commented: For me getting a silveris the best moment ever. I wasn’t expecting that. And I know I’m still not ontop getting back from injury.

Mo Farah crossed the line in a time of 13min 50.38sec ahead of Kenya's Caleb Ndiku at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.  Just over three minutes into the race the 32-year-old dashed across eight lanes of the track to get a cup of water !

MailOnline reports that even  making a pit stop for a cup of water was not enough to stop Mo Farah from sprinting away to victory in the World Championship 5,000m final.The unstoppable Britain, who had secured gold in the 10,000m just days earlier, dashed across eight lanes of the track three minutes into the race to get his hands on some refreshment.Fellow competitors turned their heads in surprise as Farah, who had been bring up the rear of the pack, ran wide to visit the water station.The distance runner poured the liquid over his head, as all the athletes endured the searing Beijing heat in the Birds Nest Stadium.After champion exerted extra energy to get fluids, the race officials positioned themselves closer to the athletes for the remaining laps of the race.

'I didn't feel great, my hamstring was playing up a bit but the medical team helped me through it and to make a double means so much to me. I was getting nervous for the first time in a little while but thanks to all the medical team. It was amazing to do it.'

Though it sounds incredible, I could not understand how there could be such a lapse – would not fluids be made available nearer the running track ?  - after breaking away from the crowd, Farah then threw the cup away before rejoining the other runners taking part in the final of the 5,000m.  Shortly after that  unnecessary excursion race officials moved the drinks table further inside the track to aid athletes. 

He crossed the line arms outstretched and mouth open in 13min 50.38sec, with silver medallist Ndiku trailing in 13:51.75. Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet clinched bronze in 13:51.86.Kenya's Ndiku, who won the Commonwealth Games 5,000m last summer in Farah's absence, had warned that he and his compatriots had 'something planned' for Farah. If they did it was very poorly conceived – with the slow pace in the early stages playing into the hands of Farah, who had the best kick of anyone in the race.  The first lap was tortuously slow – 73 second, and Farah could comfortably swing out wide to a drinks station three and a half minutes in. Farah remained at the back until there were seven laps remaining when he went to the front and was joined by Ethiopia's Imane Merga and his Nike Oregon Project training partner Galen Rupp.Ndiku took the lead with two laps to go. They were shoulder to shoulder with just over a lap to run but he ran out of gas as Farah flew past. The 1:48.6 the Briton ran for the last 800m was equal to his two lap personal best set in 2003.

Farah said his body felt even more worn than usual after the 10,000m because of the hard Mondo track surface in the Bird's Nest which has helped produce so many quick times but takes its toll on the joints. On the flip side a kinder schedule meant he had an extra rest day between the finals to recover.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st Sept. 2015.