Hydration

As my runs get longer, figuring out how to stay hydrated is a bigger and bigger issue. You need a lot of water, fuel and electrolyte replacement when you're running upwards of 2 hours. I had been running this "figure 8" whose crossing point is about a mile from home. So I would run out carrying a water bottle or two, stash them just off the trail in a place where I would be running by once or twice. However, that's about an 8 mile run if I do each loop of the "8" once, 13 if I do each loop twice. I start to get bored at that point. It's also all paved trail and I prefer to do at least some of my long runs on gravel/crushed rock to save some wear and tear on my joints. And, one time this spring, someone found my apparently-poorly-hidden water bottle and picked it up. I suppose they thought they were being a good Samaritan picking up trash. I was irritated that they used no powers of deduction to realize it was a full, cold water bottle wedged between two trees, a couple feet off the trail. It had obviously (to me anyway) been placed deliberately. That was a cool day in May, I was running 9-10 miles and I had hidden one other smaller bottle. I could get by without the purloined water bottle. On a 15 miler in July or an 18 miler in August, a missing water bottle would be a much bigger inconvenience.

Last weekend I mapped out my route, a loop that cut diagonally through Eden Prairie, mostly on the Lower Regional Trail (LRT) which is crushed rock. I was starting near the middle of the loop. I decided to drive around and drop water/sports drink at spots near the ends of the loop, mile 5 and mile 10. That worked fine. The bottles were there when I got there, well spaced. But there were still some issues with the plan. First, it took me 40 minutes to drive all over EP dropping water. I was already going to be running 2.5+ hours and the day was only getting hotter. Second, I was stuck carrying empty water bottles. I ended up leaving the first one about half-way through the run because it was annoying and I didn't want to end up carrying two after I picked up the second. Then I had to go back for the empty later in the day. Third, between miles 5 and 10 I could have used more water than what I had. Finally, I didn't want to repeat my 40 minute drive picking up empty water bottles, so I carried the second bottle with me on my last 5 miles. I ran a lot slower those 5 miles. I'm sure there were many reasons for my slow down, but carrying that water bottle was certainly one of them. I clearly needed a new hydration plan.

I had been researching hydration belts (something you wear around your waist to carry water bottles) for several weeks. I tried everything REI had to offer in a couple different trips. I even have one I got years ago that holds one small bottle and is designed more for walking/hiking. I'm really picky about anything I'm going to wear for hours while running. It has to be comfortable. Because women have hips, these belts tend to ride up and end up around one's rib cage after awhile. Some have one big bottle in the back, but those tend to bounce. A lot of people like the kind with 2-4 small bottles around the belt, but I couldn't figure out how to position all those bottles so I wasn't hitting them with my arms. I kept coming back to the one pictured below, the GoLite HydroSpeed Women's Pack, consistently reviewed as being among the best hydration belts for women (because it's one of the few actually designed for women and not just the same as the men's version, but with pink trim.) It adjusts in 5 different places to keep it from bouncing and minimize riding up. It also holds two 21 oz bottles making the highest capacity hydration belt I found. One could spend a ridiculous amount of money on running/triathlon gear. I try to weigh my purchases carefully and only buy things that will really improve my training experience. After my run last weekend, I broke down and ordered the HydroSpeed. It came yesterday and I could feel how much better it fit than anything else I had tried as soon as I put it on. I haven't tried it with full water bottles, yet, but I could feel how each adjustment point made it more secure. I'm excited to try it out, but I'm not planning to run anymore before the triathlon Saturday. I'll keep you posted...