One of the things I have been concerned with in regards to my current attempt to move up to longer races and subsequentially train for longer races by going for longer runs is staying hydrated. For most of my running career, I've never run for more than two hours at a time and never have raced anything longer than 25K. In those situations, I have never felt that carrying water was really necessary. I can go for two hours without needing a drink, and most races have aid stations with water, etc. every 3-5 miles or so. If I have ever absolutely needed a drink, it is available. However, I have been thinking about, preparing for, and experimenting with different hydration techniques in an attempt to teach myself to run with water and to be able to ingest and utilize liquids and food mid-run.
After years of racing on the track, I had developed a mentality to be as fast and light as possible. Nothing extraneous, nothing wasted. Shorty shorts, racing singlet, and light racing spikes or flats. Obviously getting a drink is not even a thought when racing 5K or 10K on the track. So, even on longer runs on the weekend (usually between 13-18 miles) we never carried water or even worried about it. We would get a drink when we got home from the run. This strategy no longer works. First, my runs are getting longer, and therefore staying hydrated is becoming more of a concern. Second, I'm doing most of my longer runs up on the trails in the mountains where water isn't readily accessible (unless you like giardia or the pumps at various campgrounds are actually working). And lastly, after years of training my body to operate with a nearly empty stomach (gorging ourselves the night before a track meet and cutting off water consumption at least an hour and half before the race), I have focused on training my body to take in fluids and food while running. That has been a little difficult.
A couple of years ago, I decided to address the hydration issue and purchased an REI singleshot waistbelt that holds a 20 oz. waterbottle. It also has a little pocket for storing things. I bought the waistbelt because I didn't want to carry something in my hand, like a handheld water bottle. The only time I ever ran with things in my hand was on relay teams and those batons drove me nuts. For awhile, I didn't mind the waistbelt. I used it on longer trail runs and typically had little trouble with it. However, that changed when I carried it during the Greenland race. It drove me bonkers right from the start; it eventually chafed the hell out of my hips and lower back, I got sick of reaching behind me and fighting to get the water bottle out of the holster, and I feel like it slowed me down a little. Therefore, I decided maybe it was time to try something else.
Last weekend I stopped in at REI in Fort Collins and picked up a Nathan Quickdraw Plus handheld. I thought, "what the hell?" and gave it a try. I took it up with me Tuesday on a seven-mile trail run at Happy Jack. While seven miles is too short a run to concern myself with having a readily available drink, I just carried it in order to start getting used to it. What I discovered was that I didn't completely hate it. I found it to be a lot less cumbersome than the waistbelt and I liked having the water in-hand and easily accessible. I also found that it made me focus on my form and swinging my arms a little more. One of the things with the form workouts we've been doing with Coach Sanchez is that he has us carry batons in order to make us work on swinging our arms for better form. The handheld is sort of an extention of that.
While one decent experience does not a convert make, I feel like over time I can get to where I maybe don't notice the handheld so much.
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