March 16, 2012

Hydration belts

I've been putting off writing this post, because there are so many different opinions on hydration belts, and mine is just that--an opinion. But after my last couple of long runs, some of you have asked me how I carry water with me while I run.

After running the 12-miler, I knew I was going to have to figure out a solution to hydrating while running. Since the longest distance I'd ever run was a half-marathon, I never felt the need to carry water with me. I always drink a quart of water before running, and I only really feel thirsty after about 10 miles. But in training for the full marathon, I knew that I couldn't do these long runs without water.

I could have planned routes that passed my house or car, but that just seemed too inconvenient. Jessica and I wanted to explore the Metroparks, so it wasn't always possible to pass the car. I normally don't like to carry anything with me when I run (not even an iPod) because it just seems to get in the way. And the one time I attempted to carry a water bottle with me, I was so irritated by the water sloshing around that I never tried it again. So I was dead set against getting a hydration belt (a belt that holds water bottles), because I was sure it was going to annoy me.

Jessica had bought one and she brought it along on our 12-miler. I decided to try wearing it for the last few miles of our run, to see how it felt. I was really surprised that I barely even noticed it! If anything, it gave me better posture. I didn't hear water sloshing, and I didn't feel any irritation from the belt at all. So I ended up buying one also.

The one I have is this belt by Amphipod. HOWEVER, after I got it, I saw some belts at Target (just off-brand ones) and I tried them on--they felt exactly the same as the Amphipod. If I had known that, I would have just gotten one from Target for much less money. I also tried on the Nathan brand ones, and they felt the same too. There is another one by Amphipod that is a couple dollars cheaper, but the belt isn't stretchy, which I why I chose this one.

Jessica mentioned this, and I think she's right about it--to keep the belt from bouncing, you should wear it around your natural waist (at the narrowest point), with the bottle resting on the small of your back rather than wear it low by your hips. I've tried it both ways, and it was very annoying when it was on my hips. But when it's around my waist, I don't even notice it. Jessica and I are about the same size, so I don't know how this would feel for someone who is much larger or who has a larger waist than hips.

The water bottle holds 20 oz of water, which has been just fine so far. We're probably going to have to refill our bottles once for our 15 mile run on Monday. The bottle is really easy to get in and out while running, which is nice. There is a pocket on the front of it, but you can't hold much in there. I can fit a couple of Gu packets and my car key.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with it. I won't use it on my shorter runs, but for runs that are longer than 8 or 10 miles I will need a drink. If you're thinking about buying a belt, I'd go to a store to try some on and see if they bother you. Try wearing it in different spots to see what is most comfortable.



I had a moment of complete stupidity yesterday, and I just had to share it with you. I was looking at the cover of my new Runner's World magazine, and saw this:
I thought about it for a second. I was thinking, "How on EARTH could there possibly be 50 ways to open a magazine? Huh?"

It didn't come to me until about 30 seconds later when I realized that I was supposed to "open" the magazine for rest of the sentence '50 easy ways to'. They really needed to put a dot dot dot after the 'to' so people like me don't feel completely stupid trying to figure out 50 ways to open a magazine!



I was supposed to do speedwork today, but I decided that since I ran the 5K race on Sunday, I could count that as a tempo run and just do 3-miles easy today. I haven't run my regular 3-mile route in a long time, and it was nice!
 Tomorrow and Sunday are rest days before the big 15-miler!

16 comments:

  1. "50 easy ways.." lol that would totally be something that would stump me for a second too!

    Thanks very much for the water belt review. I have tried the other type of belt with the little bottles that slip around and hated it so much. Especially since you can get this type at target, I might have to give it a shot. I get EXTREMELY thirsty on runs of 4 or more - the other day I did a 6 miler without bringing water and I thought I was going to die.

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  2. Wow, 9:09 is way faster than my "easy" pace. That *would* be speedwork for me!!

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  3. Oh yeah, there should definitely have been a .... How odd! lol

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  4. My hydration belt moves (as in around my waist), it makes me cranky

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  5. I've never seen them at Target, possibly because I haven't looked for them... I definitely need one because I don't want to stop for water. I'm afraid if I stop I won't start up again!!

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  6. It gets really hot where I live so a having a water bottle is a must. I'll check out Target next time I'm there. Thanks for the review!

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  7. That is hilarious, about the magazine! : ) You made me feel smart...being a blonde, people expect me to take something like that literally. So I felt really smart after looking at the photo and thinking "50 ways to do???" I was waiting for another photo showing the inside of the magazine. So thank you for making me feel smarter than normal today. lol

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    1. Thanks for the hydration belt review. I will probably buy one for the half marathon coming up in April. I have used the Amphipod hand held bottle since I started running a year ago. It's very comfortable; its designed to fit the contour of your hand so you dont have to grip it or anything. btw, I finally found the peanut butter GU and look forward to trying it. Deb from TN

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  8. I don't understand how you can have the water bottle resting at the small of your back and it still be easy to get in and out while running, that boggles my mind.

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  9. Katie, I know you follow other blogs, and I'd love to check out the blogs of your followers. Would you consider putting a section in with links to other blogs? I love all the weight loss motivation.

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    1. Your wish is my command... as of today's post :) Actually, I'm linking to some awesome success stories today. I do read other blogs, and I keep promising to make a blog roll someday. I just don't want to hurt feelings of people whose blogs I may not read. So I will try and figure out a solution soon!

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    2. Maybe you could just let people ask to have their blog added to your list? I know you don't have time to read all the blogs your followers have, and probably limit what you read to people who are in the same bracket as you.

      A lot of people who read you are at the beginning of their journeys, like myself, and don't all choose running as their form of exercise. I'd love to find blogs from people like me too. It's hard to find them, and if you could keep a list for all us runsforcookies fanatics, it would be an awesome way for us to connect with others as well.

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  10. I have the same hydration belt from amphipod and love it - have been using it since 2008 - one of the nice things about amphipod is that you can buy little pocket bags and put them on the belt part - I put my jelly belly sport beans and peanut butter filled pretzels in there in little baggies to use as fuel during long runs or half marathons (haven't been able to stomach gu yet).

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  11. HAHAHAHA! I love your magazine snafu, that cracked me up! I ran a 5k yesterday, aren't you proud of your buddy?!?? I'm mini-runner-katie! I am going to get one of those belts when I can run for a really long time! I like that you can put a car key in there too!

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  12. OMG I just spit water out on my monitor. 50 Ways to Open a Magazine...classic.

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  13. Thank you for post! I am not to the point of running far enough to need a hydration belt, but we have spent $100 bucks or more on camel packs and different contraptions for my DH, he ran 18 miles today and resorted to leaving a few bottles of water in various ditches and by stop signs on his route to stop and pick up. I think we will head to Target and try one of those. Thanks!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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