Yesterday, I received an email from a reader (shout out to Tim in Sacramento) asking about fueling options:
Curious how you choose to hydrate for marathons, halfs and training runs… I’ve been noticing a lot of runners in halfs foregoing belts, etc., especially the leaders. Wondering if it’s a pace and lightness thing, or just getting yourself used to the cups & spaced water stops.
This is a great question and an answer I thought I’d share with everybody as it took me a long time to finally figure out what hydration gear I preferred. There’s definitely a plethora of overwhelming choices and outlined below are my two cents:
Short Training Runs (8 miles or less)
During shorter runs, my body can usually manage not bringing the extra water and if I need to, I’ll stop and get some from a fountain. Thus, I only use my iFitness belt to carry my cell phone, a credit card and maybe some chews (be safe and ALWAYS BRING A CELL PHONE). The iFitness belt is my all-time favorite because it seriously doesn’t bounce and can fit a ton of stuff in the tiny pocket. It is a must-have for all runners.
Mid-Distance & Long Training Runs
When I started getting serious about running, I saw everyone sporting the full on fuel belt – complete with water bottles, a pocket, Gu holders, etc. I knew I needed to carry fuel with me so I thought this was the way to go. I finally found a belt that had a minimal amount of bounce (the Nathan belt below) and thought I was set.
But here’s where the problem is: you velcro it on your waist but I have to have my shirt on top of the belt – in other words, I don’t like to strap the belt on and have my shirt practically tucked in. I prefer my shirts to be free flowing so air can circulate and I don’t overheat. So, that means that the belt is strapped on tight and making direct contact with my skin and let me tell you, once you fill those water bottles up, that belt is HEAVY! The more and more long runs I did with the belt, I felt weighed down by it and the it would rub my sides raw. Not worth it to me. Thus, I tried out a few more things and finally found a good solution: hand-held bottle (with pocket) and an iFitness belt.
I use a larger hand-held as the smaller ones don’t seem to make sense to me. It’s such a small amount of water and not worth the burden. The hand-held DOES take getting used to, so don’t try it out for the first time on a marathon (as I did at Chicago and ended up chucking the wattle because I felt like my hands were freaking out.)
5K – 10Ks
I usually try not to carry anything and use the race’s water stops if need be. These races are usually short enough that I’m focused on speed and don’t want anything to weigh me down. But make sure the race actually has water stops! Some smaller races don’t.
Half
If I am focusing on a PR, I will just take my iFitness belt for fuel and my phone, and use the water stops. If it’s a leisurely half, go ahead and take a hand-held as well.
Full
I used the full belt at LA and it chewed me up pretty badly. This time around I’m sticking with the iFitness belt and hand-held. If the hand-held starts to bother you, take the actual bottle out of the holder and chuck it, then loop the holder onto you iFitness belt. I know, I know…not the most eco-friendly or cost effective, but the bottle is cheap to replace and that $3 could be worth a new PR!
As with everything else, be sure to try out all of your options on your training runs to see what really works best for you.
What do you use to fuel during training and racing?
If you have any running questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]
Happy running!
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Day 84: So far, Jillian Michaels’ Trouble Zone DVD
i need to track down one of those ifitness belts. i’m bad and never bring a cell phone…oops!
Thanks for the great info Page… and for the shout out 🙂
Great to hear the whats & the whys of how other runners approach things. As I continue to incorporate more speed into some of my competitive runs I’ll definitely continue to experiment to find out what works best for me on my training runs.
Thanks again!
Tim
i’m a nathan’s handheld girl all the way. especially since becoming such a blog nut, I love that I can fit my camera and some fuel into the pocket and not have to wear any kind of belt.
Ooooh, I need one of those Ifitness belts! Did you get the mini or the full size? I’m really bad and I usually never run with my phone, whoops! I’m trying to change that 🙂 I’m ready to pull the trigger on Amazon as I’m typing this 🙂
Thanks for commenting on my blog!
I’ve tried two different fuel belts and the Nathan handheld. I like fuelbelts for when I want to carry a lot because I can strap an extra pocket on. But fuelbelts can be annoying if I start out the run kinda full from breakfast, or if I get full on water/sports drink. They’re either too loose or too tight. I love my handheld but can’t carry my phone with it. I’ll check out the ifitness belt.
Do you find the handheld bottle hard to re-cap? I usually refill my bottles at water stations during marathons and I have a hard time re-screwing the cap on. The threads don’t catch. It worries me that I won’t be able to get it on during a race!
It’s funny, this is still I’ve never thought about before since I don’t run regularly, haha! Anyway, glad you’ve found things that work for you!
this is so great. I’m starting to get to the point where i need to carry water and i feel overwhelmed with how many options there are out there. The handheld sounds awesome i’ll have to try it.
I never carry anything with me in a race. One time I wore my HR monitor and it slid off immediately. Now I bring as little as possible…
I have only been using my small handheld lately. I used to use a big one but I get shoulder cramps from it, so I just make sure there are spots to refill it along the way. I love my ifitness belt for carrying everything else but lately with all this rain I have had a jacket or vest on that I can stash all my stuff. I love not having anything strapped on me!
Fueling for me is so tough because my stomach is so sensitive when I run fast. The handheld does take some getting used to and I hated it during my last half marathon. I think I have a spi belt or maybe it is iFitness but they are both great. I use it all the time. I just worry that by not taking any gels for a half marathon I may run out of energy by the end. But I haven’t been needing any in my training then i don’t know.
ugh, i hate the handheld but my fuel belt is stupid and only has 2 bottle slots. i just need to buy something new. i’ve actually been looking at the nathan, i’ve heard it is less bouncy.
great post! My hydration strategy on runs is pretty much exactly the same as yours. I wear a full water/fuel belt on every training run that I do. I use the Amphipod Run lite trail endurance.
http://www.amphipod.com/products/hydration/hydration-belts/runlite-hydration-belts/runlite-trail-endurance
During races up to 14K or so I carry my fuel belt and don’ t stop at the water stations.
During half marathons and marathons, I wear my fuel belt just with the pouch for gels and salt tables. I stop at water stations for water.
You bring up an important point above though, right now I wear my fuel belt on the outside of my shirt, so my shirt is basically tucked in. Your point about overheating due to this might be accurate, I need to test out running with my shirt untucked to see if I notice any difference! Any more thoughts on this?
I use the Amphipod Run Lite 3: http://www.amphipod.com/products/hydration/hydration-belts/runlite-hydration-belts/runlite-3
It sits well and doesn’t bounce, but one of the bottles started leaking and I had to toss it. I really like the front pouch — it looks small but is large enough to hold a row of Clif Blok Shots, credit/debit cards, key and cell phone. I strap a shoe wallet to the belt whenever I need to carry anything extra.
I didn’t wear my belt during my last half, because I knew there water stations on the course. If there are plenty of water stations during a race with my preferred sports drink, I don’t see the point of carrying bottles with me — it’s just extra weight I don’t need.
I like that one! If I get tired of my current belt, I might upgrade to that one, would be nice to have 3 bottles instead of 2 for longer runs where there isn’t a water fountain anywhere on the route…
I run with water every single run. It is my crutch. I use my big handheld 99% of the time. I keep my keys and fuel in the pockets. I sometimes downgrade to a smaller handheld or a belt for races depending on if I am taking my time and camera along. Interestingly if I am trying to PR a marathon, I’ll run with the handheld and refill it twice along the way. It is heavy and I do wonder about its effect on my time. My last PR attempt I had a friend on the course so I started with my big handheld, and also had two small handhelds ready to go and swapped them out to keep me lighter.
I never run with water unless I’m running 7+ miles- I just don’t drink it really! But I actually leave my water bottle/fuel on my garden wall and eat/drink as I go past! 😛 I do need to invest in a fuel belt though…
Ahh and I DEFINITELY need to start taking my cell with me!! Thanks for the reminder 🙂
Im a recent gu-er… i hated it before but its so much more convient. as for runs with water/hydration anything more than 10 when its hot… if its cool, im good for a while!
For my first marathon I just held some hammer gel packs inside my gloves and ate them with water at the aid stations. That was a little weird, but I didn’t really plan ahead. For my second marathon (ironman) I carried a flask with hammer gel in it and again just ate it at the aid stations with their water. The great thing about races are the aid stations so you don’t have to carry as much.
For my training runs I used to wear a fuel belt with a gel flask attatched, and it would drive me crazy bouncing around unless I wore it really low on my hips, like on my butt. It still isn’t totally comfortable, but it works. Have you tried that? That would definitely not work to have it rubbing against your skin! Ouch!
I’ve recently gotten a handheld but I haven’t gotten used to it yet. After my first long run with it my arm was so sore!
Oh, also I LOVE the ifittness belt too and always take it with me now so I can have my phone. I hear there’s a new iffiness belt with water bottles! I might have to spring for that! :). Great post, thanks!
I used the Nathan 2-bottle belt for a few years but now I don’t like it. I was using my small handheld bottle and an ifitness belt, but I got tired of that. Lately I’ve been using the new iFitness hydration belt which i LOVE. But last week I did a 15-miler and accidentally didn’t have any gels or drinks with me. I survived so I’m thinking of only relying on aid stations for Oakland yet using my regular iFitness belt to hold my phone and keys. Fingers crossed that it goes well! And as always, love this post!
Sage advice. I recently invested in a handheld, which I haven’t tried out yet what with all this rain!
That said, I’m quickly coming to realize how useful that iFitness belt might be. I live in the city and the last time I ran in the wee hours before the sun came up, I counted 3 crazies along my route (North Beach – Marina) talking angrily to themselves and their imaginary foes. Yikes! Am ambivalent about a headlamp and running in the rain – so it’s been the treadmill for me. I mean, what are ya gonna do with wet running shoes if you only have one pair?!
I love my Nathan Handheld holder, but I actually use plastic sport bottles instead of the nathan bottle. That way if its getting too heavy, I can toss it and just put the holder on my arm. Love it!