I got up early Saturday and was out the door by 7am. Granted, this wasn’t as early as I wanted but it’s better than later, I figured, and I was still moving. I brought along my new Nathan handheld and stuffed the pocket full with my inhaler and a package of Power Bar Energy Burst (by the way, those things taste like Gushers! Delicious!)
 |
| My new handheld |
I stuck to my walk-every-mile pattern in order to keep my lungs happy, and although I was cruising along at a wicked slow pace, I was knocking out the miles. I did have a minor mishap between miles 7-9 when I decided to run on (what I thought were) some innocent looking dirt trails. Turns out, they were vicious hills in disguise and I kind of wore my legs out before I even hit the turn around point. (The 15 miles covered over 2700 feet of elevation gain!)
Oops!
Anyway, at mile 12.5 I immediately began to notice that I was suffering. I had drained my water bottle once and filled it up a second time, but it was nearing empty and I didn’t have anywhere else to fill it. The bottle is 22 oz so this meant that I had drank 44oz of water/Cytomax over 12.5 miles. Apparently on me, and with these absurd temps, that wasn’t enough because it even escalated to goosebumps and chills– a sure sign I was dehydrated!
Not only that, but I was noticing that my stomach was acting a little wonky. Every time I ran, it would get all strange feeling, but then it would go away when I walked. Near as I can tell, my body was trying to shout, “Listen up, I’m hungry!” but I wasn’t listening. I told myself I had eaten the entire package of Energy Bursts (roughly 200 calories per package) so I should be fine, right?
After I suffered through the last couple of miles and was happily at home, on my couch, wearing compression, and enjoying air conditioning, I started to think through my levels of misery on my run. Bottom line? I think I was dehydrated and insufficiently fueled.
 |
| I used this to train for my half back in May |
During the spring months, I had been running with a waist belt and I was happy with it. I have big ol’ hips so it didn’t bounce and I enjoyed not having to carry anything with my hands. However, the two attached water bottles were only 6oz each, so that meant I had a max of 12oz of fluid on me at any given time. Definitely not enough. Also, I realized I was dehydrating myself further because it was a pain to reach around to my back and dig the bottles out of their pockets. I was avoiding doing it, and therefor, not drinking enough water.
As a cure, I decided to purchase the Nathan handheld. I don’t love carrying it in my hand but it holds almost twice as much water as my waist belt so I decided I could learn to live with it. However, I’m starting to think that on runs any longer than 15 miles I am going to need much, MUCH more water! Granted, I can always refill the bottle, but when I’m out on trails, there isn’t anywhere to do this.