Forums >Gears and Wears>Gears & wears for water, liquid and gel
My long run is reaching 1 hour soon. I am concerning about dehydration.
Do you take water, liquid and energy gel during your weekend long run? If yes, what gears do you use to hold those things? Are they comfortable?
5k - 20:56 (09/12), 7k - 28:40 (11/12), 10k trial - 43:08 (03/13), 42:05 (05/13), FM - 3:09:28 (05/13), HM - 1:28:20 (05/14), Failed 10K trial - 6:10/mi for 4mi (08/14), FM - 3:03 (09/14)
I don't take energy gel or gatorade but I do take water on runs longer than 75 minutes. I use a waist pack that holds the water bottle diagonally across the lower back that is pretty comfortable. Available here.
Rebuilding my aerobic base....racing next year.....nothing to see here....move along now.
I have a small bottle with a hand strap that I use (when I can't plan a route that has wafter fountains).
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Nashville, TN
I find I'm good up to an hour and a half (for me about 9-10mi) without water, etc if it's not really hot out. If it's really hot out, I'll use a water belt on most runs as I'm a wimp in the heat I'll also loop back to my car or stick a couple bucks down my bra to stop for a drink along the way.
Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022
Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)
Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022
My favorite water bottle is the handheld Amphipod with the neoprene sleeve. The sleeve makes all the difference for me as far as comfort holding it. No hard plastic rubbing against my knuckles.
I normally don't carry gels with me. But on my super long runs, I'll wear my Nathan water belt. The one I have is an older model but it's closest to this one - just two bottles and a back pocket.
When I just want to carry some small stuff but not water - like id/cash or my cell phone - I use the clip-on pockets like these from Amphipod. I even wear these for races when I don't want to check a bag but need to carry my super large car key.
Good look finding what works for you.
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Feeling the growl again
My long run is reaching 1 hour soon. I am concerning about dehydration. Do you take water, liquid and energy gel during your weekend long run? If yes, what gears do you use to hold those things? Are they comfortable?
The water bottle handheld Julia linked is the best solution I have found for water. It's personal, but I have found that I HATE running with anything strapped around my waist.
As for gels, I really don't see any need to think about that until you top 2 hours. Even then, unless I am going 3+ hours or decently over 2 with a hard effort, I don't take gels during training.
When possible I just run loops back past my car/house rather than carrying things with me.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Will Crew for Beer
I also use the Amphipod with the neoprene sleeve and find it works pretty well. If I don't want to carry anything I will sometime use the Salomon XT One Belt. Once I get going I don't really notice it and prefer it to the handheld if I'm doing a trail run so that my hands are free. I've taken gels in the past on my long runs, but have found that I don't really need them. My long runs are still too short and too slow to need more than water.
Rule number one of a gunfight, bring a gun. Rule number two of a gunfight, bring friends with guns.
I briefly tried a Fuel Belt 4-bottle but never could get it to sit properly. I ended up buying a Nathan HPL-020 backpack for long runs in the summer; it's worked pretty well for me. The Camelbak Marathoner backpack looked pretty good to me, too, but I caught a deal on the Nathan.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Experiment. Your long runs are for finding out if you really need water / gu / something else.
I did, and found that I could sweat off about seven pounds without noticeable effect. Two more pounds and I'm at tempo effort to maintain what should be easy training pace.
Now that I know that, I weigh myself before a long run. If I'm well hydrated, and the temperature is low enough, I can run 20 miles without bringing water. There are also hot days where I need water to run 8 or 10 miles.
I also have the Nathan HPL-020. It's my favorite.
RA's cranky old teenager
I've never had any problems with dehydration with an hour long run, especially this time of year when it's getting cooler. Over the summer when I was doing volume work and it was hot a humid as all get out, I would plan my long runs (11-13 miles) around a creek in one of my state parks (it's protected all the way up, so it's safe) or water fountains. I can't stand carrying.
However, I would suggest getting a small hand-held bottle. Not too big, since you really won't need much. It's more just getting your body used to things. Maybe, if you're really concerned (or sweat A LOT) then you can put an electrolyte blend in it. But if you also don't like carrying stuff, I might suggest a CamelBak like this.
As for gels, I think spaniel has it right. Like I said, I've gone 13 miles with no calories and I've done fine. I think you won't cross that threshold until you get over 2 hours or 16+ miles, on the low end.
That's probably maybe mostly true.