I’ve been thinking about my innards lately.

I was cleaning out the fridge Sunday night and there, stuck way in the back, was an almost empty bottle of Gatorade from October. I had stopped drinking the stuff because after reading what the “big boys” were up to on the marathon and training forums, I learned that most of them don’t take in anything but water for runs below 18 miles or so.

I’d also read from several sources that you can “train” your body to go without gels, etc., especially since we have enough glycogen for about 3 hours of endurance. Since I was (and still am) on the fence as to how much gel/sportdrink effects are psychological and how much real, I dropped everything and ran with nothing but water from that point on.

Then the temperatures dropped and I found it was no biggie to go without water for all my runs – helped by the removal of the park water fountains until summer. I simply wasn’t sweating as much and felt fine afterwards, so I ignored my innards for a while. Then comes Sunday, fridge-cleaning day and I make, I think, a connection.

See, it’s the 13-milers; they’ve been leaving me a bit draggy by the end of them. Considering I’m averaging mileage between high 40s to low 50s per week and my weekly mid-longs are 9-11 milers, I shouldn’t be feeling anything but “normal” by the end of a 13. Then I realize that my 13s are just under 2 hours, so no matter how hydrated I may be when I start, I should at least be taking water for those and a little Gatorade couldn’t hurt.

That means it’s back to the whole hydration issue that is simply a pain in the ass no matter how you look at it.

Last summer, I started with an Amphipod belt that holds a single large bottle. I didn’t like it because the band wasn’t elasticized and you had to wear it tight to the waist, so then I bought the 4-bottle belt which at least could be worn down on my hips, though not without much fidgeting and rearranging. I wore that for the rest of the summer, though it remained a necessary evil from day one.

Here we are in the midst of winter (despite the freakish 66 degree day today) and I simply can’t get excited about carting those bottles around my hips – it feels like masochistic overkill. So Monday I started reading all I could about handheld water bottles in the forum archives, searching for those who love their handhelds, in hopes that I could gain a better attitude about using one. I had to ignore my own plentiful posts that said, “I could never use a handheld, I hate having anything in my hands.” Hey, a gal can change her mind…

Anyway, enough folks carry them and don’t hate them, that I broke down and ordered the Amphipod Hydraform with the pocket. It was delivered today while I was out on my run.

Funny thing (because there always is) during my run today, I passed a guy who I pegged as an Ultra guy due to his wearing a bladder as well as a handheld, and I noticed his handheld was the one I just ordered, so as I passed I asked, “How do you like that?” to which he replied, “Not very much.” Then when I saw him again after I turned around, I notice he’s swinging only one arm, the free one – the arm holding the Amphipod is strangely still. Not good.

So it’s all up in the air now, I’m hoping beyond hope that I don’t hate it because I plan on carrying liquids on anything over 10 miles. Oh, and for the record, yesterday I bought 3 bottles of Gatorade. Gonna try and pay closer attention to my body now and figure out what it really needs, if that’s even possible, because I am not a big boy on a marathon forum – at least, not in this life.

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