Can't decide... wear water belt or not?
dorianaldyn
Posts: 611 Member
I've got my first attempt at a full on Sunday and I just can't decide if I want to bring my water belt. I bring it on my long training runs because there are obviously no handy volunteers along the way just waiting for me to run by to hand me some water. I completed a half marathon in April (incidentally, that course happens to be the second half of Sunday's marathon), and I did not bring my water belt and I was fine. It would be so nice to not have that strapped to me for 26 miles, but then I worry... I think it's functioning as a security blanket. Maybe I'll just bring it and only wear it if it looks like it's going to be pretty hot/sunny...
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i ran the virgin london marathon without a water belt, plenty of water on route. that said, i did run with a smaller belt, for phone, money and jelly beans!
you wont need it for water if the event is well managed
good luck and have fun, its worth the effort0 -
You shouldn't need to bring a belt with you.0
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Check the website for your race and find out how much aid will be available on course and decide based on that if you need the belt or not. I almost never wear my fuel belt for road races.0
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Check the website for your race and find out how much aid will be available on course and decide based on that if you need the belt or not. I almost never wear my fuel belt for road races.
^^^ This
My first marathon was a small (@2000 runner) race held on an unseasonably warm November day and the aid stations were too far apart and not always exactly where they were supposed to be. My friends and I were dying and so thirsty by the end that we were tempted to accept cans of beer offered by some cheering spectators and I hate beer! So definately check the course map. If the aid stations are more than a mile apart I sugest taking some water with you or asking friends/family to provide you with water along the route.0 -
There should be water every two miles - that should be plenty. However, this is only the second running of this race. There are apparently about ~500 of us doing the full marathon - so I do have a little trepidation about them being well stocked at the water stations given the short history of the event. I did what internet sleuthing I could and only found positive feedback - so it looks like unless the forecast calls for crazy heat, I'll leave the bulky water belt at home :-).0
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Do you just drink water during your long runs? If so, I believe you won't need to bring a belt with you since there should be plenty along the route. If you do however drink Gatorade or another sport drink, I'd call the race organizers and see what kind of sport drinks will be available. If it is something that you never tried before or that doesn't agree with your stomach, then I'd consider bringing a belt.0
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I don't really need mine but I'll probably wear mine for this half. I want the option to skip a water stop if it's busy plus I keep my phone and a couple energy shots in it.0
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What race is it? I can poke around the MM website for you for more info.0
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i ran the virgin london marathon without a water belt, plenty of water on route. that said, i did run with a smaller belt, for phone, money and jelly beans!
you wont need it for water if the event is well managed
good luck and have fun, its worth the effort
jelly beans? is this what you use in place of the fancy gels?0 -
What race is it? I can poke around the MM website for you for more info.
It's the Surfer's Path Marathon (Santa Cruz, CA) - I found this info on the aid stations - seems like plenty:
Approximate Aid Station Locations and product:
Mile 1.5: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 3.8: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 5.5: Water, Clif Shot Gel, & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 7.3: Water, Clif Shot Gel & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 8.7: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 11.6: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 13.1: Capitola Half & Relay Finish Line Food & Beverages
Mile 13.3: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 14.8: Water, Bananas & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 16.5: Water, Clif Shot Gel & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 18.8: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile: 21.5: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 22.8: Water, Clif Shot Gel & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 24.4: Water, Bananas & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 26: Water & Clif Shot Electrolyte
Mile 26.2: Surferʼs Path Marathon Finish Line Food & Beverages
For fuel, I've found that the sports beans work best for me. It's hard for me to eat anything while I'm running and the sport beans are about all I can handle. I know I absolutely must fuel, so I plan to bring those with me, tucked away somewhere!0 -
Just peeking in on this thread for the same advice.
Wishing you success.
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I've got my first attempt at a full on Sunday and I just can't decide if I want to bring my water belt. I bring it on my long training runs because there are obviously no handy volunteers along the way just waiting for me to run by to hand me some water. I completed a half marathon in April (incidentally, that course happens to be the second half of Sunday's marathon), and I did not bring my water belt and I was fine. It would be so nice to not have that strapped to me for 26 miles, but then I worry... I think it's functioning as a security blanket. Maybe I'll just bring it and only wear it if it looks like it's going to be pretty hot/sunny...
I've used a Nathan water belt for my half marathons and I'm an advocate of "bringing your own".
The downside is that it that each pound of "excess weight" costs 2 seconds per mile. The belt, with bottles empty, weighs 11.5 OZ ≈ 0.75 pounds which costs me 1.5 seconds per mile or about 20 seconds for a half or 40 for the full.
The upsides - I have water when I want it (you should be drinking to thirst, not when someone's decided that "Heh, let's put a water stop here."), with the ingredients I want, and I do not slow down at water stops. In the half I ran in February, I had serious cramping that forced me to stop three times (I was injured and undertrained!) so I was able to sip water while massaging my calf because I had water on board.
I also have a Nathan water backpack (CW told me to ditch the Nathan bladder and replace it with a Camelback bladder) which I would probably use for a marathon. Again, it's the ability to function independently that I would probably find to be of value. The backpack, without reservoir, is 12.85 OZ (360 g) so it's a little more "expensive" in terms of performance but I'm willing to accept a small decrease in performance for the significant benefit of having a large supply of water/energy gel available whenever my body needs it.0 -
For fuel, I've found that the sports beans work best for me. It's hard for me to eat anything while I'm running and the sport beans are about all I can handle. I know I absolutely must fuel, so I plan to bring those with me, tucked away somewhere!
Fuel is always the tricky part for me too. A lot of the races have stuff available but usually it is not stuff I can eat while I am running (or want to). I usually end up bringing my own gel because I despise GU and I don't want to get caught without something if all they have is nasty.0 -
WIth a water stop every two miles there is no reason that you have to carry a water belt. Drinking more than a cup every two miles is too much water anyway.0
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It seems to me that it depends on the goal...are you racing or finishing? If you are racing, then it is probably worth developing the skill of fueling using what's available. I plan on carrying GU (too funny David, I actually really enjoy Gu, especially the chocolate ones!) and using the provided water for my first half in October. So, I have been practicing this during my training (carrying my own water, of course). If the idea is to run and finish, then taking whatever will make you comfortable seems like a good bet. I plan to race very infrequently (2 to 4 times a year), so on race day, I want to carry as little as possible.0
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If you've trained with it for your long runs up until now, with only a week to go, I'd say bring it for the "security blanket" reason, if nothing else. I'd also say if you're feeling decent ~halfway into the race, maybe drop it - though most likely you won't be able to find it after the race if it was expensive and you don't want to lose it.
My perspective is that I got sick of carrying a Camelback on my 6+ mile runs, so I started hydrating a lot more than I had previously, and gradually started leaving it at home until I was sure I didn't need it. I do still bring some kind of hard candy or gum or something to keep my mouth from drying out, but it beats carrying a bottle of water that I always felt I needed, but got annoyed with.
Best of luck in your full! I'm sure you'll do great!0 -
I wear a water belt for my phone, chapstick, and to keep an emergency snack in. I don't drink water during my runs, as studies have shown a correlation between the increase in drinking water during runs with an increase in deaths due to hyponatremia. This is just a personal stance, though.0
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...studies have shown a correlation between the increase in drinking water during runs with an increase in deaths due to hyponatremia.
While this is true, it's important to understand at what level of hydration this occurs. Years ago, the recommendation was to "drink as much as you can" during a long race. Some recommendations were as high as 24 ounces per hour. It's in these cases that the deaths have occurred as the victims were back of the pack marathoners (5 hours+) who drank at that rate and were perspiring little. The recommendation has recently been changed (in the last 10 years) to "drink to thirst" which if followed, should not put anyone in danger of Hyponatremia. There is also very strong evidence that no to little hydration is necessary for those under the 4 hour mark, assuming that the temperatures are terribly high. The human body is designed to dehydrate itself during periods of work, and then to replenish itself after. Studies over the last 100 years have shown that the most dehydrated athletes are those that finish at the front of the field. Some losing 7% to 10% of body weight in water, with no ill effects on performance or post race activities. The human body is an amazing machine, designed to keep itself in a constant state of homeostasis. It takes a real act of deliberation or negligence to knock it out of balance.0 -
That is a lot of water stops. I would probably skip most of them anyway. I am good for 2 hours without a drink. It seems water stops are an excuse for me to walk a bit anyway.0
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I used to never carry water for marathons. I accidently started a race (half) with a bottle and it was the best "mistake" I've ever made. It gave me the freedom to stop if I wanted or not and also to only need gatorade. I've swithced from a handheld to an Ifitness hydration system and I love it. This belt has two 8oz bottles so you can do water in one, gatorade or whatever in the other. If you need more water/gatorade on course they are easy to refill and volunteers are usually very willing.
Recently I did a half that was very poorly managed. They had only 5 water stops and one was completely unmanned, and another was out of cups. Believe me, I was very thankful for having my own when I saw runners dipping bottles in a five gallon bucket!0 -
so all of you runners that don't drink during 1/2 marathons, how long have you been running? and those that do bring water, how long have you been at it?0
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so all of you runners that don't drink during 1/2 marathons, how long have you been running? and those that do bring water, how long have you been at it?
I don't think I know any runners that don't drink at all during a half..I have a friend who, on his training runs, can go 20 miles without water, but he even drinks during a race. (I call him a camel, because I think that is insane) But a lot of people don't "bring" water to a race because of the handy volunteers who smile and give it to you (so you can proceed to spill half of it on your shirt, untl you learn the correct way to drink and run, which I have not :drinker:
And a lot has more to do with temperature and sweat rates. I sweat, A LOT, and I get hot easy...so I tend to drink more....but that is me 0 -
You should not need it. You will need water and sports drink of course. I did Chicago that year it was brutally hot and just in case I wore my belt. But even though so many people said there was no water, i always found some and really did not need the belt at all0
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so all of you runners that don't drink during 1/2 marathons, how long have you been running? and those that do bring water, how long have you been at it?
No water group here. Coming up on 10 years running this Fall.0 -
so all of you runners that don't drink during 1/2 marathons, how long have you been running? and those that do bring water, how long have you been at it?
I don't drink when running and have only been running 1 1/2 years. Ran my last half with no water, and all training runs (up to 14 miles) without. I stay well hydrated every day, and am fine on runs.0 -
Rule of thumb is to not do anything different on Race day, if it's a marathon, you should have maybe practiced this hydration procedure in one of your many long runs. Seems like they have plenty of hydration stations though. My first marathon, i didn't bring mine and was okay. and my time was 5:12 then.0
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It's really nice if you have a supporter who can carry your stuff for you. When I did Green Bay in 2010, I wore my belt, but got tired of it at mile 20 and handed it off to my husband (I think I overhydrated during that race anyway-- I even look puffy in the pictures.) I train with mine just in case the next marathon I do is on a hot day, but I'm trying to get faster, which means I want to wean myself off of carrying things while running.
It is nice to skip the early water stops, which are always so crowded.
I will say that my first marathon, in 2001, was very poorly organized and there were no water stops or other amenities from mile 13 to at least mile 20. (I got sick then and dropped out-- a condition that was not helped by the complete lack of amenities.)
I have been running about 23 years (though with no skill, grace, or speed to show for it.)0
