I’ve never been a huge fan of those super stylish water bottle belts that everyone seems to have at races. First, I’ve only really ever participated in shorter races (5K and 10K) so I found them to be pretty unnecessary. Second, I was worried I’d get annoyed with the water bottles banging against my bum. Plus, I thought it would be too difficult to get the bottles off the belt and drink from them while running. Granted, I could stop running to drink, but to me that defeated the whole purpose. Lastly, and probably least importantly, I think they’re hideous. I grew up in the time when people were made fun of for having fanny packs, and I’ve never really recovered from the fear of being made fun of for having one.
However, now that I’m getting into higher and higher mileage with each run, I’ve decided it’s time to invest in one of these hydration systems (especially since all of the water fountains are broken at one of the parks where I run regularly). Because of the aforementioned fear of looking silly, I thought I’d try out the handheld water bottles by Ultimate Direction. I liked that they had the cool little pocket on the hand band so I could store my keys and little snacks in there. What I didn’t like was the idea of carrying something for 13 miles. I think by mile 3 I’d be ready to ditch it on the side of the course. I’m just impatient and I’d end up changing it from hand to hand and then finally throwing it away. Plus, how maddening would it be to have to carry it after it’s already empty. I’d just stare at it with contempt for the remainder of my run. Also, I’m super bad at drinking out of bottles while running. I end up spilling all over myself and wasting all that precious hydration.
So what I finally ended up going with was a Camelbak hydration belt. I didn’t really want a fanny pack type hydration system, but this was the best option for me because it allows my hands to be free and keeps me from spilling water all over the place. In addition, they come in several sizes, most of which are much larger than the water bottles featured in other hydration systems. I chose the Catalyst (pictured, left), which holds 28 ounces of water. I’m able to clip the drinking tube to my shirt or to place it in the holders on the belt (I prefer this because I found that it was in the way of my arm swing when it was clipped to my shirt). It makes for easy drinking. Also, it’s easy to add pockets to the belt if I find that I need them. There are two small hidden pouches on the belt itself, one of which has a key hook so you don’t lose them even if they fall out. I bought mine at the running store for $35, which was a pretty good price compared with the other water belts out there (you can get it on Amazon for only $24.47. Yeah, I’m pretty bitter about that.).
Do you use a hydration system? What works for you? What doesn’t?
Filed under: running accessories | Tagged: Camelbak, hydration system, running accessories, water
I’ll be interested to hear how you like that hydration pack. I use a hand-held bottle and it took me a while to get used to it, but by the time I got up to 10 miles, I was OK with it. I had an awesome support team at May’s half-marathon, so I got the bottle refilled along the way.
But I do think that when I’m over my injury and back to higher mileage, I want to get something different for long runs. Holding it does get tiring after a while. Plus, my bottle only has one skinny pocket that will hold one gel. I need more pockets!
Layla: That’s so cool that you had people to refill your water bottle! I want that!
If you get a waist thing there are pockets made that can slide on to the belt so you can add as many as you want. I like that, although I haven’t tried them yet because as of yet I have no reason to need gels.
I don’t like the water belts. I’ve also found camelbaks and hand grips cumbersome so I have been working on a bottle that straps to your arm, just like mp3 players. Its called the Body Bottle and it came out last year, but we’re in the midst of release v2008 soon. If you check it out, let me know what you think – the link is http://www.bodybottle.com
John: Thanks for pointing me to your product. It looks interesting. I’d love something that could strap to my arm like that, but that I wouldn’t have to take off and put back on while I’m running. Maybe a mix between the armband and the camelbak. I’m just really, really bad with water bottles and running simultaneously. I’ll be sure to check back for v2008.
I was taking with the owner of http://www.camelbak-deals.com recently and he was telling me that Camelbak is coming out with a Shirt/vest that has a Camelbak water hydration reservoir built into it. It is called the Racebak and will be available for mens and /’womens styles in 2009. Sounds pretty cool. Count on Camelbak for the latest and greatest in Hydration. The Guy at http://www.camelbak-deals.com is also very helpful with great customer service.
Outdoors4me: Nice! Thanks for the heads up. I’ll have to check it out. That would be something awesome for trail running.