I was reluctant to learn to drink while running. For so many years, my exercise program was getting up in the wee hours of the morning, downing a 1/4 cup of fruit juice and a cookie, then going to the gym in the dark. My memories of side aches in my younger days, along with my generally touchy stomach, keep me somewhat in fear of trying to eat or drink during exercise. It seemed to me that early morning really was the most practical time for me to exercise, after not ingesting any food or liquid all night. But when I started talking about learning to run longer distances, something completely beyond my comprehension until I began running barefoot, my husband/coach gently informed me that I needed to figure out how to keep hydrated if I was going to run that far.
I wiggled and squirmed at the idea. He told me that it was not something he could do at first either, but he gradually began trying and now he can eat almost anything right before a run, and drink during a run without any trouble. Knowing him also by his other name, Iron Gut, I was not sure that would be the result for me. Still, he was persistent in encouraging me and I agreed to try.
The bottled sports drinks my husband partakes of were not on my menu. Even if I could stand the taste, the colors are too weird. To tell the truth, plain water was not proving to be satisfying either. But I didn’t need or want anything heavy. My husband agreed that partly diluted lemonade made from basic granulated sugar and bottled lemon juice
Now, I needed to come up with a way to carry it. For some reason, the idea of carrying a bottle in my hand, like he does, sounded like it would mess with my balance and arm swing. After comparing various water bottle belts, I settled on the one with a couple of smaller bottles spaced around my waist. Again, I thought a larger bottle would bang on me more and be off balance if there was only one of them. Since at that time I was only planning on a half marathon maximum distance, two 8 ounce bottles was just enough.
When I purchased my water bottles, they had the type of top that had to be pulled up to open it. Since then, one of the screw-on tops broke and I replaced it with the new, improved water bottle
Another issue for me is that I like my drink cold for as long as possible. This is, of course, highly weather and temperature dependent, but I try to keep it cold AND drinkable for as long as possible. Wanting it to be drinkable on demand has led me to conclude that pre-freezing the whole bottle doesn’t suit my needs. Even freezing just the water half, since I dilute the lemonade by half for running, isn’t my preferred approach, because the dilution tends to change too much during the run.
I had been using an ice pick to break my standard sized ice cubes into small enough pieces to fit through the mouth of the water bottle. This is not an enjoyable pre-run warm-up. Recently, I decided to look for ice cube trays molded to make smaller ice cubes. I finally found a set of trays that formed one inch cubes on amazon.com
With all the talk of staying hydrated in general, I was kind of nervous about figuring out how to drink the right amount. The only guidelines my husband suggested was that in moderate weather, I should drink both of my bottles during a half marathon race effort. Okay. But what about training? Or temperature fluctuations?
There seemed to be a consensus among all experienced runners that I spoke with that there is no need to worry about staying hydrated during a run of an hour or less, or approximately 6 miles. Even in the blazing sun in 80 degrees, 4 miles is not a run I carry liquid on, although I do drink steadily afterward.
As for how often to drink, I had found that a slurp every mile or so near the beginning of the run, but maybe more often near the end is what I “felt like” drinking. I didn’t know if this was “okay” or how to determine if it was “okay.” Then, I read of some studies in Matt Fitzgerald’s book, The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition
There are quite a few jokes and scary stories about what happens if you try to drink while actually continuing to run. The new, easy to use squirt tops that I described above help deal with some of the trouble of splashing it all in your face. But I do slow down and make particular note of where my feet might be going for a couple of seconds while I am drinking. I don’t take a drink while passing people or cars, and I don’t drink if the ground needs my attention, like on our high desert run. On that run, I stopped nearly every time to get a drink.
Once in a while, I do get a side ache, but I find that if I relax some and make it a point to breath deeply, it is not long lasting and does not impact my run noticeably. I do tend to burp a bit a few minutes after each sip, which is embarrassing, but such is life.
Some people are concerned about the water bottles irritating them by jiggling around during the run. I submit to you that it can be a tool to help you run more smoothly, which in turn means you are putting more energy into forward motion and less into up and down movement. Running smoothly also means you are being easier on your joints. Naturally, I think you will be able to do this most easily if you run barefoot. I do typically notice my water belt for the first couple hundred yards, but after that, I don’t know it is there.
I expect I will continue to fine-tune my hydration tactics. For now, though, I am reassured that it is not all that complicated. If I am gradually increasing my training, I should be able to more clearly evaluate the various factors that affect it. If I am not “hitting any walls” on my long runs, if I am continuing to respond to my thirst post-run, if my urine is a nice diluted color for the rest of the day after the day’s run, if I’m not getting head rushes all day long, and if I have enough moisture in my mouth to spit out the bugs, I’m probably reasonably hydrated. So, I’ll just enjoy my runs and sip a bit of lemonade along the way.
