Water & Salt

A few weeks ago, I talked about a growing, nearing desperate hunger after my long run.  I've had some developments since.  For the rest of that weekend, I suffered through an intense hunger/nausea cycle that came in waves and only dissipated two days later.  I did some online investigating and consulted with a couple of other trusted runners and came to the conclusion that my water-salt balance had been thrown off.

Now to frame this properly, I should back up some.  The run itself was unremarkable.  At 14 miles, it was only a little longer than a half marathon, a distance with which I was completely comfortable.  And I'd brought my standard Gu packets (Espresso Love flavor, thank you very much) to keep my energy levels from plummeting.  Even right after the run, I felt fine, hydrated with lots of water and had a nice protein-y recovery meal.  No biggie.  It wasn't until a couple of hours later that the nausea, hunger, and lightheadedness started to take hold.

I realized that as long as I'd resisted, I'd have to buy a water belt for my long runs and fill them with something that could provide the necessary electrolytes during the run.  At these growing distances, waiting until afterward is now just a recipe for disaster.  And not just an uncomfortable disaster, but potentially a medically dangerous disaster.  (My sweat-replenishing nectar of choice, by the way, has become coconut water:  natural, low-calorie, hydrating, and with a nice amount of salt, potassium, sugar/carbs.)

So I surrendered and went on a search for the ultimate hydration system.  Again, I am not a fan of hydration belts in general, and in buying my wonderful FlipBelt, I naively thought I'd discovered some loophole and would never have to endure the dreaded hydration belt.  Nope.

On my quest, I first bought some individual, small-ish (10-ounce) bottles that I planned to stuff into my FlipBelt.  Those were hard to get in and out and uncomfortable around my waist.  The weight threw off the belt and made it slide down or bounce up.  Then I tried on a variety of water belts at the running store to find that they were just as I thought:  uncomfortable, unruly, and stupid.  Next, I bought a couple of hand-held bottles, thinking I could use them in the intended way (wrapped around the hand) or wrap them around my FlipBelt if they got annoying.  Well, they got annoying.  And attaching them to my belt made them no less so.  Fail again.

Enter my new favorite life-saver:  the Fitletic Hydration Belt.  Hells.  Yeah.  Upon personal recommendation (following a rant at work), I rush ordered it Tuesday, knowing I might not make it through another uncomfortable long run this Saturday without some miracle gear.  And miracle gear I've now got.  I came home to find it waiting at my front door today!  Unfortunately, Fitletic has no local distributors nearby, so online shopping and race expos are the only way to go.  And this bitch ain't got time to wait around for a race expo, so you're welcome, FedEx, for the income from my two-day delivery.

While I still love my FlipBelt for shorter runs, this puppy has stolen my heart.  Snug, hip-hugging, with silicone grippers on the inner fabric to make sure there's no bounce, it's lovely and fits like a charm.  I must admit that this "review" is a bit premature as I haven't yet run with my Fitletic.  But you know what they say about love at first sight.  (Actually, no, I don't know what they say about it either.  But . . . whatever, shut up.)  I have read several actual reviews, though, by people who've actually run in it, and while they are overwhelmingly positive, the bottles supposedly are a bit leaky.  But if push comes to shove, it seems like replacement bottles should be easy to come by as long as the belt itself lives up to its promises.  We'll see.  I'm certainly crossing my fingers because tomorrow I'm going for 17 miles.