In any long distance race, you'll want to make a hydration plan! Will you be stopping at the provided water stations or will you be providing your own water? If you plan to provide your own water/beverage how will you be carrying it? Will you do hand held? Backpack? Hydration belt?
I've gone through many thoughts as I contemplated what I was going to do for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I've ran 13.1 miles before without taking a sip of anything ( which I know is not a smart thing to do) but am pretty certain with the Florida heat and humidity that I will need to stay hydrated.
I made up my mind that I wasn't going to bother bringing my own water because there would be plenty of water stops along the half marathon route (approximately 9 water stations).
But when corral placement came out and I was able to see just how many runners would be participating in this race I started to get nervous. What if it's too crowded? What if I can't get to a water station when I need too? I don't want to get too close to a water station because I don't to slip and fall on a wet spot or a paper cup that someone threw. I know these are things that I more than likely don't need to be concerned about, but why take the chance!
My second option was obviously to carry my own water.
I have this perfect little hand held bottle that straps on to my hand. I bought it at the Wicked 10k expo last year in VA Beach. It's very light weight, has a pouch on the side for gummies and GU, and I've even taken it on some practice runs to see if I could still manipulate my camera while holding in my hand, and I can!
But then, I was approached with a third option.
The people from Camelbak sent me this ARC 2 hydration belt. At first I wasn't sure that I would use it for the half marathon ( it looked like way too much water). Shortly after I received it I strapped it on and took it for a 4 mile run. I wouldn't normally carry water with me for this short distance, but I wanted to try it out. As you can see, it comes with 2 bottles. I took one of the bottles off the belt for this run ( I didn't need both).
My Pros and Cons list for this hydration belt.
Pros
* Lightweight
* 2 Bottles ( plenty of water when you need it)
* Jet valves on water bottles make it easy to just squirt water in mouth
* Very easy to remove bottles from belt and place them back quickly
* Loops to carry GUs
* Zipper pouch
* Hook inside zipper pouch ( not sure what I would us it for yet)
* Loved that I can carry water Hands Free!
Cons
* Sizing ( They come in S- M- L: I received a Small and it fits, but it is very tiny. I consider myself a small person to begin with and this belt is kind of snug on me)
* Small Pouch. I am glad that this belt has a pouch on it, but it's very tiny. I can fit my phone in it but that's it. I feel like I would have to wear my Spi belt as well if I wanted to carry cash with me for after the race, or anything else.
* I wish it had more pockets and loops to hold other things.
With all this being said, I am very pleased with the Camelbak Hydration belt but not quite sure if I'm going to use it for the Princess Half marathon. If I do, I probably won't fill both of the water bottles up. I guess it will depend on what all I feel I will need to take with me on race morning. I do really like the fact that I can run Hands Free! I'm thinking if I do use the Camelbak, I can carry both water bottles so my running partner ( my mom) can run hands free as well!
*I was provided this ARC 2 hydration belt from the very generous folks at CamelBak, but all opinions are of course my own.
If you'd like to determine how much water you will need for your height, weight, and distance you plan to run, check out their site here: http://www.camelbak.com/
What is your hydration plan for longer races? What will you be doing for PHM?
