hydrating during a marathon

Phil M. said:
<<If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you.
-Chuang Tzu >>

great quote! 🙂

\\ - - //
( @ @ )
+--------oOOo-(_)--oOOo----+
+------------------------Oooo----+
oooO ( )
( ) ) /
\ ( (_

One dark day on Usenet, [email hidden] (Virginiaz) said
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Phil M. said:
<<If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you.
-Chuang Tzu >>

great quote! 🙂

Just ask Ozzie Gontang about the "empty boat." Or go here
http://www.mindfulness.com/om4.asp

Phil M.

I have a hydration belt (ultimate direction) and a camelback
(www.camelback.com, available at any sporting goods store).

The hydration belt I use for shorter runs for a few reasons. The first is
that it only holds a total of 20oz of water and 8oz of gel, or 28oz of water
if I fill all with H20. It also is not insulated and hard to get ice into
so the water heats up quick on hot days. It is pretty easy to carry, and I
don't really feel the weight at all.

The camel back I use for longer runs. The one I have holds 1.5 liters and
has a large mouth "bladder" that I can pour ice into so the water stays nice
an cool. Full, it only weights 3lbs and is carried like a small backpack.
The trick is to suck all the air out of it and it won't slosh around. From
the "bladder" there is a tube that feeds over your shoulder and stays
secure. To use it you simply bite the end of the tube and suck as much
water as you want. I do this without breaking stride.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm trying come up with the best way for hydrating during the marathon. In
my past marathons I've always just used their cups and tried to gulp down
as much as I can while on the run. This requires a certain level of
dexterity, which I do not have. I never get enough fluids unless I stop

and

Quoted message said:

walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

I am considering a few options:

1) Use a hyrdration belt/bottle such as Ultimate Direction Solo
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/solo.html. At each aid station pour the
contents of a couple of cups of Gatorade to fill the bottle without

slowing

Quoted message said:

down that much (maybe).

2) Use a hand-held bottle, such as Ultimate Direction Fast Draw
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/fastdraw.html. I'm not sure if I want to
carry anything in my hands for over 3 hours.

3) Use one of the bottles from 1 or 2 to mix my own drink (Cytomax) with
water provided at the aid stations. I'm not sure of the logistics of

mixing

Quoted message said:

drinks while on the run.

4) The heck with it. Just practice drinking from those little cups while
running.

Has anyone out there tried these methodes? Any other ideas that worked
better? TIA

Phil M.

--
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you. -Chuang Tzu

Phil M. wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

I'm trying come up with the best way for hydrating during the marathon. In
my past marathons I've always just used their cups and tried to gulp down
as much as I can while on the run. This requires a certain level of
dexterity, which I do not have. I never get enough fluids unless I stop and
walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

I am considering a few options:

1) Use a hyrdration belt/bottle such as Ultimate Direction Solo
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/solo.html. At each aid station pour the
contents of a couple of cups of Gatorade to fill the bottle without slowing
down that much (maybe).

2) Use a hand-held bottle, such as Ultimate Direction Fast Draw
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/fastdraw.html. I'm not sure if I want to
carry anything in my hands for over 3 hours.

3) Use one of the bottles from 1 or 2 to mix my own drink (Cytomax) with
water provided at the aid stations. I'm not sure of the logistics of mixing
drinks while on the run.

How frequent are the aid stations? If its a hot day you might do well to
refill your own bottle at every aid station. Probably you won't have to
fill it all the way, and maybe not even at every aid station. You could
have a pouch with GU or accel-gels in it to take every 30 mins and then just
drink water and take and s-cap every hour or so. That might be easier than
trying to fill the bottle with powder each time. (Carry a baggie to put the
expended GU things in unless you want to litter).

Personally I don't think you'll lose much time mixing the powder if you want
to do that. Just prepare ahead of time. Have the powder in a clear plastic
bottle of its own, and have a waist pack to hold that and gels (and bottle
if you don't want to carry it). Maybe get a waist pack that holds 2
bottles - one for the drinking bottle, one for the one that holds the powder
cytomax. Open the water bottle as soon as its empty and put the powder in
(you can do this when running). Then as you approach the station, take the
top off and get ready to stop for a moment and pour in 2 or 3 cups of water
into it. Then get the top tight as you start up again and it will mix from
the shaking. This is probably faster than trying to drink right there.

My preference is to carry gels, salt tabs, and to fill my bottle (fast draw)
at the aid sations with 1/2 gatobarf and 1/2 water, (depending on how strong
they're mixing it). Walking a little at the aid stations every 3-4 miles
won't affect your time alot, and might even help your legs a little toward
the end.

Quoted message said:

4) The heck with it. Just practice drinking from those little cups while
running.

Risky. Better to walk and make sure you get enough. In terms of the type
of bottle you use when carrying, you can try carrying any bottle in your
hand, you don't have to buy the fast-draw one just to try it. Its only
slightly helpful to have the hand strap. I've run with just an ordinary
bicycle bottle hand-carried for upwards of an hour. But if you're going to
use it in a race, buy the one with the strap. If its hot definitely carry
a bottle or be prepared to walk alot at the aid stations to get down 2 or 3
little cups (its not as good to take it in all at once like that).

- Tony

Quoted message said:

Has anyone out there tried these methodes? Any other ideas that worked
better? TIA

Phil M.

--
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you. -Chuang Tzu

Phil M. said:

I'm trying come up with the best way for hydrating during the marathon. In
my past marathons I've always just used their cups and tried to gulp down
as much as I can while on the run. This requires a certain level of
dexterity, which I do not have. I never get enough fluids unless I stop and
walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

I am considering a few options:

This is something you'll have to try and see what works for you. If you
notice, almost everyone does it differently and varies by the level of
support of the race.

Quoted message said:

1) Use a hyrdration belt/bottle such as Ultimate Direction Solo
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/solo.html. At each aid station pour the
contents of a couple of cups of Gatorade to fill the bottle without slowing
down that much (maybe).

I'll bet that slows you down more than grabbing a cup and drinking does,
assuming you only need one cup at each station. Those holes aren't that
big and you'll be balancing a loose cap, etc. But it is definitely an
option if gatorade works for you. But you'd need to train with gatorade
rather than cytomax, like you've been doing.

Quoted message said:

2) Use a hand-held bottle, such as Ultimate Direction Fast Draw
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/fastdraw.html. I'm not sure if I want to
carry anything in my hands for over 3 hours.

Many people love hand-helds, and I see a lot of them in pictures in the
hands of front runners on supported summer ultras. (Winter ultras up
here use hydration bladders with beefed up winterization kits.) Others,
like me, hate carrying things in hand (I've tried fastdraw and without a
holder) and don't like the sloshing of bottles - in waist belt or
handhelds (tends to be louder in handheld).

Quoted message said:

3) Use one of the bottles from 1 or 2 to mix my own drink (Cytomax) with
water provided at the aid stations. I'm not sure of the logistics of mixing
drinks while on the run.

Since you've been using cytomax, this seems like a better option and
probably take about same time as #1, depending on layout of aid stations.

Quoted message said:

4) The heck with it. Just practice drinking from those little cups while
running.

Has anyone out there tried these methodes? Any other ideas that worked
better? TIA

The distance between aid stations would have a lot to do with whether
you need to carry something or not - and how much. I think many people
find sipping every 10-15 min works better than guzzling at the aid
stations. The one marathon I've watched up here with some aid, but not
abundant, most people either used backpack (carry extra layers also
since temperatures were near freezing and wind chill was colder)
hydration bladder or used bottle and had someone (car or bike) meet them
with additional fluids / food. The farther back in the pack, the more
prevalent the packs became.

As I explained in other post, I'm a backpack person since they are
easier to deal with, at least that's been my experience. I need to
travel self-contained so other options aren't really a consideration for me.

But you'll have to figure it out what works for you - how often /
quantity you need to drink, type of drink, and container - for the
amount of aid at your marathon and possible congestion at aid stations,
including whether they only have cups or if there are jugs that you can
pour fluid from.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people"
-Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

One dark day on Usenet, "Jeff Stuart" <[email hidden]> said
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I have a hydration belt (ultimate direction) and a camelback
(www.camelback.com, available at any sporting goods store).

The hydration belt I use for shorter runs for a few reasons. The
first is that it only holds a total of 20oz of water and 8oz of gel,
or 28oz of water if I fill all with H20. It also is not insulated and
hard to get ice into so the water heats up quick on hot days. It is
pretty easy to carry, and I don't really feel the weight at all.

The camel back I use for longer runs. The one I have holds 1.5 liters
and has a large mouth "bladder" that I can pour ice into so the water
stays nice an cool. Full, it only weights 3lbs and is carried like a
small backpack. The trick is to suck all the air out of it and it
won't slosh around. From the "bladder" there is a tube that feeds
over your shoulder and stays secure. To use it you simply bite the
end of the tube and suck as much water as you want. I do this without
breaking stride.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Jeff. I also have a CamelBak. It's what I use for long runs up to
20 miles (with additional bottles stashed). However, my question was
concerning hydrating during a marathon using their aid stations. Is it
feasible to expect to be able to keep running while refilling a bottle,
such as Ultimate Direction Solo or the Ultimate Direction FastDraw? Or
even, somehow refill the FlashFlo without losing too much speed?

Phil M.

One dark day on Usenet, "Tony" <qtrader2@(remove)hotmail.com> said
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Phil M. wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

I'm trying come up with the best way for hydrating during the
marathon. In my past marathons I've always just used their cups and
tried to gulp down as much as I can while on the run. This requires a
certain level of dexterity, which I do not have. I never get enough
fluids unless I stop and walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

I am considering a few options:

1) Use a hyrdration belt/bottle such as Ultimate Direction Solo
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/solo.html. At each aid station pour
the contents of a couple of cups of Gatorade to fill the bottle
without slowing down that much (maybe).

2) Use a hand-held bottle, such as Ultimate Direction Fast Draw
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/fastdraw.html. I'm not sure if I want
to carry anything in my hands for over 3 hours.

3) Use one of the bottles from 1 or 2 to mix my own drink (Cytomax)
with water provided at the aid stations. I'm not sure of the logistics
of mixing drinks while on the run.

How frequent are the aid stations?

One Start and Finish Aid Station and 17 course aid stations
(approximately every 1 to 1-1/2 miles).

Quoted message said:

If its a hot day you might do well
to refill your own bottle at every aid station.

The odds are it won't be hot. This is Chicago in October. Probably 40s to
50s at race start. Up to 60 or 70 at finish. But anything can happen.

Thanks for the input.

Phil M.

One dark day on Usenet, Dot <dot.h@#att.net> said
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Phil M. said:

I'm trying come up with the best way for hydrating during the
marathon. In my past marathons I've always just used their cups and
tried to gulp down as much as I can while on the run. This requires a
certain level of dexterity, which I do not have. I never get enough
fluids unless I stop and walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

I am considering a few options:

This is something you'll have to try and see what works for you. If
you notice, almost everyone does it differently and varies by the
level of support of the race.

It's the Chicago marathon. A lot of support, a lot of aid stations (17
total, plus start and finish). However, a big crowd to deal with at each
station.

Another thing I just remembered was a product called Run N'Sip. This is a
straw that you attach to your drinking cup that is supposed to make it
easier to get all of the drink in you and not on you. It's kinda funny,
because I just did a Google groups search on this and up came a post of
mine from 1997. At any rate, it looks like that company is out of
business now. Anyone heard of something similar to this?

Phil M.

--
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you. -Chuang Tzu

I've run 2 marathons and used a belt w/bottle both times. I stopped at
water stops and filled it up, which you can do very quickly. Also,
there are always people along the route holding out cups of water.

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'm trying come up with the best way for hydrating during the marathon. In
my past marathons I've always just used their cups and tried to gulp down
as much as I can while on the run. This requires a certain level of
dexterity, which I do not have. I never get enough fluids unless I stop and
walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

I am considering a few options:

1) Use a hyrdration belt/bottle such as Ultimate Direction Solo
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/solo.html. At each aid station pour the
contents of a couple of cups of Gatorade to fill the bottle without slowing
down that much (maybe).

2) Use a hand-held bottle, such as Ultimate Direction Fast Draw
http://www.ultimatedirection.com/fastdraw.html. I'm not sure if I want to
carry anything in my hands for over 3 hours.

3) Use one of the bottles from 1 or 2 to mix my own drink (Cytomax) with
water provided at the aid stations. I'm not sure of the logistics of mixing
drinks while on the run.

4) The heck with it. Just practice drinking from those little cups while
running.

Has anyone out there tried these methodes? Any other ideas that worked
better? TIA

Phil M.

Phil M. said:

I never get enough fluids unless I stop and
walk for a few minutes at every aid station.

Works best for me (with two small Squeezy gel flasks to be carried),
even on a sub-3. You'll "loose" about 2 minutes over the marathon (slow
to a walk a few yards out to guzzle a dose of gel, pick up enough cups
to get your required water ration, walk briskly off, drinking, then run
when finished) but that will be made up by getting decent fluids without
choking on it and without having to cart it all around or trying to mix
drinks on the run.

If they provide little 25cl or 33cl bottles of Evian or whatever, like
in Paris, you can drink while running just a bit slower, "waste" even
less time and have a bit left in a handy container to sip along the way.

Depending on your expected race pace, you may be able to stop only at
every second station - in France they're every 5km=3miles usually =>
approx 20mins between stops for a trans-3h, 25 mins for a 3h30.

Phil M. said:

Another thing I just remembered was a product called Run N'Sip. This is a
straw that you attach to your drinking cup that is supposed to make it
easier to get all of the drink in you and not on you. It's kinda funny,
because I just did a Google groups search on this and up came a post of
mine from 1997.

Funny how these things come back to haunt a person 😉

At any rate, it looks like that company is out of

Quoted message said:

business now. Anyone heard of something similar to this?

Could you just put a regular cup cap and straw (like fast food) over it.
Or there is the old standard of pinching the cup to make it easier to
drink out of.

Dot
happy I don't have to make these decisions 🙂

--
"Success is different things to different people"
-Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

One dark day on Usenet, Dot <dot.h@#att.net> said
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Phil M. said:

Another thing I just remembered was a product called Run N'Sip. This
is a straw that you attach to your drinking cup that is supposed to
make it easier to get all of the drink in you and not on you. It's
kinda funny, because I just did a Google groups search on this and up
came a post of mine from 1997.

Funny how these things come back to haunt a person 😉

At any rate, it looks like that company is out of

Quoted message said:

business now. Anyone heard of something similar to this?

Could you just put a regular cup cap and straw (like fast food) over
it. Or there is the old standard of pinching the cup to make it easier
to drink out of.

I've tried the pinching routine. Although it works better than the standard
method, I still end up wearing a lot of the drink. I might have better luck
just dumping it on my head catching the drops as they roll down my face.
;-)

Phil M.

--
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you. -Chuang Tzu