I often get ragged on by my running friends for not carrying enough—or any—water.
Now look, this is not advice. In fact, it’s probably bad advice. This is me. This is twenty years of knowing myself and my own hydration needs. This is tolerance and personal. You figure out you.
But here’s the thing.
I never carry water on anything less than ten klicks.
I carry safety water on longer runs, but unless it’s hella hot, it usually makes it all the way back to the shed and goes down the sink when I get back home.
It’s just how I’ve always operated, and the problem has never been lack of thirst or that I’m some kind of half-man half-camel creature. I get dried out, but also water sloshing around in my hand, or on my hip, or worse, in my stomach seems like a terrible trade off for a little bit of discomfort.
I should drink more water. I admit that.
I’ve got twenty years of bad habit to break though.
Many people need the water. I know a lot of people always run with water, and even in the middle of a rain storm when it’s literally falling from the sky they’ll be dedicatedly sipping from their bottles.
I get a little chuckle when I go do a five klick fun run and there is a water station two klicks in handing out full-sized bottles of water and people are lined up, chugging and gasping, as if they have just crossed the desert and were not still in sight of their cars in the parking lot.
But I get it.
Water need is a personal thing. And again, don’t take my advice, but I will definitely be writing about this topic more here.
