Hydration - Everybody's doing it (weirdos)

(Please vote for me again, I dropped to third.)

I found myself at running store (again, seriously if I could get dinner there I wouldn't ever leave) tonight.  I wanted to try on a new racing flat they got in.

After making them help me try on fifteen different pairs of shoes (an exaggeration), including a pair for Tyler, I bought none of them.

I'm the most annoying best kind of customer.

My major reason for going there (aside from my secret love for all the fellows who work there) was to solve my hydration problem.

You see folks, I have both a handheld water bottle (the kind with the strap) and a water belt.  Yet, for most of our long runs I end up bringing exactly zero water and either hoping to pass fountains/water stations (depending on if it's a supported run or not) or bumming water off my sherpa Terra.

I hate my handheld water bottle because it makes my gait feel uneven.  I'm kind of weird about that, I thought my garmin gave me an uneven gait for the first few weeks.  I did eventually get over that, but I know the water bottle makes me uneven.

I hate my water belt even more.  It gives me sideaches and it doesn't fit me well.  (I'm shaped like a pre-pubescent teenage boy so there is nowhere comfortable to put it.)

Basically I would rather run the risk of running my entire route without water than doing either of those.

I've been toying with the idea of a hydration backpack for awhile (you know, like the ultra cool ultra runners) but the astronomical cost hindered me from biting the bullet.

Finally, I realized that as a mother of two I really don't have the option of stupidity that is running 20 miles without water.

So after two hours of debating, trying on, and gabbing (not all backpack related) I left with this:

Although it's a little overkill, I figure it's better for me to look weird and have water than die.  (Personally, I think a lot of things are better than dying and let's face it, I'm not afraid of looking like an idiot.)

So my backpack (who I feel is big enough she should have a nickname, let's work on that) and I will be going on our inaugural run together tomorrow.

Hey, who knows, maybe being properly hydrated will make my long runs more tolerable!