Back into “Long Run” Territory

Originally posted on February 3, 2015, by cruisingrunner

When I run, I carry one of those contoured water bottles with a neoprene handle that theoretically fits comfortably in your hand. It holds about a 1/2 liter of water, which can generally get me through a 5-8 km run quite easily. Well, here in New Zealand, that is. Back in Mexico, I can remember doing some beach runs where my goal was stop at 5 km or when I ran out of water, whichever happened first, and I almost always ran out of water first. Sometimes I barely made it a mile. Anyway, here in New Zealand where the summertime weather is much more mild, I’ve been gradually increasing my mileage. The other day I headed out with my trusty little water bottle with the intent of going 12 km (~7.5 miles). It wasn’t especially warm, but it was especially humid, and I went into water conservation mode at about 5 km (meaning I didn’t just chug whenever I felt like it), and I totally ran out of water at about 9 km. I run-walked the last 2k and was never at any risk of dehydration or anything, but as I made my way from the end of my run to the marina showers, the significance of this event occurred to me. I am now back into “long run” territory, the boundary between “regular” run and “long” run being defined by the necessity of donning the camel back instead of the water bottle. I’ve been using the camel back for long hikes, but now it’s time to break it out for my runs. I love the camel back. It’s comfortable and has convenient pockets for snacks and a cell phone and it has gotten me through many memorable half marathons and one full marathon. Maybe with the camel back my next 12 km run can actually be a full 12 km.