RTTC# 222 How Should I Carry Water for runDisney Races and Training?

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali answers a listener question about the best way to carry water during runDisney training and races… and whether hydration vests are basically the same thing as weighted vests. 

She breaks down the pros and cons of handheld bottles versus hydration vests, explains why hydration needs are different from adding extra weight for training, and shares why she personally prefers a handheld bottle because of sensory overload and claustrophobia. 

Dr. Ali also dives into one of the biggest mistakes slow, back-of-the-pack, or injury-prone runners make… waiting until long runs to test hydration gear instead of gradually building tolerance from the beginning. 

Along the way, she shares practical hydration strategies, discusses how heat and environment affect training decisions, and explains why thoughtful planning matters so much for Dopey and marathon training.

Learn more about Stronger. Faster. Finisher. !

Ready to cross the finish line stronger, faster, and prouder at your next runDisney race? 

Get personalized support, smarter training, and strategies designed specifically for slow, back-of-the-pack runners who want to build a bigger buffer ahead of the balloon ladies, have time for character photos and energy to enjoy the Disney Parks. Learn more about the Stronger. Faster. Finisher. Program today and be the first to know when doors open!

Free Resources

• Follow me on Instagram @rundisneydpt
• Join the Facebook Community to get training support
• Check out FREE training plans for injury-prone runDisney runners on my website. 
• Book a Free 30 minute Call with me if you're wondering how you should train and if working together makes sense.
  
  Hi, I'm Dr. Ali
  I've been running for 15+ years and been in the rehab space since 2012 when I earned my Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree. I get injury prone runDisney runners across the finish line without feeling broken.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, how's it going? Today I'm talking about how should I carry water for Run Disney races and training. This is Running to the Castle, a podcast for injury-prone Run Disney runners on a journey to running magical miles. Join me, Dr. Alley, as I share the secrets I've gathered as a runner, doctor of physical therapy, and coach. You'll learn the exact ways I get my clients to the castle strong without feeling broken or held together with KT tape as they cross the finish line. I got a great question the other day about hydration, how to carry water, how to, you know, should they do a handheld, should they wear a hydration vest? What do I recommend? And part of this question stems from one of my episodes the other day about wearing a weighted vest. And I think this is a great question. And there is distinction between wearing a weighted vest and wearing a hydration vest because that's what this person is asking. How do you recommend carrying water? I listened to the weighted vest podcast. And so it seems like that might be like wearing a weighted vest with a wearable camelback kind of vest. And you're right, it is similar. And so do I recommend that you wear a hydration vest? And do I wear a hydration vest? So great question. So I actually looked up weighted vest and hydration vest and how much they weigh. So in the weighted vest episode, I said, I've never even looked up how much these weigh. I don't even know how much these could weigh. So I looked it up. And a weighted vest is can range. You can have a five to 10 pound vest. You could have 20 to 40 pounds or more. Common ones apparently are eight pounds, 10 pounds, and 12 pounds, with professional or intense training vests reaching 66 pounds. So that is the weighted vest. Hydration vest. Now, of course, every vest is going to be a little bit different. I'm I'm not going into all of the different hydration vests, but I just I literally Googled how much does a full hydration vest wear? I don't know why I have trouble saying that word. Hydration. How much does a full hydration vest weigh? And it says that empty, it's seven to 12 ounces. And with a full bladder, which is like two liters, it could increase to three and a half to five and a half pounds. So if the lightest weighted vest could be five pounds, then this full hydration vest could be like the same as that light weighted vest. So does that mean that I don't recommend wearing a hydration vest? No, not at all. So I personally carry my hydration. I carry a Nathan, I think it's uh 18 ounces of water. And I mix in my scratch, I miss, mix in my liquid IV. Hey, stop. Levi is behind me right now, licking his paw crazy. So he's a Wheaton and he he just gets itchy skin. Um, he has hair, he needs a bath weekly, and he's sitting behind me in my chair, in his chair, in his chair, not my chair, his chair, just licking his paw. And I'm like, come on, man. What do we of all times? Why are you sitting behind me doing this right now? And so I just turned to him and I asked him to stop. And he looked at me like, oh, you ruin all the fun. But he stopped. Anyway, so hydration vests. I carry a handheld water bottle, 18 ounces. It's a great size for me and it's collapsible. So I have small hands, so a lot of water bottles don't fit in my hand. I have thought about hydration vests, and I personally don't wear them. And you may be thinking, oh my God, should I not be wearing one? Like, Allie's not wearing one. No, please. You do you, boo-boo. Everybody, like, take the information I give and use your best judgment, use some thought. I hope that some of my episodes are thought-provoking. And there are some things where I'm like, please absolutely don't do this thing. But there are other things where it's like, you need to do what's best for you. And I get claustrophobic in my clothes. I'm wearing a sweatshirt right now. I'm wearing a hoodie. And I just like, I shouldn't be wearing a hoodie right now. Like it just feels too close to my neck. It feels too tight to my body and my arms. And I just, I shouldn't have done it. And I am in my own house and I could get up and change. But did I before I recorded this podcast? No, I did not because I looked at the time and I said, time to report record a podcast. And that was more important to me than getting out of my claustrophobic hoodie. But I don't wear a hydration vest because I am very certain that I will be claustrophobic in it. Because I I don't like I don't like things like sticking to my body, uh, like sticking to my back. And I I don't like feeling things jostle around. Now I will say one of my clients gave great advice on how to make it so that the water doesn't jostle. And it has something to do with emptying out all the air, like sucking out all the air before you start running. So I think that's a great idea. And honestly, if it came down to it, if I was out long enough and not having a place to stop for water, I would seriously consider a hydration vest because that like I need, I need my hydration. I have my emotional support water bottle with me wherever I go. And I take a water bottle just on my snifaris with Levi. I take a handheld on a three-mile run that, or even a two-mile run that's gonna, I'm gonna be home in like half an hour. I still take one and I usually drain it. So I I keep my hydration on point the majority of the time. And I just hearing how it sits and sticks and feels and bounces and this and that, like sensory overload for me. And I I haven't had a need to do it, so I haven't done it. And I just imagine myself being claustrophobic in it because I can't even wear necklaces sometimes. Sometimes my rings feel claustrophobic to me, like I don't know what it is, but I can't do it. And so I don't want to be out on a run and feeling like I need to rip all of this off of me. I also do a lot of training on my treadmill and my water is right there, and I can just walk into the house and go get some more. So right now it hasn't been a need for me. But a hydration vest is great for somebody who doesn't have all of that sensory overload and could hang with wearing it. I think it is a great tool to have two liters of water, two liters of hydration, whatever your drink is. Great. Now, looking at how much it weighs, I didn't even need to look at how much it weighs. I really only looked at it for the purpose of this podcast episode so that you listening could hear the comparison. But I didn't even need to look up how much it weighs to before I say this next statement. You have to build up your tolerance to being able to wear that amount. When you first go out, just like with anything, don't go out for your 10-mile long run and have a full two-liter hydration vest for the very first time. Like brand new, just bought it from REI, which by the way, buy it from REI, not sponsored, but they have such a good return policy on all of their items. Buy it there if you're thinking about like, should I use it? Should I not? Should I get this brand? Should I not? Go sign up for their free program, put in your phone number, sign up for the free program. And you have like 364 days to return. And it's kind of like a Costco policy, practically no questions asked. Like, just go get it from REI. So, but don't go for your longest long run training for a half marathon. Don't go out for a 10-mile long run and decide, oh, well, it's 10 miles. I really need all of this hydration. It's hot out. I'm gonna just fill it to the brim. Well, that's now five and a half pounds for 10 miles. Or for long, you have to be drinking it to drain it, right? That's too much. Five pounds over the course of that many miles is too much. It's it's like the Grand Canyon, right? Like the Grand Canyon was formed by dripping water, by slowly running water. And slowly running water over the course of an hour doesn't do much. But slowly running water over the course of thousands of years builds the Grand Canyon, right? Like it it eventually weighs you down, wears you down, wears you out. And obviously, we're not creating a canyon here, we're not creating the grand canyon, but something's gotta give. And your your form is gonna give and it's gonna be like a weighted vest. But if you start, just like when you're practicing your fueling, if you start at the beginning, you start at your very first training run that's only going to take you 30 minutes. And for you, maybe 30 minutes, you don't need hydration. I don't understand that, but that's me. That's okay. Maybe you don't need hydration for a 30-minute run. That's fine. Still bring it. Still bring it because then you've put in, I don't know, two ounces. If you're not going to use it, just put in two ounces or put in half a cup or whatever it is. Put in a very small amount and wear it for that long run. And then the next week you put in just a little bit more. And then for the following week, you put in just a little bit more and you progressively add a little bit more each week so that your body is now used to carrying that amount. Or maybe you put in the same amount two weeks in a row. I love a good two weeks in a row before going up again for stuff like that. Um, I do that with um like fueling, practicing the exact same fueling a couple of weeks in a row. I do that with the run walk intervals, try new run walk intervals a couple of weeks in a row. Typically, it's four of the same type of runs. So, like a long run, an easy run where you're using those intervals regularly, and you practice it a couple of times before you change it again to make sure that it really is okay. And then you add just a little bit more. So now you don't really feel like you need the water, you don't need the hydration, but you're practicing putting the weight on your body. Like um, I use this comparison in older podcast episodes talking about adding 10% to your long run. I use the story, I think it's Greek mythology, Milo, and he has to, to prove himself, he has to carry a full grown pig to the top of a mountain. Well, he could just grab a full grown pig and try and get to the top of the mountain, but that doesn't work. So instead, he gets a baby piglet, and every single day he carries that baby piglet up the top of the mountain. And every day that baby piglet grows by a couple of ounces, but he also gets stronger equally to be able to continue to carry the pig. So the amount of weight that that pig gains each day is negligible because he is carrying it every day. And so he gets just a little bit stronger every single day. And so by the time that pig is full grown, he has become just as strong as the pig has gained weight. So it is no problem because it is minuscule. It's the same thing with us getting older, right? Or a better example is kids getting older. If you have a child and you see them grow up every single day of their life, but you have a family member who hasn't seen them in five years, they're like, oh my God, you look so big. You look so different. And you, the parent, you're like, looks the same. I mean, of course, when you look back at pictures, you're like, oh yeah, yeah, like looks so different. But you, you don't see that change every single day because it's minuscule, it's minute. It is so small, it's practically imperceptible. We want the same thing with when you're practicing using this hydration best. We want the difference to be imperceptible to your body. So as you are increasing the amount of time you're on your feet by a minuscule amount, right? Your 10% rule. So going from 3.1 miles to 3.41 miles the following week, most runners who first see that training plan of mine, they're like, that is so dumb. That that is useless. Why would I do that? Why don't I just skip all of those middle weeks, the 3.41, the 3.75. Why don't I just skip all of that and go straight from 3.1 to 4, and then straight from four to five, and then five to six. It will be fine for six weeks, maybe seven, guaranteed. That eighth week, you're like, oh shoot, my knee hurts. My IT band is flaring up randomly. I don't know why it hurts so much. I promise I know why it hurts so much. Those are the kinds of things that I look for. But same kind of thing with this hydration and same kind of thing with practicing fueling. You need to practice from the beginning so you can do very, very, very small amount in the beginning. Like you're bringing the water, you don't even actually need it because you're not me. And you don't need water for a two-mile long run, quote unquote long run, right? Like I only use that in quotes because I hear so many people say two miles, that's not a long run. In my mind, it is. Because remember, long runs are the easy runs. The purpose of it is to be on your feet as opposed to going fast, right? So the two-mile long run, maybe you don't need to bring hydration. Maybe you don't need to bring fuel. Maybe you don't need to bring scratch or liquid IV or noon or tailwind or whatever it is. But when you practice it from the beginning, even just a sip or even just carrying it, your body starts to adjust to it. And you get to know sooner whether this is going to be an okay thing for you, as opposed to going out on that 10-mile long run full of a two-liter hydration pack that is now five and a half pounds. And then the next day, or even during the run, you're like, oh my God, my back hurts so much. I can't use a hydration vest. That's that's unfortunate. A hydration vest would be so convenient. It's not that you can't use the hydration vest, it's that you didn't practice building up your tolerance to it. Be Milo in this situation. Pick up the pig when it was a brand new baby piglet and practice carrying it up that mountain day after day after day, week after week after week, so that you can adjust to it. And then by the time you get to that 10 mile long run, now you can tolerate carrying a five and a half pound weighted vest, right? But then also another part of this, going back to it being possibly five and a half pounds. Well, Allie, isn't that just the same as wearing a weighted vest? Temporarily, yes. But remember, we talked about the purpose of the weighted vest and now the purpose of this hydration vest. The purpose that that person was asking about for a weighted vest, or what other runners will ask me about, or what their doctors will talk to them about, is wearing the weighted vest to get strength training while they're doing their cardiovascular endurance. They're trying to kill two birds with one stone. That if you have two priorities, you have a list. You don't have priorities anymore. So with the hydration vest, the purpose is hydration. And as you get farther and farther in your run, higher and higher mileage, you aren't still wearing a five and a half pound pack. It's decreasing because you've been drinking the water, right? So now it starts off at five and a half pounds at 0.0 miles. But by the time you're at five miles of a 10 mile run, it's not five and a half pounds anymore. It's two pounds. Cause you've probably, I hope you've drinking half drank drinking. Ooh, Allie. I hope you've drank half your water by then, because you're halfway done. Your halfway point is a great indicator if you're on track for things. Are you halfway through your hydration? Are you halfway through your fuel? And then as you get closer to 10 miles, it goes down and down and down so that you're practically at ounces. So even if you get tired during the 10 mile long run, you aren't carrying five and a half pounds anymore. You're carrying less. And so even if you're tired, you don't have the five and a half pounds to then alter your form and everything that we talked about with the weighted vest. So it is a little bit different in that aspect. And it's different because of the purpose. If you need that amount of hydration, you're not running anywhere that has hydration stations, safety first. You need hydration. We don't want you to be dehydrated. So if the hydration vest is the best option for you, great. I carry handheld because I don't want to be claustrophobic in the in the hydration vest. And I map out my roots. I live in suburbia in master planned communities. We have parks every couple of blocks or like a school every every couple of blocks. Somewhere is going to have a water fill station. Like there is going to be a water bubbler, a drinking fountain for you non-Bostonians, non-Northeast people. There's going to be a drinking fountain where I can fill up my water. Maybe it's not perfectly tasting water. Fine. I just put my liquid IV in it, but anything is better than nothing at that point. And it's so good. A lot of the hydration stations around me now have the top-down fillers, which is uh amazing. So I just have to put my water bottle under and click the button. And I don't have to worry about like the bubbler like not going in and filling up my water bottle completely. But I do that, or worse comes to worse, I go stop in a gas station. Everywhere takes Apple Pay or Google Pay, whatever kind of phone you have. And I just go buy something. Or what I have found out, a lot of the gas stations around me, if you're just getting water, you can go over to their um soda station and just fill up water. I always just tell the attendant, like, hey, can I fill up my bottle with just water over there so that they know. Um, I've had I have had an attendant come over to me or after the fact, like when they see me walking out, ask me to pay for something and I'll I will have said, Oh, I just got water. So now I just like preemptively say, Hey, can I fill up my water over there? Or do you have somewhere I can fill up my water? And they usually don't. But if they were to give me a hard time, I I would just buy a Gatorade. My body tolerates Gatorade. They also have Power Aid, juice, you know, other forms of carbs that I could get. But I I'm fortunate in where I run. I I'm I am very aware of that. I live in a very safe area and it is literally called a master planned community. They have planned it out and they have parks that have these water stations or they have lots of gas stations around. I I actually run by, I could run by on my typical routes, I could run by now five gas stations and two grocery stores. So I have my options. They all take Apple Pay. So I could, I could do that. So I can still get by with my handheld right now. But they do have running um paths that they have lined up with like the highway system here. And I would love to run on those just so that I don't have to like backtrack and find all these different routes. And I could just like do an out and back would be fine with me. But they don't have hydration stations on them. And that bums me out. And so I have thought about oh, when I do plan to run longer than half marathon distances, maybe I should consider a hydration vest. That is a future Alley decision. That is not a right now Alley decision. Allie, right now, will I mean we're getting into summer months. It's gonna be 99 degrees here today. It's May 11th. It's gonna be 99 degrees here. So I will be running indoors for quite some time. Actually, thinking of that. So I was talking about this on the podcast a couple of weeks ago about how thinking about doing the marathon and how I'm gonna To plan that out, doing the 10K distance, then doing half marathon distance, possibly building up to doing marathon distance without a race, like after that. And so I was looking, I've mapped it out. I'm a planner. I've mapped it out already. And next year at this time, it's like May 9th, is when my um full marathon 26.2 miles would happen if my training plan goes according to plan. And I'm like, nope, that has to change. Because thinking about how the weather is right now, there is no way I'm doing 26.2 miles on the treadmill. I love me a good treadmill run, not eight hours on the treadmill, because that's probably how long it's gonna be. Like, no, no, thank you. No, I don't. So that 26.2 is gonna have to happen in, I have to plan it for like beginning of April next year. So that means I need to adjust my training plan right now. And this is one of the benefits of a working with a coach who will figure out that timeline for you, or you being a planner and being able to figure out that timeline for yourself. Like realistically look at what will training look like for me in these weeks, months, years of whenever I plan to do it. Like, I'm not planning on running 26.2 miles over Christmas. Christmas is a holiday that my family celebrates. I'm not gonna do that. So I already need to plan out like, nope, can't be then. And then looking at timeline and temperature for where I live, it can't be too hot and I'm not gonna run too cold. So I am am I privileged in that? Absolutely. But that's why I bought a treadmill. And that's why I plan this out so that I can hit that 26.2 miles before marathon training ever starts, but also so I don't need to do it in 100 degree weather. Because I know it's going to take me, I'm planning on it taking me eight hours. Even if I start at 7 a.m. this time, May, it's already, let's see what time what the temperature would have been this morning when I woke up. So at 5:30 a.m., it was already 72 degrees. By 749, it was 80 degrees. It hit 90 at 1028 a.m. And it's gonna be a high of 99 today at 4 p.m. Like that's not happening. That cannot happen. So I am a planner. I did plan that out, and that's fine. And because I planned it out, I can adjust and I can adjust my 10% increase. I can't really adjust when I start it because of the 10K that I'm training for and then the half marathon I'm training for. I can't really change when I start training for it, but I can increase by just a smidge more than 10%. Literally, if I just increase by one point by 12% instead of 10%, I can hit those numbers before the temperature gets too hot. And that will be fine. Having said that, if you're looking for guidance or a coach who can walk you through doing things like that, where you're like, oh my God, I never even thought to do that, or oh, I wish somebody would do that for me. That's the kind of thing that we go through in Stronger Faster Finisher. It's just one of the many things we go through. But thinking about planning things in advance and working through all of the different aspects of training, including scheduling, that's something that we go through in Stronger Faster Finisher. If you're interested in something like that and want a coach to guide you, Stronger Faster Finisher is my group coaching program that is full aspect training, all of it that you need to get you across the finish line ahead of the balloon ladies, build more time so that you could have character stops, castle photos, everything, and enjoy every magical mile. Go ahead and join the wait list. The next program starts mid-June, but the wait list closes May 25th. Everyone on the wait list gets priority pricing and first dibs. There is no obligation to join the program just because you're on the interest list. But when you join the interest list, you get priority pricing and first dibs. And if I get enough runners through into the program through the wait list, I don't even open it up. I won't even open it up to the public. Go ahead and join the wait list to be one of the first ones to get first dibs and priority pricing.