Mom in the Mtns

Hi everyone!  Week 10 of HTH training is complete…well, sort of.

Monday:  total rest day after my hot mess long run last Sunday.  I still felt really sick, and after talking to my coworkers I realized that I probably caught whatever stomach bug they had in Seattle!  It made me feel a little better about how hard that run was for me.

Tuesday:  It was my birthday!  I ran 2.8 miles to celebrate turning 28, and also went for a little hike with my friends.

Morning running view from the coastal trail

Wednesday:  Our last HTH speed workout at the track!  We had to run a 20 minute tempo and I was a bit worried about it, but I ended up running with my usual tempo buddies and we did great!  We ran 20 minutes at a faster pace than we did in our 5 minute tempos 10 weeks ago.  So awesome!

Thursday:  I was feeling like I needed a good stretch, so I signed up for a 1 month membership at Anchorage Yoga and went right to Deep Stretch class!  It was sooooo good.

Friday:  I was off work and took the noon Flow class at AY.  I’ve taken it before and knew it would be pretty warm in there (yes, 85 degrees is warm!) but it was a pretty tough class and I had to take a few breaks in child’s pose when I felt like I was getting too overheated.  How do people get through Bikram?  Right after class my friend flew in from Bethel and we got ready for a fun long weekend together!

Saturday:  It was a pretty cold and drizzly 4th of July, but it didn’t really matter because the burn ban is still in effect in Anchorage and all fireworks were cancelled.  Boo.  We spent the first part of the day watching live coverage of the Mount Marathon Race (you might remember my post about this ridiculous 5k when I lived in Seward last year and saw the race in person!) and I was blown away by the men’s race!  Kilian Jornet, a big ultra runner from Spain, was running the race and everyone was favoring him to win.  He was in second place going up the mountain, but when he started running down he took off and no one else stood a chance!  He broke the men’s record and his girlfriend Emilie Forsberg from Sweden broke the women’s record as well.  After that we were super inspired to (slowly) go climb a mountain, so we headed up to Little O’Malley peak in Anchorage.  Except that it was crazy windy as well as rainy and cold, and we were honestly concerned for our safety at the top of the mountain!  So we hiked a few hours on the Williwaw Lakes trail instead.

Posing in front of Little O’Malley

And we snuck some yoga in there too!  Tree pose above the tree line!

Sunday:  My friend flew back home and I was planning on running my long run after she left, but I had a few weird pains in my legs from the hike and I decided to listen to my body and push my long run back to Monday instead.  I’m being super paranoid about getting injured this close to the race and want to make sure my body can handle these next two weeks!

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about hydration options while running.  I know I’ll probably need to carry some water on me during Ragnar because of the heat and elevation, and I’d like to not look ridiculous and be uncomfortable while doing it.  I currently own a handheld water bottle as well as a Nathan hydration belt with 1 bottle and a small zippered compartment, but neither is really working for me.  The handheld bottle is pretty big which means it has room for my phone, but it also means that it holds a lot of water and gets so heavy after a while (and filling it halfway makes it have that annoying sloshy sound for hours).  The hydration belt is lighter but doesn’t have enough room for all of my stuff, and I honestly feel silly wearing it – but it’s more comfortable than my handheld bottle.  I bought them both at TJ Maxx back in Philly and I think they were both on clearance so I was willing to try them out!

I only use them when I’m running over 7 or 8 miles (depending on the heat) but I really want to get a new one and I’m looking for the following:

• Comfort.  Which might be impossible.
• A place to store my keys, Sport Beans, and my phone (which I carry for safety reasons)
• Enough water to keep me safe
• A way to keep the water cool in the summer and not frozen in the winter which neither of my systems current do

Here in Anchorage most of the running trails are through the woods, in the mountains, or along the coast.  There aren’t water fountains anywhere, and even if I’m running through the downtown area it’s not like I’m going to stop somewhere and buy water.  And stashing water along the course is going to be pretty tough when the course is on the coastal trail and you can’t drive on it.  So when I head out on a run I’m probably going to be unassisted the whole time and need to bring anything I need with me.  I’ve got some birthday money and I’d like to spend it on something that fits all of my needs, but don’t even know where to start!

So help me out:  what do you use to hydrate on long runs when you’re not near any water?  Have you ever used a small hydration backpack while running?  What is the most comfortable option for carrying water and your phone?