Growing Up & Carrying My Own Water

Disclaimer: I was recently sent an Orange Mud HydraQuiver to review as part of being a BibRave Pro.  Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador) and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I have a confession to make.   

I’m 30 years old.  I’ve been running since my sophomore year of high school.  I trained for 2 marathons, several half marathons and I’ve never carried my own water.

Ok, I lied. 

I can remember the 2 times I had to.  TWO times.  The first was on a 14 miler during 2012 Chicago Marathon training.  It was scheduled for Falmouth Road Race weekend and the only time I could fit it in was on a Thursday morning—while everyone was working.  The second time was just last year training for Houston.  I had another 14 miler scheduled and I ran the middle 7 miles with a friend, Wendy.  I carried the water the 2 miles to her house then the 5 miles after our run.  It was horrible.  I had to carry it in my hands.

Every other long run over 10 miles—and I mean it—every other long run over 10 miles, my mom and/or dad has accompanied me on bike with my water.  I’m so spoiled.

BUT NOT NOW!  I turned 30 this month and it’s time to grow up!

Another awesome opportunity with BibRave led me to the Orange Mud HydraQuiver.  Some of the other pros test out the HydraQuiver Vest Pack last year and I’ve been curious ever since.  I feel like handheld water bottles are just annoying.  Hydration belts are just awkward and don’t sit on my hips right.  The HydraQuiver is a little backpack that carries a full size water bottle and features 2 pockets for things like fuel, chap stick, tissues and your cell phone.

The tracking on my Orange Mud shipment was originally scheduled to arrive March 17th, the day before my birthday, but there was a delay and it arrive on the 19th, the morning we left for New York.  Long story short my neighbors never got my mail so this poor little package sat outside for 4 days!  I was so thankful it was still there and nobody snagged it from my doorstep. 

Since I got back I’d been staring at my Orange Mud HydraQuiver counting down to this weekend’s long run.  I typically don’t use hydration or fuel on runs shorter than 10 miles but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try it out!  I was actually pretty thankful I had water with me today as I had a glass of wine last night and did a pretty bad job of hydrating this morning.

With only 1 run down in the Orange Mud HydraQuiver, I am in love!  A little sloshing but hardly any bouncing.  There are still a few kinks I need to work out.  I need to play around with the different strap lengths and experiment with different amounts of water in the bottle.  I'm also curious to try it out in a tank top on a hot and humid day but I am excited for the freedom of running long without depending on my parents and fitting in runs around their schedule!

I still hope they will join me on some of my long runs but this also means if I run alone, they can dog sit!  :P

Stay tuned for a full review coming soon and many more runs with my Orange Mud HydraQuiver as I train for the Buffalo Half Marathon on 5/29/2016 and the Miami Marathon on 1/29/2017!