If I had to guess, I would say I spend 80% of my life dehydrated. Somehow, with all that I do, I can usually get away with it, and still reach my goals. In the summer? Not so much. In that vein I’m always looking for easier ways to stay hydrated and I hate to stop mid-run. I know it’s ridiculous but once I set my watch and start moving, I don’t want to stop until I’m done. I have yet to find a hydration pack that can keep up with me, and stashing bottles for long runs is just a pain that I (nor my running buddies) need.

First, some hydration history…

My very first hydration pack for running was the Camelbak Catalyst. It was “made for runners” and sat like a reverse fanny pack with a tube attached.

Old school hydration at it's finest.

Old school hydration at it’s finest.

Problem one: You could only put water in it. I know this because once I started mixing Gatorade in, my tube got moldy. I then had to dismantle the tube and boil it in a pot on the stove and then reassemble it. #TrueStory

Problem two: The water was stored in a bladder and it was pretty small…and would sometimes leak…and the water line would freeze in the winter.

Yours truly wearing the fanny pack hydration system during an Adventure Race in 2005.

Yours truly wearing the fanny pack hydration system during an Adventure Race in 2006. Yikes!

Luckily, hydration products have come a long way. I’ve never been one to be able to hold a bottle when I run. I just can’t. I can barely hold a shirt if I take mine off, and usually I will toss it to the side of the road and hopefully remember to pick it upon my way back.

Last year I bought the Nathan Hydration belt and it was ok but it wouldn’t stay in place on my hips once I started losing water weight over my long marathon training runs, and the bottles actually bruised my hips! I’m very delicate.

Stop beating me up!

Stop beating me up!

 

So, once I saw NYCRunningMama singing the praises of the Orange Mud HydraQuiver vest pack, I knew I had to give it a try.

Your power awaits...

Your power awaits…

First things first – it’s expensive. Allow me to give you some perspective. The $84.95 price tag is less then a pair of running shoes and you will have this much, much longer. Also, I’m giving you 10% off with the coupon code VITATRAIN.

Now that we’ve taken care of that, we can move on…

When my HydraQuiver (which I paid full price for, BTW) arrived I wanted to cry. I tried it on and thought there is no way this thing isn’t going to chafe me. I felt like it was already chafing me and I was just walking through the kitchen.

Trying to stay positive, I packed three extra packs of glide and some Aquafor on my trip to New Hampshire, where I would be testing it out, and hoped for the best.

YES!

YES!

I’m wrong a lot, and this time was a whopper.

On my virgin run with my HydraQuiver, it was a scorching 85 degrees out and I had to do a 20 minute run followed by a swim. I figured it couldn’t be that bad for just 20 minutes and then I would be jumping into the lake to cool any burning parts of my body.

I filled my Orange Mud water bottle, strapped on my vest and started running.

This was absolutely not taken by me.

This was absolutely not taken by me.

Surprise #1: This thing did not move! There was almost no movement at all and just the slushing from the water and ice in the bottle. And, you don’t have to use this exact bottle, just a water bottle of similar size will do!

Surprise #2: It was super easy to move the bottle out of the holster and then put it back in.

Surprise #3: I felt like a mix of Katniss and Daryl from The Walking Dead removing a bow for my arrow, each time I took a drink. Not only does ice cold water taste amazing when you climbing hills in New Hampshire in the middle of July, but I felt like a total badass doing it. #WaterIsMyWeapon

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The only downside so far is I may need to get the double barrel for my long runs leading up to the NYC Marathon. I’m hoping that my mileage increases will coincide with cooler temps and I can just keep the single, since I don’t have another $85 bucks to drop.

HydraQuiver_Double_Barrel_34dd744b-4bd1-44b2-bbb5-c6f6a30e1ca5_1024x1024

The only other downside I have heard is that you may have to adjust your ponytail in order to have a smoother water to mouth transition. I have 99 problems but a ponytail is not one…

What's a ponytail?

What’s a ponytail?

So, if you are in need of ultimate hydration bliss, this is the pack for you. Go to OrangeMud and order your hydra quiver with code VITATRAIN for 10% off.

Happy hydrating!

[Tweet “Hydration history and @orangemud HydraQuiver Vest review, plus discount code! #waterismyweapon #runchat”]

 

What is your favorite water pack and why?

If you could design one yourself what would it look like?

Katniss, Daryl or who the hell are they?

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