First 8 Miler + New Hydration Belt = Oh Boy!

The new belt felt great until I put water in the bottle and actually ran with it. lol The water made the belt noticeably heavier. I really felt like this 20 0z. bottle of water was slowing me down. I know that sounds silly! Just past the first mile I stopped to take off the belt and hide it in the weeds. I really did feel much more free and lighter without it. I knew I was coming back the same way and would drink and pick it back up around the 4 mile mark. Once I drank the water the belt felt fine again. I believe the water made a positive difference in this run. I felt refreshed and had a surge of energy right afterward. I was very hot and I felt once again after the water that I could do this!

I also fueled with raisins along with the water. I'm not a big fan of gummies but at first thought I would use them. I think the raisins chewed up much more quickly and were easier to swallow than gummies would have been.

I proceeded to run through town and since there wasn't any water left in the bottle, I ran past the house and dropped off the belt. I'm going to either have to get used to the belt or start driving my route ahead of time to stash water bottles and fuel.

Then I ran in the opposite direction from before through a subdivision armed with my jogger pepper spray. I haven't run through this neighborhood in a few years because I had a dog scare there. A nice man in a car that happened to be driving by blocked the dogs from getting to me. As I was nearing the end of the run, I realized I had gone out too far. I probably had to walk a mile to get back to the house when the run was over. lol

Oh forgot! I ran my first 8 miler in 1 hr 25 mins. The average pace was 10:38. I did a lot better than I expected!