A good accessory is hard to find....

The beauty of running, especially compared to the other 2/3 of triathlon components, is the simplicity...or so I thought. To run, one doesn't need a wetsuit and aqua accessories, one doesn't need a helmet (unless one is a very reckess runner), gloves, bike rack, tire irons, C02 cartridges, blah, blah, blah. Just point and shoot... Well, this distance crap, er, endeavoring has made it necessary to consider carrying water, nuun, Clif shots, etc. Running has become complicated (next, I'm sure will be the "when and where do I stop to pee?" problem). So I figured I'd get a super-cool hydration belt. I thought I found the perfect thing, an "Amphipod," belt with 2 very small bottles, velcro, pocket. The thing LOOKS great and seemed perfect for the task. Maybe it is on somebody else's body. I test drove it this morning to/from the track for intervals just to get a feel for it before my next long run...let's just say if the damn thing hadn't cost $30 or if I hadn't kept the receipt, I'd have flung it into Greenlake. What a pain in the butt...despite me trying to push it down to my hips every few seconds, it kept creeping up (fortunately, Seujan informed me when it took half of my shorts along --although the breeze on my butt should've alerted me)... the bottles travelled AROUND the belt, one bottle spontaneously jumped OFF the belt to the ground, and no matter how tight I velcroed it, we just could not make friends. Some accessory THAT turned out to be. So...I'm going to get my 30 bucks back and investigate other options. Possible strategies: hide disposable water bottles on my running routes, create running routes that figure-8 or out-and-back the car, try belts other than the Amphipod, or god forbid, get one of the stupid water bottles you have to carry (but then how do you eat the Clif Shots?). My shoulder is not in favor of the last idea, but it's winning at the moment.

Regardless of hydration belt hell during the warm-up and cool-down (threw the belt on the bleachers for the actual workout), Seujan and I slugged out some good intervals this morning. We each did 5 x 800's on the track. I went: 3:45, 3:42, 3:44, 3:41, 3:41. Works for me....and a nice morning...about 45 degrees and clear. Sun came up while we were out there...good start to the day.