I'm in week 8 of a 16 week half marathon training program. It's been going fine so far. I have never been much of a distance runner - except for a short period at least 12-15 years when I was up to 8+ mile weekend runs. The past 3 years I've just been doing occasional 5k runs, a sprint tri, and a few duathlons, so I've never serious trained for distance before.

My longest weekly run has been 8 miles so far. I have just been drinking a bit before I start off and then finishing off a water bottle when I get done. I know that hydrating during longer distance runs would probably be much better then holding off until the end but I get nervous about stopping even for short breaks. I'm afraid that my legs will start tightening up right away and the rest of the run will be more difficult. The half marathon will have water stops every 2 miles so I'm sure it would be to smart to take advantage of at least a few of them. Am I completely wrong to worry about short breaks? Is it something that your body has to get used to? Do you do any stretching before you start off again? Or would I be better off just using a hydration belt and drinking on the go?

Any opinions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.