Fuel belts hold water too?

[colby]

This might seem light a dumb question....but....are the "bottles" on a fuel belt to hold water, electrolyte drink or gu?

I guess I have never been able to figure this out. When the IMSG came through everyone seemed to have one with something in the bottles. So if they are used for drink etc. how often are they used if you have an aid station +/- every mile or so?

Why are the bottles smaller? Do you refill at aid stations?

Thank you for answering my crazy questions. This might solve the other question of How useful are they? Inquiring minds want to know

Red Rock

Tri Girl pretty much got it. You can hold whatever you want, but usually it's a concentrated sports drink mixture of some kind (or diluted gels) that people have used in training, and possibly some water so you can drink (or mix more sports drink) at times other than the aid stations. The bottles are smaller because bigger bottles would be heavier and more uncomfortable. This way you can distribute the load and not carry so much on your waist.

Some people can take in what's at aid stations, which for an Ironman is usually Gatorade, PowerBar Gels, and an assortment of broth, flat coke, pretzels, and fruit. A lot of people can't tolerate gatorade or the powerbar gels (or in enough quantities to satisfy their calorie needs), so they concoct and carry their own stuff that they practice with in training. By the time you get to the run part of an Ironman, your tummy is not exactly rock solid anymore and taking in things that you've never had before can be pretty disastrous.

[Red Rock]

Thank you Colby and TriGirl for answering my questions. That makes a little more sense after you describe these things. Do you use the fuel belts on your training runs or something else?

Thank you,
Red Rock

[artifactos]

A fuel belt is on my wish list so I can actually hydrate during my longer training runs, where there are no aid stations, no water fountains, and when carrying a water bottle just wears me out.

I haven't done a running race over 5k, so I don't know yet if I'd like to wear one during a race.

[colby]

Thank you Colby and TriGirl for answering my questions. That makes a little more sense after you describe these things. Do you use the fuel belts on your training runs or something else?

Thank you,
Red Rock

Lots of people use them during training - they are probably more commonly used in training than racing, even, because training doesn't usually include aid stations.