My trusty Salomom 2L hydration bladder was one of the first pieces of trail running gear I purchased when I first started trail running. As most races have capacity to carry 2L of water on their mandatory gear list it seemed obvious to have a 2L bladder to check that box.

My trusty bladder has been with me through thick and thin and I used it for all my first ultra's. Sadly, it has been retired from racing and a recent discussion on the moretrail trail running forum gave me the idea to write a blog explaining why! (link for those that want to check out the thread)

Learning from the elites...

I do not fall into the category of an elite trail runner. Over the years I have noticed that you very rarely see the elites running with bladders and most seem to stick purely to soft flasks for their hydration.

Lucy Batholomew shed some light on this fact in her instructional vest packing video when she explained that she doesn't spend enough time between aid stations to warrant always carrying 2L (although she will have the capacity as per race rules!)

This got me thinking.

Issues with a using a bladder...

For my first few ultra's I spent a lot of time planning exactly how many calories/gels I wanted to consume per hour. I did not spend nearly the same amount of time on my hydration. One of the things I noticed as well was that I would often come into an Aid station and realise I had only drunk half my bladder - particularly on cooler race days.

My main issue with my bladder is that it is very hard to keep track with exactly how much fluid you have consumed without stopping and physically getting the bladder out of your vest to check. Stopping every hour to unpack your vest is both cumbersome and simply not practical.

Nailing your hydration strategy...

Soft flaks are a lot easier to monitor your fluid intake. Being more readily accessible on the front of your vest and breaking your fluid into smaller portions helps me to track exactly how much I have consumed each hour. It also allows me to keep track of electrolytes vs water intake without having to carry an extra vessel for my electrolytes when using a bigger bladder.

My current go to on an average temperature day is one soft flask of water/electrolyte mix for every hour until I will be able to refuel. This gets me to about 2/3 of my calorie intake for the hour and keeps me well hydrated. When the hour mark hits I remove the soft flask from my vest and finish whatever is left before replacing it with a fresh one from my side pouches and repeat the process on the hour every hour.

Keep your bladder handy...

Whilst these days my bladder features less on race day then when I started I have not ditched it completely. I still find the bladder useful for those long training runs where I am not exactly sure how long I will be out for and mostly just drink for thirst on those runs. I am also less worried about the extra weight in training so if it's going to be a really long run it never hurts to have a spare litre or two of water on your back in case of an emergency.

So if you're stuggling with planning out a meticulous hydration strategy try switching your bladder out for just soft flasks. Let us know what your think and while youre at it drop your thoughts into the more trail trail running forum.

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