R.I.P.

Today ends an era. I must say goodbye to my faithful Fuel Belt.
Now, I know this seems silly, but I have had this thing through thick and thin. In the past 8 years, anytime I have run over 8 miles, I have brought it. In the heat, it is with me over 5. It is always there, filled with whatever I need to keep me going. I stuff it with gels, Shot Blocks, Nuun, Starbursts, Endurolytes, ibuprofen, money, keys, cell phone... not to mention fluids. It has seen countless water bottles go in and out of it, but it remains the same. It has supported me through 13 marathons and thousands (yes, THOUSANDS) of training miles. It has traveled the world with me on trips from Texas to Hawaii to Barcelona. In fact, it has traveled more with me than Ross. So when I was training for this last marathon, it looked like it was almost time to go.

See, I knew it wasn't doing the best. About a year ago, not wanting to say goodbye, I had done a little repair.
My sad state of stitching the velcro back on.

But now it looks like the elastic is going too, something that I can't replace. The more I looked at it, I realized just how far it had been stretched. Over and over, sad really. It was destined to break through at any point.

Because you are always supposed to "race like you train", I didn't want to race with a new belt. I said a quick little prayer that it would get me through one more race (Phoenix) and it did.

Now with Phoenix over, it is time to say goodbye to my little buddy and move on. While he can never be replaced, I am looking forward to lots of running miles with my new pal, a Nathan with room for TWO water bottles.

Rest in peace, my dear Fuel Belt.