fuel/electrolytes for marathon training

Pinkranger626

I'm not normally a salty sweater, at all. But at both Disney races I've done I was coated in salt at the end. I don't know if it's the weather difference from New England to Florida, or the fact that I'm traveling so my diet is a bit different, or maybe a combo of the two.

I cannot stand the taste of the lemon lime gatorade that they use at the stations. I've sucked them down anyway for my half marathons, but I find that once I get toward the end I start skipping the gatorade because the taste makes me want to vomit. So my thoughts are that maybe if I like the flavor I can make myself choke it down even when all I want is water. Or maybe if I could find a pill alternative I could avoid gatorade all together, but I'm not sure if the salt pills would be too much or not. I guess all I can do it give them a try and go from there.

40oz isn't really that much. My belt is four 10oz bottles, two in the front and two in the back, I've trained through really hot and humid summers with them in the past and haven't had much of an issue as far as added weight or feeling like it was sloshing around.

Thanks for all the feedback. I definitely plan to try out a bunch of different things, I just had no idea where to start. The fueling that I've done for half marathon training was minimal, so I haven't really had to rely too much on this stuff before. And I find for my OCRs the fueling could possibly be different as I tend to end up hiking a lot of it up and down the mountain rather than holding a running pace the whole time, so eating something like a granola bar or a banana doesn't seem as far fetched in that situation.

cedder1

I find propel water works good for me. Not nearly as potent as gatorade.

Pinkranger626

I saw an advertisement for the Propel electrolyte water. Is this the one that's not flavored but has the same amount of electrolytes as gatorade? I was thinking of trying that too once I can figure out where to find it (the website says it's unavailable in my area, but I've heard I can find it at walmart)

cheshirecatastrophe

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

I saw an advertisement for the Propel electrolyte water. Is this the one that's not flavored but has the same amount of electrolytes as gatorade? I was thinking of trying that too once I can figure out where to find it (the website says it's unavailable in my area, but I've heard I can find it at walmart)

Propel is artificially sweetened and flavored--quite nicely, actually; I really like the kiwi strawberry--but has very few *calories* (zero on the label, so, 4 or so per serving in reality).

Our Wal-Mart stocks it with the yuppie water rather than the Gatorade and Powerade. Maybe because it's clear?

jacksonpt

cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

I saw an advertisement for the Propel electrolyte water. Is this the one that's not flavored but has the same amount of electrolytes as gatorade? I was thinking of trying that too once I can figure out where to find it (the website says it's unavailable in my area, but I've heard I can find it at walmart)

Propel is artificially sweetened and flavored--quite nicely, actually; I really like the kiwi strawberry--but has very few *calories* (zero on the label, so, 4 or so per serving in reality).

Our Wal-Mart stocks it with the yuppie water rather than the Gatorade and Powerade. Maybe because it's clear?

Propel now makes an unflavored "electrolyte water", similar to smart water. I believe that's what they are referring to.

dawnna76

jacksonpt wrote: »

You say you don't like the gatorade they'll have on course - is that because of the flavor or...? If it's flavor, maybe you can deal with it to make things easier? Besides, everything tastes better when you're running on fumes.

aint that the truth! the crappy a$s micholob ultra at the end of my marathon in the the beer garden was seriously the best tasting beer ever! i wouldnt touch that stuff with a 10 foot pole normally.

trswallow

I have an amphipod belt with four 8 oz bottles. On my last marathon I ran with two bottles, one for water and one for Gatorade. At the aid stations I would fill them as needed. If you don't like the Gatorade provided you could fill a bottle with an extra strong mix of your electrolyte drink, and during the race take a small sip of electrolyte followed by a swig of plain water.

As far as gels, check if any local running/bike/sports stores have any sales that apply to individual gel packets, so that you can try several different brands and flavors. I have a Performance Bike store near work that runs a two hour 10% off lunch sales on Tuesdays, that I use to sample various fuel options. Once I have decided what I like I order a box from who ever has the best price.

Personally I like the Gu and Clif gels because they are a little thicker and less likely to run down the outside of the packet as I squeeze it up to the top. This is important because I usually take five minutes to finish a gel. I also always carry a snack size Ziploc bag to stow the empty packets in, so that they don't make a mess of my belt pouch.

cheshirecatastrophe

jacksonpt wrote: »

cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

I saw an advertisement for the Propel electrolyte water. Is this the one that's not flavored but has the same amount of electrolytes as gatorade? I was thinking of trying that too once I can figure out where to find it (the website says it's unavailable in my area, but I've heard I can find it at walmart)

Propel is artificially sweetened and flavored--quite nicely, actually; I really like the kiwi strawberry--but has very few *calories* (zero on the label, so, 4 or so per serving in reality).

Our Wal-Mart stocks it with the yuppie water rather than the Gatorade and Powerade. Maybe because it's clear?

Propel now makes an unflavored "electrolyte water", similar to smart water. I believe that's what they are referring to.

I stand corrected! Has anyone here tried it? Does it taste vaguely like saltwater?

jacksonpt

I tried it the other days and it was kinda gross. Not sure what it tasted like... the closest comparison I could make is this...

Have you ever had a warm bottle of water that had been sitting in your car for a few hours? It doesn't really taste like anything, but it still tastes kinda gross and is NOT at all refreshing. It tasted kinda like that, except it was cold.

I'll stick with SmartWater.

Pinkranger626

Hmm that's disappointing.... I may still try it just to see lol. I'll have to look around at my running stores, there are a couple in my area, although not particularly close to me.