Energy Gels

jdt242 wrote: »

Instead of lugging around water, I thought I might try an energy gel.

Energy gels are not a replacement for water. In fact, you should drink water after you consume a gel.

I haven't used them in a while by I used Powerbar and GU.

I find them to be helpful. When a half marathon was the longest I was running, they were helpful in races. And now that I run marathons, I rely on them for that distance. If you can, get to a running specialty store and buy a variety that appeal to you, no matter the brand. Try them out on your long runs to figure out which tastes best to you and works best as well. But you MUST take them with water, or else it's bad news. Your mouth would be all sugary and grimy and you'd be setting yourself up for some stomach cramps, I'm sure.

If, however, you find that you don't care for gels, there are chews, sport beans and all kinds of real foods you can try. I like dried fruit (pineapple and cranberries), and I know other people that go for pretzels, dates, gummy bears, and fruit snacks.

Depends on the distance. For a sprint or 5K, it's a quick and easy energy spike. For something longer, I'll probably have some combination of PB, banana, and oatmeal before I head out, with a handful of nuts and either sport beans or candy on hand if I suddenly feel drained, probably an hour or hour and a half into it. The benefit of sport beans or energy gel over straight up candy is that they usually add in electrolytes as well, but you can balance that out with the right pre-run nutrition planning. Experiment!

jdt242 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. Have ordered sports beans to save on carrying water with me. Have also ordered a FlipBelt...and I am bizarrely excited!!! Going to test them both out on my long run this weekend. I don't think I'll bother with gels at all. Depending on how the sports beans go down, I may try jelly sweets or fruit as suggested above. Thanks for the education lesson in gels!

You do still need to carry water though. Gels, beans and such will only help with energy once your glycogen levels get low, not with hydration.

amusedmonkey wrote: »

jdt242 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. Have ordered sports beans to save on carrying water with me. Have also ordered a FlipBelt...and I am bizarrely excited!!! Going to test them both out on my long run this weekend. I don't think I'll bother with gels at all. Depending on how the sports beans go down, I may try jelly sweets or fruit as suggested above. Thanks for the education lesson in gels!

You do still need to carry water though. Gels, beans and such will only help with energy once your glycogen levels get low, not with hydration.

Quoted for truth. I would be much more concerned about taking water on a long run than I would about some energy beans or gels.

I use Gu chomps. Some belts have a spot for water bottles. I don't like carrying the water
I don't like the gels because of the texture. I do like to use them because they have caffiene, accessible carbs, and sodium. more so than gummy bears or starburst

I keep the chomps close to my body so they don't get cold and hard. I take half a pack before i start and the other half about mile 4, a half from a new pack at mile 8, and the last half around mile 10 or 11.

That being said, it's perfectly fine to do the whole thing without fuel if your body is able and willing.

This topic is about as YMMV as it's possible to get. The amount of nutrition you need on any given run is affected by, among other things:

• your existing energy stores
• time of day
• amount of time you're running
• [other things]

The way for you to figure out what will work for you is to ... well, to figure out what will work for you. For runs over 45 minutes or so, I like Gu Root Beer and Gu Salted Watermelon gels, and Honey Stinger chews. To me, Hammer gels taste like somebody mixed sidewalk chalk into Karo syrup and packaged it up. Others swear by Hammer (or Carb Boom!, or Clif Shots, or whatever), and wouldn't throw down a Gu with a gun to their head. You won't know what you like until you try it.

Gels (with or without caffeine), chews, gummie bears, actual Gatorade ... there are countless ways to take in calories during a run. Try a few, and keep track of how you feel. With any luck, you'll have enough time before your half to identify the strategy that keeps you feeling energetic without feeling overly full.

As has been noted, though: don't skimp on water. Gels and water is not an either/or proposition: it's definitely both. Regardless of whether you need calories, you should have water, particularly on longer and/or hotter runs. I happen to like Nuun tablets in my water, because that includes electrolytes with minimal calories. Again: YMMV. Happy hunting, and good luck.