Marathoners - energy gel, how often?

Mollydolly10
Mollydolly10 Posts: 431 Member
edited December 17 in Fitness and Exercise
Marathoners, what was your energy gel formula during the race? Did you have specific mile-markers where you took them? Did you go by feel??

I'm using Gu energy gel, which recommends taking one 15 before, and every 30-45 minutes along the way. So something like miles 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25. (I'll be running around a 10 min mile by the way)

Any thoughts?

Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Try to work out the spacing on your long training runs is about the best answer I can give. Everyone's stomach reacts differently.
  • kevin3344
    kevin3344 Posts: 702 Member
    I used Gu for my marathon and they even had some Gu stations which was cool. I used them every 45 min-1 hour and felt great.
  • gdunn55
    gdunn55 Posts: 363
    Never tried them.. Which I've never done more than a 10k or ran more than 75 minutes. Is it really that helpful?
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    A friend of mine is training for the Boston Marathon, and he doesn't use anything and says he's fine. Runs 20 miles every Saturday. I don't know, I would tend to not use them unless I was experiencing a problem of some kind, like just feeling out of gas or something. Then, I would look to incorporating them. You should be able to run 10 miles without them.
  • igora_soma
    igora_soma Posts: 486
    I use it every 45 minutes, it does help me to have something salty every 2 GUs though. I usually start with something fruity, then save espresso for the middle and end with mint chocolate :) I'll have pretzels or an extra sodium GU in between those.
  • blantonjm1
    blantonjm1 Posts: 74 Member
    I am currently taking them every 50 minutes to 1 hour. And i am actually using the Clif Bar shot bloks. I tried the Clif Bar energy gel and found it too thick and made my mouth real flemmy( yuck) as i was running and so I tried the Shot Bloks and they taste like fruit snacks and seem to keep me going. But ultimately, try it on your long runs and keep it spaced out further and shorten the length between if you find yourself fading out to soon. So far 50 minutes seem like just right for me. I am still building speed right now on my long runs- i run anywhere from a 10:45pace to 11:30.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I trained for endurance to burn mainly fat, and ate in such a way as to NOT raise insulin before or during the race, and kept the pace i needed to for finishing without hitting a wall (8:30 pace).

    Those gel's sure can set off your insulin, stopping fat burning until that carb energy is used up and insulin goes away to allow primarily fat burning again.

    Gel companies love it - because you are setting yourself up to require their use really.
  • cat_1977
    cat_1977 Posts: 79 Member
    I used powerbar energise sports shots (the cola ones!) which are more like sweets. Ran the marathon (and trained) with a friend and from the time we started running anything over 12 miles, we used to have a shot after every 4. Worked a charm and neither of us hit the wall on marathon day.
  • bert16
    bert16 Posts: 726 Member
    For my marathon (and for all my long runs) I eat one Gu or Honey Stinger Energy Gel (I alternate to vary consistency & flavour) every 3 miles with water, which is basically how the rest stations are spaced out on most race courses. I don't carry my own hydration for races, and don't take gels without water, so this works for me. It's *a lot* by the end of a long run, but I have yet to make The Wall's acquaintance, and this is what the exercise physiologist who put together my training plans told me to do. It seems more than most take on, but it works for me!
  • Starkle09
    Starkle09 Posts: 238 Member
    For my marathon and all training runs i used AccelGel. During my long runs I took them about every 45-60 minutes with water and during my marathon i took them every 4 miles with water. Experimenting alot during training is probably the best way to go and just see what works for u.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
    I trained for endurance to burn mainly fat, and ate in such a way as to NOT raise insulin before or during the race, and kept the pace i needed to for finishing without hitting a wall (8:30 pace).

    Those gel's sure can set off your insulin, stopping fat burning until that carb energy is used up and insulin goes away to allow primarily fat burning again.

    Gel companies love it - because you are setting yourself up to require their use really.

    This is a confusing post, but the only thing, weight wise, that really matters is still calories in vs. calories out. However, you might be able to go further faster if you fuel properly.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member

    I'm using Gu energy gel, which recommends taking one 15 before, and every 30-45 minutes along the way. So something like miles 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25. (I'll be running around a 10 min mile by the way)

    That's WAY too many for me, I'd throw up if I took that many. I'm more like 8, 13, 18, 23. I'll grab some Gatorade out on the course, but I don't want the water stations so it is hard to get more than a few ounces down.

    You can run you stats through this calculator and see what they say, but all that matters is what works for you.

    http://www.carbboom.com/Clients/Carbboom/CBcms.nsf/Content/marathoncalculator
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I trained for endurance to burn mainly fat, and ate in such a way as to NOT raise insulin before or during the race, and kept the pace i needed to for finishing without hitting a wall (8:30 pace).

    Those gel's sure can set off your insulin, stopping fat burning until that carb energy is used up and insulin goes away to allow primarily fat burning again.

    Gel companies love it - because you are setting yourself up to require their use really.

    This is a confusing post, but the only thing, weight wise, that really matters is still calories in vs. calories out. However, you might be able to go further faster if you fuel properly.

    I was commenting on NOT needing to do gel's, and why. Sorry to be confusing. I wasn't even talking about weight loss, just energy use.

    Because it is even better if you train your body to use the right fuel in the first place, to go further faster.

    I'd rather train and eat in such a way I can do 8:30 pace for a marathon and NOT need these supplements, rather than every 30-45 min because you forced your body into total glucose usage almost.

    I've just seen these folks at races doing the 10K and having all these gels on them. it's like totally missing the best fuel source. And frankly, even at 10K for the recreational runners, they don't need any Gel, until they start taking them and force their bodies to burn through liver glucose stores.

    I just wanted to shed some light for early recreational runners there is another way, and if weight loss is still involved, better for that too.

    It's called the Maffetone method. Go slower to speed up. While burning fat.
    Mark Allen was great Ironman triathlete that showed how well it worked, among other marathoners and ultradistance runners.
    http://www.markallenonline.com/maoArticles.aspx?AID=2
    ... keep my heart rate below 155 beats per minute. Maffetone told me that below this number that my body would be able to take in enough oxygen to burn fat as the main source of fuel for my muscle to move. I was going to develop my aerobic/fat burning system. What I discovered was a shock.

    To keep my heart rate below 155 beats/minute, I had to slow my pace down to an 8:15 mile. That’s three minutes/mile SLOWER than I had been trying to hit in every single workout I did! My body just couldn’t utilize fat for fuel.

    So, for the next four months, I did exclusively aerobic training keeping my heart rate at or below my maximum aerobic heart rate, using the monitor every single workout. And at the end of that period, my pace at the same heart rate of 155 beats/minute had improved by over a minute. And after nearly a year of doing mostly aerobic training, which by the way was much more comfortable and less taxing than the anaerobic style that I was used to, my pace at 155 beats/minute had improved to a blistering 5:20 mile.

    That means that I was now able to burn fat for fuel efficiently enough to hold a pace that a year before was redlining my effort at a maximum heart rate of about 190. I had become an aerobic machine! On top of the speed benefit at lower heart rates, I was no longer feeling like I was ready for an injury the next run I went on, and I was feeling fresh after my workouts instead of being totally wasted from them.
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