I rely heavily on the use of gels throughout the course of my longer runs. The texture is not at all desirable, think of consuming vaseline- not great. I have my favourites in terms of gels and why I choose that over other options for energy sources. I will outline why I make these decisions for my high-stakes long training runs and races.

I choose to use the brand Gu primarily for nutrition and energy. I like these because they come in lots of flavours, don’t have a lot of additives and use simple sugars. Flavours don’t seem like something that is very important but when you haven’t eaten a lot and the texture is terrible, the difference between chocolate mint and mandarin orange is wildly visible. I like to go with the chocolate-y flavours more than the fruity flavours. I picture myself eating chocolate icing and that really gets me through it. A lot of companies add things such as amino acids or vitamins to their gels which seem appealing, however, the goal of consuming these is to gain quick energy and these are not helping this, and often upset my stomach when running. The simple sugars are similar, companies are often trying to implement natural sugar sources such as honey, but these provide an opportunity to make you not feel so great.

Photo: https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/g22716327/best-energy-gels/

Gel consumption timing is critical for optimal performance. If you wait until you are feeling tired to start taking gels, then it will be too late. If you consume them too close together, then you might get an upset stomach. A good rule of thumb is to take your first gel after around 1 hour, then taking a gel 5 minutes before every 45 minutes after that. It is also recommended to take one more gel if you can’t get to some good food sources right after your run, regardless of when you took your previous gel.

 

I prefer gels to any other form of energy during exercise. One of the other main options is sport drink. The reason I don’t use sport drink is that there is too much liquid in these. That seems obvious but it’s amazing how quickly you can fill up on liquids on a long run and how hard it is to come by a washroom/ how long it takes to use the washroom. These are also really heavy to carry with you on a run. The other main option for energy during a run is chews. These are essentially chewy, gummy candies. These are the tastiest, for sure, but the problem with these is that they take so long to kick in. Since they are solid, your body takes much longer to break them down than a semi-solid gel. Additionally, gels take up the least amount of weight and space per gram of sugar (energy).

 

Information adapted from: https://trello.com/c/xsuJDMcb/17-readhttps-wwwrunnersworldcom-nutrition-weight-loss-g22716327-best-energy-gels