I have recently discovered energy gels - they've taken me from finishing my runs on my last legs, to powering home with plenty in the tank. However, they also seem to have the side effect of giving me the runs (pun intended). On my run today i ate 2 of the SIS Go gels and within an hour of getting home i had stomach cramps and was on the toilet every 10 mins - this lasted for about 4 or 5 hours.
From googling the problem it would seem that a lot of people suffer the same issue due to the high sugar content found in many energy products, with the general advice being to try different products as not all of them will necessarily have the same effect.
So with that in mind, i was wondering what everyone else uses / thinks of the various energy products on the market and if any could be recommended to me?
Comments
JELLY BABIES for me
I'm fine with the gels, but prefer the jelly babies, just take a few with you to try, not the whole bag, otherwise you'll end up eating the lot
20 cals per baby, so you can graze on them right through your run! you can absorb about 240-400 cals per hour, so about 12-20 jelly babies (assuming you're just drinking water with them).
so one every 5 minutes - yum yum.
however, don't forget salt intake too, so you'd prob be better off drinking some kind of sports drink instead of plain water (i find SIS GO blackcurrant electrolyte drink the least vomit inducing). sadly that cuts down your jelly baby ration to one every 10 minutes. boo.
personally, i use my hands to carry bottles. it was a bit annoying at first, but you soon get used to it. after all, holding a 500ml or 750ml bottle in your hand isn't objectively a hugely difficult task.
i started running further recently so moved up to carrying 2 1-litre bottles at a time. that was quite uncomfortable for the first week or two as the bottles are so wide, but again, after that first few goes it's easy. just a matter of "manning up" a bit.
nup - can't carry anything. The Nathan G-Trek is the fabbest for runs over 90 mins or so. bottle for water (or Ribena if I'm feeling exotic), and a pouch big enough to take jelly babies, gels (which I cannot abide - I've only had one in my life), phone, key, small boy scout, spare shoes, laptop for when the muse strikes, a satellite dish in case the Garmin* fails...whatever.
*I don't actually have a Garmin. Too many trees. But I do carry a chainsaw in the pouch in case I find any fallen ones that are too big to climb over.
I use the donut bottle, which was a little annoying at first, but ended up being comforting in the end. I like Ribena too, sometimes. What a drink!!!
The sports drinks they hand out on race day tend to be stronger than what you can buy in the shops - made me feel REALLY rough between 13 and 18, so gave up on them and stuck to water!