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Energy gels on a half marathon?
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Despite the odd "you shouldn't need gels for a half" comments that you were bound to get, I think it really is down to personal requirements. I've learned a lot about what my body needs in terms of fuel whilst marathon training. I took some comments of the above variety seriously whilst doing HM training a while back and decided I shouldn't need any gels for long runs and I shouldn't need to eat extra carbs before them either, as my glycogen levels should be high enough to get me round. Well, after too many long runs where I just faded and felt utterly lacking in energy after about eight miles, following the above advice, I decided that, to try to ensure that I completed all my long marathon training runs I would ensure I ate some good slow release carbs the night before (brown rice, brown pasta), have a good breakfast beforehand and take some gels with me. It worked. I've done numerous runs of between 14 and 20 miles doing that and they've all been so, so much easier than when I haven't bothered. As I'm tapering now, my long run was "only" 12 miles this morning. I decided I could forego the good meal the night before and wouldn't bother with any gels. About 75 minutes in, I could feel it happen - glycogen ran out like a switch being flicked and I was as slow as hell for the rest. I think that personally, I'm a carb burner and am crap at fat burning. I've discovered that by experimenting and listening to what my body has told me, rather than what some other runners have told me I should do, because that's how it works for them.
Every runner needs to not worry about what other runners are doing and work out for themselves how their body copes with long distances. Some can fat burn from the off, some can easily switch between burning carbs to fat where necessary (and you can probably train yourself to do this better) and some are very inefficient fat burners (as I am) - and there are many people in between. You need to find out where you are on that scale.
Matt, isn't part of the reason you experienced that 'switch over' today because you have trained to run off high levels of carbs. I'm not saying you are wrong, but rather that it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. Training in a way that works for you now is one approach; training your body to adapt in terms of more efficient use of fats, and increasing the glycogen storage capacity is another. I too was crap at burning fats last year - that was something I wanted to change to make things easier from 20 - 26 miles.
http://www.nutritionj.com/content/9/1/33
This is why I take a gel on a HM - don't even need to really swallow it. I notice a difference, even if placebo.
Absolutely. I would very much like to become a better fat burner and intend to address this in the future. There is a right time and a wrong time to do this however, and the lead up to a race is the wrong time. I took the "you shouldn't need gels for a half" as something that ought to apply to me and I had some bloody miserable long runs. At the time I didn't know my body was just trying to get better at fat burning, I thought I was failing to be a decent runner and it almost put me off running. Abandoning that, and realising that, to complete my long runs effectively to ensure I could get the training in to run a good marathon, was the key to enjoying running again. So, as I said, everyone's different. The OP may be a good fat burner so the advice "you shouldn't need gels for a half" would (accidentally) be good advice. We don't know what his fat burning ability is though so actually, the best advice is to experiment and find what works for him.
I just find the way some people give advice based entirely on what they can do, without considering that another individual might have different requirements, quite annoying!
That's the main problem with people suddenly deciding to do a half or full marathon isn't it? All these 16 week plans.
How many years of running 5-10k have you done before stepping up to halfs? How many years of halfs before stepping up to fulls?
The OP is running sub 1:40 halfs.
Will I need a gel during a half marathon if I haven't used them in training, will they make me faster? No.
Tim, I'm not sure if your question is directed at me, but if it is, I did my first half marathon in 2007 and have done seven in total. Have been taking running more seriously for about two years, during which time I have done numerous 5k's and 10K's, plus a few halfs and a 30k. I am stepping up to the full marathon this year for the first time. Why do you ask?
By the way, I'm glad you don't find the need to use gels. Well done! I wish I didn't either.
A lot of this question is tied in with your regular diet. Prior to running I had a somewhat processed diet, and on long walks often experienced very small hypoglycemic attacks. The response was to eat sugary snacks to get the blood glucose back up. Had I been a runner at the time, then gels would have sorted me out too. Changing my diet cured me of dips like this, and when I came to take up running it has never been an issue. I tend to avoid a lot of sugary stuff prior to a race, and only reach for them in a marathon where they are consumed thoughout.
I'm not sold on the idea of having to have done x years of 5ks / 10ks and halves. It is more about trying to get the big picture sorted out. Sometimes this will mean doing what is right for you, even if it means a gel.
Definitely also-ran. I try to avoid sugar during day to day life as well, but I don't always manage it.
Experience is one factor, but so is physiological make up. What is right for one experienced runner, won't be right for another. If the OP is a big carb burner who often finds himself flagging a little towards the end of a HM, a well timed gel could make a difference.
The idea is that your long runs are done very slow. That's the key. Many people do these far too fast.
You're not training yourself to 'burn fat'. There's no such thing. You're building mitocondrial muscle tissue. if you run too fast the muscle building is inhibited by lactate production, even low levels at nowhere near threshold. If you haven't done sufficient hours at these very slow speeds you won't have the muscle structure.
So yes, everyone is different but not because they're naturally built that way but because they have built themselves that way.
If the OP wants to run faster then short fast runs build the speed and long slow runs build the endurance. No one can run for two hours unless they've trained to run for two hours.
If I run a half then & take say one gel as this is what I use when training, how much drink would you take & would it just be water?