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gels---how-many-and-when
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So using 8 is not macho enough for you, Fluff?
I actually would be genuinely impressed by someone who could get down 8 gels (and keep them down) in the space of a couple of hours. Especially if they were those disgusting high 5 ones. Sort of a Man v. Food challenge.
they say every 20 mins ..........so if he was planning on being out over 2 hours and was brought up to always have a spare just incase...........
have you seen how many are tied onto bikes for ironman races..........I know plenty of people have 20 or more during the event
I've been trying to make sense of this. It seems to me that people are just blindly quoting 90mins store of glycogen without thinking what this means.
I don't see how this can be the same for everyone. It's really going to depend on your rate of work and efficiency.
For a half I'm aiming at running slightly anaerobically but I'm a 1:50 runner.
The advice is to take one after an hour but I don't need one as technically I'm too slow to burn all my glycogen. Then there's the issue of how long do they take to absorb? 20mins? So one at an hour and if youre're looking at a 2hr plus one at 1:30 mark? Any quicker and you finish just as they kick in.
Caffine? Theoretically takes 40mins to take effect. Go figure. My money is on placebo and Jelly babies.
I start mine on mile 14 of the marathon.
I think the 90 minute thing comes from Lucozade's website:
"Depending on the nature and intensity of exercise, carbohydrate stores may start to become depleted after 60-90 min of high intensity exercise or around 90-100 min of lower effort or moderate exercise."
Although note it says start to become depleted. I assume that refers to the point at which your performance measurably starts to decline, 'cos surely nobody hits the wall that early on.
May start to become depleted? There's a vague term to use if there ever was one. Advertisers love phrases like that.
My " hard man " take on it, is that if you don't need to take something then why risk an upset stomach by taking it. Generally after 18 miles I need something extra.
I'd take 1 for a half marathon, I come in somewhere around 1.55.
Train with them and do what feels right for you.
And Lucozade would want to err on the side of caution
Of course you can do what you want. You don't HAVE to take anyone's advice or look at any evidence. Then again if you are going to do whatever you want regardless of anyone's opinion they why bother looking at a forum at all?
but the fact is there is no clear evidence either way..........so its personal opinions of which there might be some differing ones.......
I think there is some pretty good evidence out there. I just think it's very childish and not to mention annoying when people say " I'll just what I want anyway because it feels right" Why bother with evidence or worry what anybody else says. Why be on here in the first place? Just jog on and do what you want to do regardless.
where is the evidence then .links please........
There's tons of evidence and loads of studies have been done...
...on elite athletes.
They study how different amounts of carbohydrate are absorbed and how additional carbohydrate improves performance.
Unless you experiment yourself you won't know and in the absence of expensive lab testing it's trial and error.
Going with what works is as good as any to start with. I used to drink about 500ml of orange squash on a half marathon. I have experimented and learned that a couple of sips of water to cure a dry mouth is all that's usually required on a normal day.
The burden of proof that a product works or is needed is upon the product. Thousands of runners, including me, regularly go far beyond 13.1 miles without the need for gels or other energy suppliments. Proof enough for anyone surely?
Of course doing what you want regardless means it's probably a waste of time asking but then, that probably isn't what's happened here. Equally stupid would be just blindly following the advice of people you don't know off the internet, in the face of your own personal experience. Everyone's different and they have to try to find what suits them.
Taking eight gels on a half marathon though, is so far removed from what anyone else would possibly need that you have to question it.
thats amazing evidence you have provided to support you case.........i know lots of people ( including myself) who passed O' level maths without doing a single hour of revision for it..........so therefore we can all assume no one needs to revise to pass an o level maths paper.( or GCSE now)
Man you are so beaten when you came up with that lame analogy Seren Nos
The problem is most of the studies are based on endurance cyclists. Four hours plus. They start hydrating and replacing carbs pretty much from the off. There's only something like 60g or 200-300cals of carbs an hour you can absorb. If you're knocking out 800+ an hour you'll run out pretty soon.
The whole idea is to delay or avoid hitting the wall which is the point where your blood sugar crashes.
Those of us who run marathons and have got it wrong know what that feels like. Feeling tired and needing a boost is not hitting the wall.
Sorry NLR........bad analogy.not running related
how about i run in winter in shorts and vest and never in a rain jacket unless I'm running for over 4 hours.........therefore unless you are running for over 4 hrs you do not need a rain coat running in winter and you never ever need trousers of a jumper
Yeah, who needs a jumper when you can just wear arm warmers?
Why are all those people lined up on your facebook page literatin? 30 people waiting at a style?
Stumbled upon this, and am delighted to find I am classed as a hard man. 3hr:10min LR, with no breakfast or gels this morning (let myself down by having some water). In your face lucozade and High 5. Take that SiS. Take a hike Cliff.
Stalker! Yes, it was a terribly polite race, Sussex Runner.
PS: I think you looked more Brightonishly bohemian with the longer hair.
Sorry Also-ran, but you're only a hard man if you look down on anybody who has to have a gel before you do. Perhaps if you were to mock sussex runner for his weedy 18 miles before a gel, that might do the trick.
It's quite interesting though that gels and sports drinks are a fairly recent thing and runners in the 70s and 80s did without them and were a lot faster than runners now. Is this because there are more recreational runners now who don't train their bodies to burn fat or is it that we have become so slow that we need these things to get us round? I've got against them (I took a gel every 6 miles for the VLM) but it's amazing how a whole industry has developed and yet in this country at least, runners have got slower! Go figure...
People walked more, especially from childhood. and had much better developed aerobic systems.
A strong aerobic system means you can work at a much higher rate 'burning fat' and relatively less glycogen.