Gu Gu Blah Blah

Once you start getting into runs longer than 8-10 miles, it's time to consider taking nutrition during your run.

Even though you ate before your long run (right?), you're going to burn through the most easily accessible energy stores in your body, in the form of complex carbs and simple sugars. Solid food doesn't sit well for most people when they're running, and there's a premium on getting the necessary ingredients into your bloodstream as quickly and efficiently as possible.

There are different ways to approach this. The most common is to use energy gels like Gu, Hammer Gel, Power Gel, etc. They come in little foil packets, like little gu grenades. They have around 100-150 calories, 25 grams or so of carbs. They tend to have an 80/20 complex carb to simple sugar ratio, and they might also contain electrolytes, antioxidants, specific amino acids, and maybe even caffeine.

Lots of people have a hard time with gels - the consistency and taste. You kind of have to experiment with different brands and different flavors, because there really is a good deal of variation. Some people also just have a hard time with all that sugar and stuff hitting their stomach. Again, trial and error, which is why it's good to start figuring it out now. Personally, I like Gu. It's not grainy, and doesn't have too much of a funky aftertaste. The Vanilla Bean, the Chocolate Outrage, and usually for my last one in a race, the Espresso Love for that little kick of caffeine.

Clif also makes Shot Bloks, which are little chewable blocks with a gummi bear-like consistency. People vary, but some find them difficult to dispense (they come in a gummi bear-like bag), and difficult to chew. But a lot of people really like them, especially if they dislike the consistency and taste of gels.

Jelly Belly started marketing "Sport Beans", which are actually pretty yummy. Problem is, they're hard to chew while you're trying to breathe, and the package is again problematic - you have to try not to spill the beans, so to speak, and then roll up the remainder and save them for the next intake. I like them for training runs, when I might lolligag a little at a water stop and eat some, but to me personally, they're hardly even worth the trouble for that.

Some people will take bags of salted, mushed-up potatoes. Ask Phillip about that one, though I think he eventually abandoned it.

Then there was my friend Tom, who after trying everything else, started to simply stuff his pockets with Snickers bars. Granted, this was a 6'10", 310 pound guy that would burn 7,000-8,000 calories over the course of a marathon. The tricky part with candy is that the ratios of complex carbs to simple sugars may be less than ideal, so you end up with mainly sugar, which will give you a spike of energy, and a massive dropoff in energy soon thereafter.

The When and How Often Bit
Now, the instructions on your little gu grenade are going to tell you to take one before your run, and every 30-45 minutes thereafter. Then another one after your run. It cracks me up to see runners in a 10K, even a 5K, cracking out the energy gels. They're at the extreme end of the good argument that some runners overuse them. On the other hand, they may know their bodies well enough to find it helps them, or at least, doesn't hurt them. Still, I know I don't want the extra calories unless I need them, and in general, I'd suggest you start out using them conservatively.

Here's the deal - you need to take them as a preparatory or preventative measure, not as a curative one. Just like hydration and electrolyte levels, though, if you wait until you feel the effects of depletion, you're probably a little too late. It takes a while to get the effect, for that added fuel to get into your bloodstream and to the points where it can be burned. For me, a packet of Gu seems to hit in about 5-10 minutes, I think, and I'll burn through it in 20-30 minutes. Therefore, I like to take them about every 40-45 minutes, which comes out to roughly every 4 miles or so.

So, what you want to start doing is finding sort of your fuel-burning rhythm, so that you can take in nutrition at the right times, staying ahead of the curve to keep your levels ideal. For me, if I'm running a marathon, I'll take my Gu at either 6, 10, 14, 18, and 22 miles, or 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 miles. For shorter distances, I'll work backwards - for a half marathon, I want my last Gu about three or four miles from the finish, and there are usually water stops at every even-numbered mile. I like to get them every four miles or so, which turns out to be 30-40 minutes. So, I might take one at 10, and one at 6 miles.

I got cocky and tried to run Chicago last year with less... not so good. Thank god for spectators with bananas. I've missed gels on long runs and even in a marathon, and I regretted it.

So, I'd recommend going down to RunTex, REI, Jack and Adams, or Academy, and picking up a few different varieties to experiment with. This weekend's ten miler is a good time to start - plan on taking one at six miles, so you can get a feel for the effect.

For more info, I used this article as a source - it goes into a bit more detail. The same site also has a pretty good review of different gels.