Running gels 20 May, 2010

It's three days before my first half-marathon. I've been "training" for a solid seventeen weeks. If you read my initial post on starting to train I was primarily concerned with trying to drop some of those post Christmas lbs. Initially I was cutting calories, but once you start running 20-30 miles a week that just isn't an option. I've started to use gels on the the longer runs. I picked up a box of Clif Bar shots from amazon since not many stores sell gels in the city. Normally, you can find them at tri/running stores. Decided to just get the Sam's style pack of them.

I love Clif Bars anyway and thought these would be a good on the go snack. They aren't too bad, but they are no Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar. Mmhmm. I'll take one about half an hour into a run that lasts longer than an hour. The little packet offers a boost of carbs AND it has the added benefit of caffeine. Not a lot of caffeine, about the amount in a cup of green tea, enough to keep the engine reeving.

I'm going to take one or two of these pre-race, and then maybe one or two more during the actual race. Luckily all the water stations will have Gatorade too so I don't have to worry about carrying a lot of calories with me.