Do you use gels and how do you use them?

[Mike1942]

Hi everyone. I need the help of all experienced long distance runners. I need to take on 3 gels an hour. So how and where do I transport them. Today in my 10k I got in an awful sticky mess. I took a small pair of nail scissors to cut them open. I tried putting 8 in the rear pocket of my top. They slopped around and got uncermoniously dumped. Luckily it was 3 times round. So I picked up every time round. This did not work very well. What sort of bag / rucksack/ would you recommend ? Also what foodstuff would you carry for a marathon? High 5 energygel. Manufacturer says 1 gel every 20 mins. I have no problems with gels at 3 every hour

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Hi Mike!

I have used Gu gels, which are a lot thicker than High 5, so less messy. You need to chase them down with some water though.

The way to open gels is to rip the top off with your teeth as you need them.

I like to carry my food in a shorts pocket, or in a running belt. This is my most recent belt:

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07...

For my last marathon I carried Gu gels, jelly babies, Mars Bar Bites, and Lucozade Sport, which I carried in a water belt (example below, this also has a pocket in it). I do not use the water belt any more, so I will most likely replace the Lucozade sugar with jelly babies

amazon.co.uk/Zikee-Hydratio...

More recently, for much longer runs, I have got this type of backpack, which is designed to hold a water bladder, and also has a few pockets for stashing extra food.

amazon.co.uk/Docooler-Outdo...

[Mike1942 in reply to roseabi]

Thanks roseabi. An answer for everything. That's what administrators are there for. Will take it all onboard.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Mike1942]

I think probably a backpack of some sort might be your best bet, and I suspect that some of those ones on Amazon may be a bit cheap and nasty - so have a bit of a shop round! The most well known (and expensive) brands are Camelbak and Salomon.

[AncientMum Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Great reply Roseabi. I wish I'd seen it a couple of weeks ago so I could have ordered one of the belts for my HM next Sunday. I've got a Flip Belt but daren't put chocolate in it - although that would be my fuel of choice. I'll definitely be ordering one for the next half 👍

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to AncientMum]

Chocolate is probably best in a loose pocket for sure

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Tell us more about your training plan, Mike1942 , we like hearing about things like that here!

[Mike1942 in reply to roseabi]

Hi roseabi. My plan is an 8 weeker I intend doing the Longhorn marathon . The snow is causing a few problems this week with everyones training schedule but I have a duathlon on Sunrday in Leeds which could be real fun if the snow is still with us.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Mike1942]

Is it a plan I can find online? I am interested for possible future use

Lots of fun - I am even thinking about using a treadmill today! Would you like me to put the Longhorn Marathon on our Events calendar?

[misswobble Marathon]

I don’t do gels at all! Well, I tell a lie, I was given one at my last marathon when I had run out of my Tailwind sachets, it immediately made me gag I coughed and spluttered for a good 10 minutes after, like I was coughing up a lung. It came down my nose too! 😱 Bleeeugh

After a tip -off on here I bought a mixed box of Tailwind sachets, which come in powder form in a sachet to mix with 600 ml of water. Or you can buy a tub of the stuff. Since I had my face plant and smacked my teef I can’t rip anything open with my teeth 😬anymore! That’s a handy skill lost ☹️ These are about 200 calories per sachet and are a total food replacement to sustain you on long runs. I took a tiny Swiss Army knife someone gave me to open them, cos of my non-functioning front teeth, but fortunately the organiser did it for me so I had a fresh bottle when I needed it, but you have to go prepared

However, having said that - and having a total food replacement is great as you sip slowly all race - BUT we are human and to help things along and keep ourselves chipper - we like a treat to relieve the boredom that can set in. So, a tasty morsel should not be overlooked 😋 Through trial and error you will determine what’s right for you. Weather plays a part too. What suits in summer might not appeal in winter. We have to consider sticky mouths, hands and pockets 😝

I have a stash of goodies that I only ever use on longer runs, eg I might kick off with a double espresso (no milk!) Haribo’s, homemade power flapjack (recipe on here) 👍💪, Lidl sesame snack, and they do pistachio and peanut (Eridanous range), Fig rolls, small bag of Hula Hoops

I don’t have a bag or vest, so it’s stuffed into pockets

If I did have a stowage solution it would be the Vesta vest from the Ultramarathrunning Store. Santa didn’t send me one though, sadly. I see that Decathlon do a much cheaper version though For me it was a Karrimor x-lite run jacket with loads of pockets. Ok in winter ❄️ Ronhill does trail tights and trail capri’s which have side slide pockets, gel loops, and the biggest back pocket of any tights or capris I’ve come across ! 👍

A cycle top, with the three back pocket/sections is handy for running as well and you can stash all sorts in there I tend to travel Uber light though as I hate stuff! If you run fells and such like though it’s a different ball game so,having storage is essential in that case.

Enjoy your longer runs 👍💪😃

[C3PO Marathon]

I use a hydration belt, and stash them in there. I can't take as many as you, as they get too sickly. I only take one or two during a 21K run. Lately it's been one at about half way of my long run, followed by one jelly baby every 2K from then on. I definitely don't need them every 20 minutes.

[Rignold]

There is a very good article about planning sugar intake for marathon runners with tyoe 1 diabetes here:

runnersworld.com/fuel-schoo...

[Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd]

Hi, I have run 8 half marathons and 1 full marathon for over 8 years. I have never used gels and I don't feel the need for them at all. My best at Half Marathon is 1:49 and for the sole Full M it was 5:15.

Though a lot of my peers kept telling me to use gels, I found the idea quite cumbersome.

As per my research and experiece, the body has enough glucose stores to last for about 90 minutes. Beyond that, you need to top up your energy.

I prefer to can use the energy drinks which are supplied along the course. At lease here in India, the races I participated, there were a lot of energy drinks along the way. I never ran into the wall.

In the Full Marathon at Mumbai, there were hordes of locals with chocolates, bananas, oranges and that stuff which I made use of along the way.

Anyways, you can experiment with the stuff gels etc in your practice runs and see if it works for you. If it works, then fine else go natural.