Energy gels?

[Tim Kelley]

Most gels have lots of sugar, which are a fast form of energy. Carolina Brothers (MAC & CHEESE!) probably took a little while longer to digest and for the energy to hit. With cramping, be sure to get lots of salt and electrolytes–most gels don’t have these.

Personally, I like gels as a supplement to plenty of other food options while out on the road. So, if you find a gel that you like and can stomach, go for it, but also take in the other stuff your body needs.

DaveK can probably tell you about his experiences this past weekend.

[mstone]

I use electrolytes in my water, and food for energy. No need for electrolytes and sugar in one liquid.

[KLizotte]

A 50/50 mix of water and coconut water is very good. I like it better than sports drinks, but then again, I’m not doing 80-100 mile rides in this heat either.

[Tim Kelley]

Pete hasn’t been around today, but he would say: http://www.skratchlabs.com/

[KelOnWheels]

Back in my marathoning days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth chasing after slow-moving runners, the theory was that endurance sports limit the blood flow to your digestive system (since you’re using it all for running or cycling or what have you) so eating solid food could be… problematic. That said, some people seem to do fine with it.

Other theory was that too much sugar is also tough on the digestion / can dehydrate you, so we always cut our sports drinks 50/50 with water. We’d also toss some salt in there on really hot days.

I always liked the Carb Boom gels myself. It is however my personal opinion that HEED sports drink is made from powdered Satan.

[Tim Kelley]

@KelOnWheels 25571 wrote:

It is however my personal opinion that HEED sports drink is made from powdered Satan.

Friends don’t let friends drink HEED. Tastes like dish soap!

[KelOnWheels]

@Tim Kelley 25573 wrote:

Friends don’t let friends drink HEED. Tastes like dish soap!

Maybe it’s supposed to be cilantro flavored!

[mstone]

@KelOnWheels 25571 wrote:

Other theory was that too much sugar is also tough on the digestion / can dehydrate you, so we always cut our sports drinks 50/50 with water.

If I drink too much sugary sports drink I feel sick. I can cut it with water, but then I don’t get the electrolytes. I’d rather just separate the two things; the amount of water+electrolytes I can go through when it’s 100+ degrees would include a coma-inducing amount of sugar if I were drinking that much gatorade.

[KelOnWheels]

@mstone 25575 wrote:

If I drink too much sugary sports drink I feel sick. I can cut it with water, but then I don’t get the electrolytes. I’d rather just separate the two things; the amount of water+electrolytes I can go through when it’s 100+ degrees would include a coma-inducing amount of sugar if I were drinking that much gatorade.

I always prefer water myself, sometimes I’ll throw a little Gatorade powder in just for some flavor. Water gets boring.

[ShawnoftheDread]

“Electrolytes! It’s what plants crave.”

[KelOnWheels]

@ShawnoftheDread 25585 wrote:

“Electrolytes! It’s what plants crave.”

Oo, what flavor is MiracleGro?

[PotomacCyclist]

For shorter rides (and runs), perhaps anything under 90 minutes, I don’t eat anything. If it’s hot, I’ll bring a bottle of water on the bike.

Once I start getting over the 90-120 minute mark, I’ll bring some carb chews. They’re basically the same as gels but not as messy. You can eat half a packet of carb chews (one serving), fold up the packet and put it back into a bento box or a rear jersey pocket. Then you can finish off the 2nd serving later in the ride. You can store the empty wrapper in the bento box/jersey pocket until you come across a garbage can.

Gels are a mess to eat while on the bike, at least for me. There is also the problem of storing the empty gel packets. Gels are a little easier to deal with on the run. But even on the run, I usually bring carb chews instead of gels. If I get tired of carb chews, I’ll try sport beans once in a while. But those have a higher sugar content, so it could bother people who don’t tolerate simple sugars so well. When at rest, my stomach can be sensitive to sugars (unless eaten with fiber and protein). But once I’ve warmed up in a workout or race, I can handle most sports drinks, gels, carb chews and sport beans.

I like to split nutrition and hydration, meaning that I won’t use sports drink for calories. I tried doing that in a cold-weather long race (near-Half Ironman triathlon) and paid for it. Because it was cool (low to mid 50s), I wasn’t drinking much at all, maybe one half or a full bottle for a 56-mile hard bike leg. (Lots of steep hills, one after another.) I wasn’t sweating but I was still burning up a ton of calories. I felt good going into the run. But after just a mile or two, I completely bonked for the first time ever. It wasn’t fatigue. I had completely run out of glycogen because I had barely taken in any calories at all on the bike. Nothing hurt. I just couldn’t pick up my legs. My heart was OK. Nothing wrong there. I massaged my lower legs to see if I could somehow get some glycogen down there, somehow. That actually worked, sort of. Instead of being stationary, I was now able to shuffle along at 20:00 to 22:00 pace (per mile). Runners know that is a painfully slow pace. That’s all I could do for the next half mile or so. I made it to the next aid station. I loaded up on everything I could find, from gels and carb chews to a banana and sports drink. All those quick-absorbing calories did the trick, sort of. Once you bonk, you will never be able to get back to your usual race pace that day. But you can resume a slow and steady pace. I finished the majority of the half marathon run at about 12:00 pace. Still slow, but at least much better than 20:00 pace. I kept eating a lot at every aid station. While I continued to run very slowly, I didn’t have any more problems.

After the race, I loaded up on more food, from sports drink to a burrito… and a beer. (That last item was a mistake.) I felt OK once I started to restore my glycogen supplies. However, I learned that if you bonk, you may not tolerate alcohol so well. Normally one beer isn’t a big deal for me. But after bonking on a near-Half Ironman (70.0 miles), that beer had an exaggerated diuretic effect. Without getting into too many details, I had to go to the portapotties every 10 minutes, even though I didn’t really NEED to. It was the alcohol, and it was just one beer, or maybe half a beer. That has never happened to me. I didn’t feel sick at all. I simply had to… go. Number one only.

Anyway, I use water and drink to thirst. On longer workouts, I bring carb chews. Clif Shots and GU Chomps have a mix of sugars and slower-absorbing carbs along with antioxidants and electrolytes. GU Chomps also have some amino acids, which can help with carb absorption and muscle repair during long rides. I’ve been OK with just carb chews and water.

I will never use Accel gels again. I tried those out my first year. They have a very high protein content. Protein means a powdery and chalky taste, and a thick consistency. Very difficult to eat during a workout or race, at least for me. Some people may like them but I can’t stomach them in mid-ride.

[DaveK]

@Tim Kelley 25562 wrote:

Most gels have lots of sugar, which are a fast form of energy. Carolina Brothers (MAC & CHEESE!) probably took a little while longer to digest and for the energy to hit. With cramping, be sure to get lots of salt and electrolytes–most gels don’t have these.

Personally, I like gels as a supplement to plenty of other food options while out on the road. So, if you find a gel that you like and can stomach, go for it, but also take in the other stuff your body needs.

DaveK can probably tell you about his experiences this past weekend.

SALT.

EAT MORE SALT.

I was doing my normal one bottle HEED to one bottle straight water and eating Clif bars and Lance waffles, but without a real lunch stop I didn’t think to eat real food. Real food has salt in it. I started cramping pretty bad around mile 80. A pit stop for Combos and a regular Coke sorted me out for the 20 miles to get home. For future rides I’ll make sure I eat plenty of salty snacks so that doesn’t happen again.

[jopamora]

@ShawnoftheDread 25585 wrote:

“Electrolytes! It’s what plants crave.”

Brawndo is quality stuff.

[PotomacCyclist]

Scientists have actually never been able to determine what causes cramping. There may even be various causes, from muscle fatigue, pushing far past one’s usual limits, electrolytes, etc. Some modern researchers and coaches think that muscle fatigue has more to do with cramping than electrolytes do.

There is also a scientific debate about the effect of electrolytes (sodium) in sports drinks and other liquids:

http://sweatscience.com/electrolytes-and-overdrinking-noakes-vs-gatorade/

Here’s a free podcast interview with Dr. Timothy Noakes:

http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2011/12/tim-noakes/

I don’t have an advanced science background so I can’t provide any expert commentary. But I think this is something to consider. Dr. Noakes is a well-known scientist and researcher in exercise and sports science. He is the author of “Lore of Running” as well as an avid marathoner and ultra runner.

[Author]

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