How many gels, (if any), do you take?

Dependent on a lot of things and I’m not typing that here. I might take one gel on a run of 14+ miles. I’ve switched to all liquids including my 5k marathons. But will carry a gel just in case.

Disko Eric wrote:

Dependent on a lot of things and I’m not typing that here. I might take one gel on a run of 14+ miles. I’ve switched to all liquids including my 5k marathons. But will carry a gel just in case.

What is a 5k Marathon? Running 5k 26 times? Do you take a gel mid-5k?

At least one per mile up to 20 miles. Anything over 20 you need 1.5 per mile.

On my long runs (15-23 miles),I take a Gu gel about every 30-40 minutes, with the neccecary water following. Same for my marathons. My coach got me started on this...before that it would be only 2-3 gels on a marathon. It is important to "train your gut" on training runs for whatever frequency you intend to take gels in races you are training for.

Typically zero. That will get me through training for anything less than a marathon.

I would say that it's based on time though. If I'm not going beyond 2 hours, then I'll go without eating anything.

If I plan to go beyond 2 hours, then I am training for a marathon and I will eat in the same manner as I plan to do for the race or I round down. I forget how much, but that would vary based on your size anyway. I try to divide the total required calories/electrolytes evenly throughout the remainder of the run starting about 40 minutes in. It doesn't do you any good to eat anything in the last 20-30 minutes. So, if I'm going to run for 2.5 hours, then I'll eat everything that I plan evenly distributed in the middle 1.5 hours. That would probably mean one "gel" at ~0:45 and another between 1:30 and 1:45. Or it could be just one "gel" at 1:15.

FLupda wrote:

At least one per mile up to 20 miles. Anything over 20 you need 1.5 per mile.

Please tell me this is a joke. Or do you run with Depends?

Chewie, get us out of here! wrote:

FLupda wrote:

At least one per mile up to 20 miles. Anything over 20 you need 1.5 per mile.

Please tell me this is a joke. Or do you run with Depends?

I was listening to this podcast with Karl Meltzer (most 100 mile run wins) and the host asks him what he does when he doesn't feel well or is going thru a low. I'm going to paraphrase the conversation, but I remember busting out laughing on the subway in NYC

Karl: "I take a gel"

Host: "And that works?"

Karl: "Usually"

Host: "So if it doesn't?"

Karl: "I'll take another"

Host: "How long do you give it?"

Karl: "I'll give it 10 to 15 minutes and if I still don't feel well, I'll take another"

Host: "What's the most gels have you taken in, say, an hour?"

Karl: "Oh, it's at least 7"

At this point, I have no idea what else was said because I was laughing so hard for so long.

1.5 hours or less: no gels. water if hot and a fountain on route

90-120: 1 gel if I didnt have any breakfast before. usually take in the 60-75 range. plan a route with a public water fountain somewhere. maybe still bring 1 even if I had breakfast if Im closer to the 2 hour range

120+: 2-3 gels. usually dont too many of these so not entirely sure whats best for me here. take one at the hour, and then every 30-45 minutes after that

I think I would take 1 or 2 on a 20M run, maybe 3 during a marathon.

I don't take any if the run is less than 1.5 hrs.

I can appreciate that comment from Karl. he's dead serious if anybody was wondering

I will bring a gel along with me if I'm gonna run 90min or more but I won't always end up using it. I'll probably eat 2 during a 2hr run (first about 50-70min in, second 30min later).

If I;m gonna do a 3-4hr run I'll bring enough to have one every 30-40min or so but usually finish with extra. I don't eat as many during training as I do during the race (aside from one or two specific long runs in the buildup)

You don’t need gels if you’re running 20miles or less, regardless of intensity. If you feel like you need gels you’re simply not preparing properly

I'm an old timer who started running marathons before gels existed, I think. I never took anything except water while running sub-3 hour marathons.

In attempting to get back into marathoning as a geezer, and recognizing that a marathon would take a lot longer for me to run now, I started experimenting with gels. I now often take one or two gels during runs of 17 miles or longer. I see no evidence that it makes any difference, though. A couple of Honey Stinger gels don't upset my stomach and I see no down side to taking them, but there's no obvious benefit either.

If you average 7 minute miles it's about 8-9 per hour.

Zero unless I'm training for a 'thon.

One every 5k for races longer than 10mi. That's what Kipchoge did so...