GU/Gels necessary for marathon?

Troll

I would say Gu/Gels are NOT necessary. Think of all the sub-2:15 and sub-2:10 times that were run before their invention. Some form of carbs is probably a good thing during the race, but a fuel belt is stupid. They probably will have water/sports drink stops every 2 miles or so - just hit them all.

you must take in calories or you will hit the wall. gu works well, but is not necessary. practice with whatever you'll consume before race day.

btw, there is no way in hell i would strap 46oz of ANYTHING to myself in a race. you have to be kidding.

*42oz*...whatever!

I guess I didn't make myself clear enough. I use the FuelBelt for long training runs ONLY. I don't have the luxury of having aid stations on my long run, and don't feel like stashing water bottles all over town.

I agree, there is no way in hell I'd wear that thing during a race, it's freaking heavy when its full, about 3 lbs. I'll get my gatorade from the aid stations.

My question is I don't use gels now, just strictly gatorade. Will I see any benefit from using them? Right now I'm leaning towards not using any, just getting Gatorade from the stations.

If you are well trained you won't need gels...if you aren't well trained, I recommend going to one of the bigger races that hands them out on the course (along with water and gatorade every mile).

jhfan wrote:

I would say Gu/Gels are NOT necessary. Think of all the sub-2:15 and sub-2:10 times that were run before their invention. Some form of carbs is probably a good thing during the race, but a fuel belt is stupid. They probably will have water/sports drink stops every 2 miles or so - just hit them all.

wow, and think of all the 2:06's and 2:07's being run today.

turn right wrote:

you must take in calories or you will hit the wall. gu works well, but is not necessary. practice with whatever you'll consume before race day.

Your statement is without merit. While it is recommended that you take some calories in during a marathon part of the aim of training runs over two hours is to familiarize your body with burning fat as fuel once your glycogen is depleted at two hours. Mosdt runners hit the wall because they are not use to this or have gone out to hard. Train properlyby doing a number of two hour plus runs and the wall is not even a bump.

here's some merit--you burn what, over 2600 calories during the race. but hey, if you want to have your body start eating away at your muscles, be my guest.

and to whoever said you only need gu's if you don't train properly, it is quite likely that I train as hard or harder than you, and also have a better pr in my first marathon. of course i could be wrong, but the point is that taking calories in during a 26 mile run does not mean you're weak. That is a stupid attitude that gets a lot of people in trouble.

elites may not take gu, but they get to have their own good fluids out there which they are used to.

the answer to the original question is that carrying a couple gus is an easy way to make sure you have some fuel during the race. your body WILL benefit from calories, so don't listen to all these "tough" (and probably slow) guys. i highly recommend taking some gatorade at the water stations, too.

turn right wrote:

if you want to have your body start eating away at your muscles, be my guest.

you are so full of crap...

ok, ok. not muscle, but protein and fat. however, if you don't have enough protein stored, your fat ass may use tissue as energy. you'll most likely get through your glycogen stores well before the end of the race. so there's a more correct response i think, i'm so sorry to have offended you, you brilliant son of a bitch.

Would you take in GU on a long training run without any water? Also it a good thing to practice long training runs without any fluid or food?

You should try to take in something. While you really can't replace the calories you burn, it is important to have some glycogen coming into your body throughout the race. Gels are just a personal preference for some people -- you can get a lot more calories/sugar at once than you can via little cups of gatorade. But are they necessary? No. If your body is well trained to burn fat you should be OK physically. (If it isn't you won't be able to take in enough Gu to make a diff.) But ... keeping a steady supply of blood sugar going throughout by hitting something at each aid station will help your mental ability to fight through fatigue late in the race.

What happened to the good old days of carbo loading?

I've never used gels in a marathon. I think the research is pretty clear that taking in carbohydrates during a marathon will help most runners, but using gels and water verses using a sports drink like gatorade is a matter of personal preference. If you've trained with gatorade without issues and that's what is offered on the course, I see no compelling reason to do anything different in the race.

On the topic of faster times being posted since the advent of gels, I saw an interview with Khalid after the London Marathon where he stated that he only took water during the race.

well, when you pump yourself full of EPO, water may be all you need!

What about carrying 5 gels? That's about 6oz? Is that ok?

Not a troll. This is a serious question. I'm running a marathon without carbs provided. Actually, they have carbs, but it is something stupidly hoggy jogger like solid food at weird checkpoints.

They only provide Ultima or Nuun at the water stops.

Is carrying 5 gels going to be too much? I hate carrying anything while running. Even keys.

It can be OK. Check out some of the shorts with pockets up near the waistband (The North Face and Patagonia make some, Pearl Izumi, too, I think). Lots of ultra runner types shove many gels in those pockets.

I carry 3 GUs during marathons, but usually only use 1-2. Sometimes I use none. I'm about a 3 hour marathoner too. You generally don't need gatorade AND GU. It should be Gatorade, or water + GU.

Aid stations f-up the gatorade (too weak usually, sometimes too strong). They sometimes use garbage sponsor drinks. RNR used to use Cytomax; it was god awful.

To me having the GUs is a little insurance. I also like a little caffeine a couple hours into a marathon, something that's easy to get from a GU.