Gels on Long Runs for Marathoners

Good question. I struggle with this as well.

Bump...

you should practice what's going to happen on race day.

i find i have better long runs and recover better for the next hard workout if i drink and gel during the long run

why wait to take gel? why not take gel every 30-40 minutes?

I think the point here is to develop the ability to utilize fat storage instead of glycogen.

Also, if you take a gel every 30 minutes, that means you have to carry like 6 gels, who does that?

MTH wrote:

Is this the proper approach to training or should I forgo the gel on my long runs to better teach my body to use fat as a fuel rather than refueling glycogen? Then on race day get the best of both worlds (a body that is better adapted to using fat supplies as needed and is getting replenished glycogen supplies).

Don't do anything on race day to didn't practice before hand. Introducing gel, new fluids, etc. Ignoring certain trials winners, barfing or getting a nasty case of the squirts typically impeeds performance.

Race day isn't the time to experiment to see how your body reacts to something.

I think you should run MOST of your long runs while not taking in any calories - this trains your body to burn more fat, and less gycogen.

While training for the marathon, do one long run as a rehearsal, and try the gels you want to use, wear the clothes you plan on wearing, eat breakfast at the right time, ect.

No reason you have to choose between these approaches. You want to do some runs where you don't take gels and that will improve your ability to utilize fat/spare glycogen. You also want to do some runs where you practice your race-day fueling strategy so you know that whatever you're taking won't put you in the portapotty 10 minutes later.

As always the key is gradual adaptation. What's the longest you've run without gels? Next time run a mile or two further without gels. Or run a little quicker without gels. The body adapts pretty quickly, though you might hit the wall on a training run.

Hitting the wall on a training run is not fun, but done far enough out from the marathon provides quite the shock to the body to improve its fat metabolization. I'm not saying you should plan to hit the wall on every long training run (there goes the next 2-3 days of effective training!) but it's something that can happen quite easily on a long run if you go in depleted enough and don't take calories.

My "rule" is that if I'm within 3-4 miles of home I'll push through and get home without gels. If I'm a bit further away I'll take the gel or gatorade to get me home. 6 miles is a long way to run after you've hit the wall.

Greg McMillan has some good discussion of these things at his website.

In general I wouldn't do the Gels because part of going long - 22+ is to work on efficency or slow down how fast your body burns calories. Only when it was roasting would I take some water.

For my third marathon I took 20oz.accelerate and 2gu on two of last long runs and felt great. I thought it would help. It didn't really. I think the big difference was I running 50 seconds faster per mile on race day and it was harder to take and digest.

I am just going to GU at mile 8 and 16 and sip on some gatorade along the way. But I don't need to practice it.

question why take on a gel-like product just to have to dilute the product with more fuild to get it into your body system?

liquide energy is the best way

On Long Runs at an easy to moderate pace, I take no gels at all...only water. I will only take gels during Marathon Paced efforts only. I have had very good success taking gels at Miles 6, 12, and 18. I think gels are more important for us bigger guys. I am a muscular 170 lbs and have found gels to help tremendously during marathons, especially ones with a little bit of protein i.e. Accel Gel.

i should have said "some" gel. personally, i don't do a whole gel at any time during a marathon. i will do a whole gel about 5-10 minutes before the start.

with race ready shorts it's easy to carry several. with a flask it's even easier and you don't have to tear them open

one test? and if the gel you want to try makes you sick? or is too thick if it's cold? or is too hard to open on the run?

better do more than one test

YOU ARE A LITTLE GIRL IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE GELS ON YOUR GODDAMN LONG RUNS!!! A LITTLE WATER, THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.

I feel the same way. I have a lot of trouble digesting anything while I am running, and even find the gatorade gives me a dry sticky feeling in my mouth when taken during the run. I remedy that by making sure to wash it out with water right after.

I'm a believer in trying to teach (train) the body to do without. It seems to have worked for me and I practiced it in all my long runs before my last successful marathon. And this is a huge issue for me since I am a 3:30 guy, since the longer you're out there the more critical replacement becomes.

Lance Armstrong's sherpas: 15 gels @ NYC Marathon

Gello wrote:

I think the point here is to develop the ability to utilize fat storage instead of glycogen.

Also, if you take a gel every 30 minutes, that means you have to carry like 6 gels, who does that?

i generally take one or two gels in the course of either a long run or marahton, if i remember. same with drinking, some marathons i may take one or two cups and try to sip from them, and during long runs, i may get two or three drinks.

i don't personally think it has any effect on 'teaching' your body how to utilize fat, as generally, the way i understand it, if you didn't teach your body this in base training, it aint gonna happen during your race prep.

eb

Thanks for everyone's input on this topic. I see opinions vary widely on this. I just finished reading the Greg McMillan article that "flightless" posted a link to. I think it was very good and I tend to agree with his approach in regards to ingesting carbs.

Given all the input I've gathered I think my strategy will be as follows:

Ideally in my program I do 3 types of long runs:

1) 24-26 miles @ easy pace

2) 20-22 miles @ steady pace (half way between easy pace and race pace)

3) 14-16 miles @ marathon race pace

On my 24-26 mile runs I will only drink water and maybe take an electrolyte tablet when needed.

On my 20-22 mile runs I will drink Gatordae (or other sports drink) a couple of times during the run.

On my 14-16 mile runs I will drink (water & gatorade) and eat (gels) as I would in a race as this is a race simulation exercise.

This almost sounds counter intuitive (taking less carbs the longer I go) but I think it will have the maximum desired training effect.

How many gels should I take during a 5k? 15? 20?

You'll figure what's best for you based on trial and error -- Here's what I've found to work for me (usually a 2:40-2:45 guy). I don't practice using much gel on long runs -- sometimes I'll take along one gu pack, but my long runs max out at 18 miles and typically inculde a good chunk of tempo so I'm actually not out there long enough to really deplete myself. (Whether not doing LSD is a good/bad idea is another topic for another thread.)

At the marathon, I usually eat a couple caffeinated Clif bars as soon as I wake up (Cool Mint Choc. or Peanut Toffee Buzz), drink some gatorade and then take an Espresso Love Gu and a Red Bull 30-34 minutes before race time. I believe the key factor for me is to start a steady drip of caffeine before the race and carry it through the race. I carry 4 Espresso Love Gu's with me for the race and take one at the 6, 12, 18, and 22 mile marks -- I figure that doing so keeps the caffeine going. The whole physiology surrounding burning fat and glycogen stores is too complicated for me to figure out ... and I think one can't "teach" his/her body to burn one type of fuel or another. Instead, I believe the marathon is about figuring out how to optimize your time as various systems become exhausted. Caffeine seems to help me in smoothing out the decline of my mental and physical resources as the miles wear on.

Like I said initially, you'll have to figure out what works best for you -- it will almost certainly be different from what I or anyone else on this board will favor.

Good luck.

MAYEROFF wrote:

YOU ARE A LITTLE GIRL IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE GELS ON YOUR GOSHDARN LONG RUNS!!! A LITTLE WATER, THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.

Strong words from someone who needs a IV from Starbucks to make it through his day.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.