anyone ever tried taking a gel/gu pack before a race (just about any distance)? anywhere from an hour or two to right before. if so, how'd that go?
anyone ever tried taking a gel/gu pack before a race (just about any distance)? anywhere from an hour or two to right before. if so, how'd that go?
I don't know the details of this, as I've never taken gels, but I've heard that taking one before the race causes an insulin spike that can make you crash during the race, which is bad.
A 34 year old 19 min-5k guy I know ran Boston last year. He told me he ate a gu at the start then one every six miles. He ran around 3:10, close to a PR for him.
I have taken it RIGHT before I start racing ... right as we line up to start. It hasn't bothered me.
There may be some wisdom though in waiting til you're actually running before taking a gel because the last thing you want is the insulin spike mentioned above.
The GU instructions say take one 15 minutes before, self serving for GU of course, but it has worked really well for me. I take another one 20 minutes into any race over 35 minutes. I know a lot of people don't need to do this, but I got low blood sugar in races and this GU strategy has really helped.
If you're going to try it, do it in a low key, less important race first.
I did it last week and I pr'd by five minutes in my marathon. Whether or not that was the cause I don't know. However, I have never felt so good during a marathon. Gu for thought...