Do serious runners "fuel" during a half marathon? or is that only for 90min-2hr plus folks?
Im doing my first half next month and I expect to be done in 1:17-1:19 or so, and i imagine ill be breating too hard and concentrating too much to really care much about GU energy gel or any of that stuff. I'd imagine most of the more serious runners dont worry too much about fueling except for marathon. Thanks in advance for tips/suggestions.
Do what works for you. Try it in a training run of a similar distance. I never believed in GU until I tried taking it around mile 7 or so of a 12-13 mile run. I can run without it, but I finished faster/stronger when I used it. Then again I ran my faster half-marathons without it, but that was when I was in overall better shape.
I've run a few half-marathons right in your time range and, no, I've never fuelled during any of them. I didn't even drink water. However, this was when I lived in the Pacific Northwest, and those half-marathons were run in damp, cool conditions. If you're racing next month, and it's warm, you may want to at least drink something along the way.
"Serious" runner or not, I think the general rule of thumb is to take it if you're running over 90 minutes. I never took them when I ran in the 90-95 minute range, but do now that I'm about 10 minutes slower. It's probably not as important as it is to take them for a marathon, but I generally feel better. I know runners as fast or faster than you who have taken them as well during half-marathons though. It just depends on the conditions and how you're feeling. Definitely try it on a training run first to get the timing right though. I tried taking one before I ran once and ended up with a bad stomach ache.
It takes much longer than 75-80 minutes to run into glycogen issues. Other than water if it's hot out, you'll be fine not taking anything.
I just go with water if it's hot as I would in a shorter race. Marathons would require more (although my first was water only).