Ritz took in the equivalent of more than 20 GU gels during the marathon. Is that normal?

Hardloper wrote:

A 12 oz serving of Gatorade has 310 calories

I think it's closer to 80-100 per 12 oz depending on how strong you mix it

I thought that I had read that they watered down his Gatorade because he was having trouble w it straight and it was upsetting his stomach. Not really sure but I thought that was said. Maybe he was drinking watered down Gatorade.

What Gatorade are you drinking? There are 50 kcals per 8 oz of Gatorade:

http://www.gatorade.com/#gseries?s=gseries-perform-compare

Even if he drank 87 oz (which is a lot), that's still only about 550 kcals...about the equivalent of 5-6 gels.

Didn't Renato Canova say that his Kenyan marathoners either take nothing at all or just a little water when racing under normal marathon conditions?

Gatorade premixed in the bottle contains 130 calories per 20oz bottle.

http://www.pepsicobeveragefacts.com/infobyproduct.php?prod_type=1026&prod_size=20&brand_fam_id=1043&brand_id=1002&product=Gatorade+Orange

On a related note...I find GU to be nasty, but love. gatorade. I've been wondering if bringing along a bottle of very concentrated gatorade for fueling would be a good idea (maybe take water at the aid stations to dilute my mix).

that's pretty darn interesting.

that's WAY more than most folks would take in during a race, even an ultra. your body can only process (for benefit) about 250 calories per hour.

maybe gatorade is a generic term for "electrolyte drink", despite the obvious sponsorship (it was in brackets)? nuun tabs, for example, have miniminal calories, but provide all the electrolytes one needs for endurance events.

or maybe it's highly diluted gatorade?

strange, at any rate...

he prob spilled a good portion

20 oz standard gatorade is like 120 calories or thereabouts. They had some sort of flavor mixed version a year or two ago (X-factor maybe?) that had significantly more calories, but it was still less than 310 in even a 20 oz bottle. Where in the world are you getting 310 calories per 12 ounces?

Peaked in 2012 wrote:

On a related note...I find GU to be nasty, but love. gatorade. I've been wondering if bringing along a bottle of very concentrated gatorade for fueling would be a good idea (maybe take water at the aid stations to dilute my mix).

running up mountains wrote:

that's pretty darn interesting.

that's WAY more than most folks would take in during a race, even an ultra. your body can only process (for benefit) about 250 calories per hour.

maybe gatorade is a generic term for "electrolyte drink", despite the obvious sponsorship (it was in brackets)? nuun tabs, for example, have miniminal calories, but provide all the electrolytes one needs for endurance events.

or maybe it's highly diluted gatorade?

strange, at any rate...

What does "for benefit" mean?

This thread has turned into the debate of how many calories are actually in gaterade and watered-down gaterade.

Arm Chair Wrestling wrote:

This thread has turned into the debate of how many calories are actually in gaterade and watered-down gaterade.

Don't worry, the topic will quickly change to how you spelled gatorade

kCals don't work on Kenyans. Proven fact.

Bigtool05 wrote:

Didn't Renato Canova say that his Kenyan marathoners either take nothing at all or just a little water when racing under normal marathon conditions?

No Way wrote:

http://www.gatorade.com/default.aspx#gseries?s=prime

Does it taste good? the packaging makes it look suspiciously like GU

So that's why he wears black shorts!

There's a view that you should be training to use more fat not glycogen in the later part of the marathon, and that the use of carbs during long training runs - which you may have to do to accustom your stomach to them - is counterproductive because your body never learns to burn fat efficiently.

I don't know if that's true or how Ritz trains but it's a thought I'll throw out in case someone knows more.

Also, Ritz may be trying to avoid cramping. Some people drink pickle juice for that but I think Ritz is a Gatorade sponsored athlete so pickle juice may be out.

"I don't know if that's true or how Ritz trains but it's a thought I'll throw out in case someone knows more."

It's not true. It was debunked at about the same time we learned there is no intelligent creator.

"for benefit", in the context i was using it, means that while you can eat well more than 250 calories per hour, your body can only convert about 250-300 of those calories to energy in that time.

Arm Chair Wrestling wrote:

This thread has turned into the debate of how many calories are actually in gaterade and watered-down gaterade.

That happened because the point that the OP was trying to make was based on the incorrect "fact" that Gatorade contained about 3x the caloires than it really does. Knowing its real calorie content really kinda of makes the OPs point moot.