Candy for runners

Part of endurance training -- in addition to finding the right shoe, the right socks, and everything else that seems to be a trial -- is finding the right fuel for a long run. It's kind of a cool thing when your runs are long enough to warrant some type of mid-exercise calories. I've read differing opinions on the threshold where you need replacement nutrition, I use the one-hour mark as a guideline. I may drink some Gatorade on runs less than an hour but I don't supplement. Over an hour though, that's where the candy comes in.

The selection of energy nutrition is amazing. Runner expos look like candy conventions with table after table of energy confections of all kinds. At one time Gatorade was a giant break-through (BTW, whatever happened to Gatorade gum? I loved that stuff when I was a kid. It was wicked sour for 2 chews and then no flavor at all. Yum.). When I started running in 2003 gels were pretty standard. I remember my first one was chocolate and it tasted like cake frosting! I was hooked! Now there are jelly beans, gummies, liquids, and so many more. There are systems for pre-workout, workout, and post-workout nutrition. Over the last few weeks I've tried out a few different things on my long runs to see what works best for me.

Right now I'm digging Clif Shot Bloks. They taste pretty good and I like the way they're packaged. The thing about gels is you have to do the whole thing all at once or it either leaks all over your pocket or you waste it. Shot Bloks come 6 in a package and while it's the same amount of calories and carbs as a gel, I like breaking it up over the course of an hour. I do a blok at every mile, I can chew it pretty quickly, and the gummy texture is pretty good. A lot of runners use caffeinated supplements with great success. There's a lot of evidence that caffeine helps you perform longer and better in endurance events. I'm a little leery of caffeine for my own use though, it makes me really jittery and I feel like I'm already putting my poor heart through enough, why push it? The orange flavor has the equivalent to 1/2 a shot of espresso which, over an hour, I seem to be able to handle. The margarita flavor is salted (of course!) and while I'm not crazy about the flavor salt-replacement is important, especially since I'm not ladylike when it comes to sweating. So on long runs I'll alternate, one mile orange, one mile margarita.

Sport Beans are pretty good. The main downside to them is that they stick together after awhile from body heat. They take a long time to chew, too. I do walk when I hydrate and supplement so I don't choke to death but I would sometimes feel like I was chewing and walking too long to be able to get them down.

I still like gels, chocolate is my favorite. I've learned that I can't do gels the whole way through a long run though. What is delicious at hour 1 becomes nauseating after it's been sloshing around in my stomach mixed with Gatorade, adrenalin, and stomach acids. NYC gives out gels at mile 18. I'll have to check what brand they are and try a few to make sure I can stomach them. Some are just disgusting. I was in a race once and took one of their gels, apple cinnamon. It was like no apple cinnamon I had ever tasted, that's for sure, and I had to spit it out. Some just don't taste good at all.

This whole supplement thing seems over the top, especially when I think that the early marathoners had NOTHING to get them through 26.2 miles. Finding the right mix of carbs and electrolytes for a non-athlete like me seems silly but, that said, I'm not willing to find out what would happen if I didn't use replacement nutrition. Until then, I'll be like everyone else trying the latest and greatest for that magical potion to get me through my runs.