GCN flapjack recipe is brilliant. Energy balls are a bad idea due to them going before they are needed....zero willpower for those little balls of nom nom nom
Never liked gels because they are too artificial. I've made my own "gels" a number of times. Dates, very ripe banana plus loads of honey and/or maple syrup. Blend everything together, put it into reusable gel container and Bob's your uncle. If it's too thick, I dilute it with coconut water, which also helps replenish the electrolytes, or add orange into the mix, which has plenty of fluids in it.
I go for a long run with a banana in one hand, and a plastic bag with raisins clipped to my hydration backpack. Eat half a banana at 5k and 10k, and a mouthful of raisins every 5k after that. Keeps me going for 30 - 35k on weekend exercises!
@@iain8837 Oh, this was some time ago! I have learned to eat gels and energy bars since i wrote that comment. (Running with half a banana in my hand tended to get sticky)
I just tried Tailwind for the first time on a 30k trail run a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t be happier with the result. Plenty of nutrition and hydration (it’s mixed with water) and no gut issues.
Used to eat jelly cubes at swim competitions as a kid, one cube before each race, sometimes 5 races in one night, safe to say I was hyperactive afterwards with all the sugar 😂 but tasted so good
I recently attempted a distance PB, when I found myself facing the question: _Consume another gel and risk throwing up, or give up?_ I opted for the latter. So wish I'd seen this video beforehand. A few gels mixed with some less sickly things seems like the way to go for me.
Just got into running and am at the point where I can start dabbling in longer distances. I recently got some running gels because I kept hearing how they were necessary for anything longer than 90 min and thought they tasted horible, and for nearly $2 a gel, I dont see how the average newb could afford taking their training further. I thought there was something special about the gels, but it sounds like they are just a carb source. I run mostly on a treadmill, so I can basically have a tray of cheap and easy snaks sitting next to me at all times.
If I use gels, I use Honey Stinger gels which are a more natural product. When running long distances, I use either m&m's, Jelly Belly Sports Beans, or Fruit Snacks (Mott's or Welch's"). On the odd occasion I want something more solid, I'll bring plain pancakes or waffles in a zip-loc bag.
Thanks for this vid. Always looking for options. I have generally used gels on longer runs. I try mixing them with energy bars now (or will do, when the run length builds up again). Had one hideous experience, mainly gel fuelled, when after a long uphill event in poor weather, I felt so sick at the end, I couldn’t drink the free beer 😱. I also try peanuts too, or straightforward crisps , just to add to the mix.
Initially I was confused as to why you were cautioning against high fiber. I had to look elsewhere for the answer. It slows down digestion, so might not be best if you're looking for fast ingestion.
Correct. Good point. Also if you consume insoluble fiber which in general is good to feed your good bacteria in the colon, sometimes it might cause gas and bloatiness along with loosen stools or diarreah.
Off the top of my head, there may be other issues associated with burning fat for energy: Digestion of fat takes long time, it tends to sit in the stomach. Fat adapted athlete basically means running on ones fat stores, not eating fat during the physical activity. Recruiting fats from the fat stores burns additional energy that could otherwise be used for muscle work. Oxidizing fatty acids requires more O2 than oxidizing glucose, meaning you gain less energy for given amount of O2 consumed. In other words, breathing at ones VO2max level (or any other defined level) delivers less energy if the O2 is used for fat oxidation than when used for glucose oxidation. "Running on fat" does not allow or has a very limited capacity for sudden increases of energy demands (bursts of speed or intensity). And finally, kind of an elephant in the middle of the room, burning fat and/or ketones, or more precisely, oxidizing acetylCoA from fats and ketones requires presence of a substance (oxaloacetate) that comes form pyruvate, a product of glycolysis (glucose metabolism). As the saying goes, "fats burn in the flame of carbohydrates". If you don't ingest glucose for that purpose, after depleting your glycogen stores it'll come from breaking down of proteins which means mostly muscle tissue.
I’m currently training with near zero net carbs during sessions and low levels of carbs day to day. Read low carb high fat diet. Once I adapted, I do not bonk and require very little nutrition outside of saltwater and walnuts on longer rides. I’m only 2 months in to the experiment but so far so good. Have you tried UCAN?
I raced my first marathon on a mix of jelly babies and gels and felt like being sick at the end. Put it down to the gels so did the next race on just jelly babies and felt even worse, next on just gels and felt fine. Neither caused any real problems in training but I wasn't getting through as many which was probably why. As long as I get a mix of flavours, I don't mind gels. Homemade flapjack is good for slower ultras, but wouldn't want them when trying to move fast. Going to try rice balls next, but haven't got round to cooking some up yet.
Jelly babies saved my day when a quick ride turned in to a what's over the next hill mission! Totally I'll prepared but so pleased I had a bag of babies with me
Unfortunately, most of my long rides are fueled with gels. PB&J sandwiches are one of my fav "real foods" that have enough density to make carrying them along worth it; bonus if you can get them with Hawaiian bread, but that takes more space. Mayo and avocado sandwiches work great too, but are messier and harder to eat on the bike than PB&J. Can't argue with a few bananas, but that too becomes a volume issue on longer rides.
As she said, anything over 90min you should be replenishing carbohydrates @ roughly 60g per hour. Doesn't matter what carbs you take, whatever works for you. Some people can't stomach gels, other people can't handle eating proper food etc etc.
Im a runner, im looking into nutrtion during a run i feel real hungry when i run for about 1 hour, but i am afraid of taking gels because im sensetive to caffeine and im afraid all gels have caffeine
Dates are cheap - cheap dates :). With about 20cal per 1, mostly sugar. I just can’t have more than a few per activity. You definitely have many more options to take on a ride than on a run. Next time I do a long run I’ll pull out 12” sub and start eating while running:).
Peanut butter and jelly (jam) sandwiches are my go to for long rides, honey works as well if you're not used to the great American tradition of PB&Js :)
I stay away from the sweets as they don’t have much sodium or potassium. I like to use sugared dried mango (mango for potassium), toss them in a small bag with a little salt and I’ve got some sodium. Can’t taste the salt. I like the gels but they will bankrupt you if you have two or three long days a week
Uh-oh I tried dried apricots for a while but the phosphate has a very "quickening" effect on my GI tract so I stopped... Dried mangos are delicious but have the same effect T___T if not worse xD
@@annaseyfert4541 lol some of my fastest runs have been aided by gastro effects. Mango doesn’t do me in too bad but I usually save the home made stuff for longer winter treadmill runs or rides on the trainer just to be safe. As a northern Canadian only about half the season is outdoors lol
I can’t bite and chew and breathe at the same time when running at race pace, so I can’t refuel with solids. I also dislike processed and overly synthetic foods generally - it’s unnatural 🤢 - and the SiS gels coat the inside of my mouth and throat with a very disagreeable waxy skin which interferes with my breathing (panting) when running at race pace. I recently started experimenting and delighted in Iranian Dates (pitted) which have a wondrously soft inner texture which is almost fluid. According to MyFitnessPal 50g of Iranian Dates = 36g of carbohydrates. This doesn’t take care of electrolytes, however, so perhaps next time I will sprinkle some salt into my little baggie of Iranian Dates 😋
@@A-betterMe No, medjoul are different (and delicious), but the Iranian dates are much closer to the almost “drinkable” consistency you’d want while jogging/running.
Apple sauce is easy to squeeze in your mouth and "drink". I carry two squeeze tubes when running over a hour and a half of running. They even have the easy twist tops.
I prefer gel blocks because the solid texture makes it feel more like food.. My stomach tends to rebel against me with pure gels. When cycling though I just put a package of Twizzlers in my jersey pocket and head out
I have been using home made chia seeds energy drink for an year. It is highly effective. Apart from that, when chia seeds are not readily available, then there is a specific nutrition suppliment, which I use.
Hey GTN Thanks for your great channel! You have been very helpful to watch over the years. 🙏 I would be very happy if you did come up with a video how to store salt pills/electrolytes under both cycling and running. I have tried a couple different methods but nothing seems working for me 🙈 Kind regards - an age group triathlete from Denmark 🇩🇰
I use chicken noodle “cup-a-soup”! Mix with a little water, drink and then take more water. Works like a dream on those very long runs and weird enough it tastes good with cold water. Also easy to carry with.
Infinit Nutrition. Enough said. #IamInfinit Everything in1 bottle. No need to figure out all this extra stuff y’all do. Too much crap, too confusing, too easy to screw up your plan in long races. 2 scoops of your custom blend in 20oz water/1hr. How can you mess that up?
Love your content! Can you please do a video on running injury blues.. my whole training has come to sudden halt for two weeks.. how can I overcome the physical and mental battle.
Some suggestions that I found work well - dates. You can stuff a little plastic container full of dates and fit it in your saddle bag and it can last you for a very long time. And if you have a store that sells it - bocadillo de guayaba. It is a Colombian sweet made from guava and panela (sugar) and it tastes amazing and is packed with carbs. It is quite sweet though so bear that in mind.
Being it’s July I’ve been enjoying nature’s bounty doing a little foraging whilst out on some training routes. Mulberry and cherry trees are on public parkway trails in MN here in the states so currently that makes for a great two minute break for a wee bit of antioxidant rich yumminess 😋
Yes my kid is still young enough that if I hide half of it he doesn't notice... Then I slowly eat my way through it over the next few months whilst training 😂
Or you can forget all of that stuff and adapt your body to burn fat! Longer efforts one can get by with salt/lime water, avocado, walnuts...sugar is a big industry so it’s no surprise they got their hooks into endurance sport.
