Used seven of these during the Philadelphia Marathon (one every three miles, skipped the last one) and helped propel me to a 3:14. Note to those that have not perfected their fueling patterns, definitely practice fueling at least 3 to 4 times during long runs, would suggest taking a gel everything 5th mile to start and if you need more than that you can move up to a gel every 3rd or 4th mile. Everyone's body reacts differently to these. And as you will find out, only take with water (never Gatorade - too many sugars/carbs at one time)!
These things are fantastic. My wife and I carried several of them with us when we ran our first half marathon, and I'm convinced there were times that these were the only things keeping us going. The flavors are great, personally I like the chocolate and coffee flavors best but my wife loved the caramel and vanilla so everyone's happy! This pack came with a ton of them too, we carried quite a few with us to the half marathon and there were a lot left over so I took some to work to get me through night shift. These little guys pack quite a punch, and I was surprised by how much energy I got from one little pouch, and the energy didn't wear off too fast either. Highly recommended for runners or anyone living on caffeine and looking for a better alternative to guzzling energy drinks all night when you're too tired to be operating heavy machinery but still are expected to do so.
These are my go-to energy gels when cycling. They taste good (as good as gels can), and give me a needed energy boost. Follow the directions of taking one before exercise, and then one every 45 minutes, and you will find yourself bonking less and maintaining a good level of energy. They are small and fit easily in my jersey pockets. On a century ride, I take 5-6 and use them every 45 minutes. I like these, and the Tri-berry flavors better than the other ones GU offers.
Been a big fan of Gu since my first marathon. After about 45 minutes of running or biking, you start to feel a bit "sloggy". eat a gu, keep going. You don't get this unnatural "wow, that pepped me up" feeling...YOu just kinda forget that you were getting tired, you keep going, and in a few minutes you note pace increase, and your good for another 45 minutes. Never upset my stomach, never any bad side effects.
Good product, I went with the tri-berry flavor because I bought them in the summer here in southern CA and I'm glad I got this flavor. I felt that fruity flavors would be good in the heat and I was right. No matter how hot the gel got it tasted good and didn't melt. They work like they are suppose to and definitely take them with a couple sips of water so they don't glob your mouth up. I've tasted other brands but these are by far the best tasting and work well with my training regime.
Feature Product
- Variety Pack includes Chocolate Outrage, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Bean, Jet Blackberry, Tri-berry, and Strawberry Banana; caffeine varies by flavor
- The Original Sports Nutrition Energy Gel designed to help athletes perform their best; 100 calories and essential electrolytes in a portable packet
- Dual source energy from maltodextrin and fructose that use non-competing pathways for efficient absorption and lasting energy
- Use for training or racing; take one packet 5 minutes before and every 45 minutes during activity
- Branched-chain amino acids to help decrease muscle damage and mental fatigue
Description
GU Original Sports Nutrition Energy Gel is the energy gel that started it all. In 1993, Dr. Bill Vaughn developed the world's first energy gel to help his daughter perform better during ultra-marathons, and GU has been helping to propel the world's most successful extreme athletes to success ever since. GU Energy Gel sustains all forms of athletic activity with a highly compact, portable, and calorie-dense packet that is loaded with carbohydrates that can be rapidly absorbed. Branched-chain amino acids limit muscle fiber damage and increase speed of recovery, and extra electrolytes help maintain water balance. Some flavors feature caffeine to increase concentration. While the original formula has been tweaked and evolved over the years, the end result is still the same: GU Energy Gels fuel the best endurance athletes in the world. GU Original Energy Gel comes in a wide variety of great tasting flavors. Each packet contains 450mg of Amino acids, 100 calories, and at least 21g total carbs.
I find GU Energy packs to be very good. Each has a variety of salt and caffeine, so if you want to limit your intake of those, you can alternate them with other packs that have fewer amounts of those two. The gels taste good, do not upset my stomach, and help keep me nourished and hydrated on runs exceeding 6 miles. They also are among the most reasonably priced gels.
For intermediate to long runs, I always start first thing in the morning and before breakfast. I find that morning runs that start with an energy gel go much better than an empty tank, but doesn't weigh me down like a full breakfast. You definitely need water when trying to down the thick paste, however. It's like super viscous brownie batter. The taste is good enough. You're not going to be jonesing for an energy gel snack any time soon, but you're not grossed out by the flavor.
Some of my groupmates prefer to use additives in their water bottles (Nuun, etc) for long rides for electrolyte replenishment. I prefer to keep regular water in my bottle in order to keep the bottle cleaner for a longer period of time. My old bottles developed mold / mildew much faster when using additives that had extra sugars - the bottles can be difficult to get the valves and other parts cleaned well.
Since I use regular water in my bottle, I need to replenish electrolytes via food intake and find that Gu is a great means to accomplish this. I ride in Florida and lose a lot of salt through sweat from our hot humid environment most of the year. I have found that in addition to drinking water regularly through my ride that I need to take a Gu about 1 / hr. If I don't, I start to have energy issues and find that I struggle to keep pace as I start to bonk.
This value pack contains a large variety of flavors, is priced well and is easy to store. If your needs are similar to mine, I recommend it to cyclists or runners.
I've been using these for years as a competitive runner and they have yet to let me down. I can't say the same about the Roctane series as they have messed with my stomach every time I've tried them. But the original ones always work wonders and use them for every longer race or hard workout. I've tried other brands such as Honey Stinger, Hammer Nutrition, etc, and these have always seemed to provide better results while being easier on the stomach.
I LOVE this product. I started using these when I was training for the half marathon and I'm using these now as I'm training for the marathon. I had to play around when it came to when I would take each gel. I've always been pretty decent with keeping a constant pace so I ended up taking a gel every 3.5 miles or so (I'm a slow runner so this ends up being roughly every 40 minutes), right before I start to feel tired. My friend who uses these as well only needs to take them every hour and she's fine with that, while I need it more frequently to keep my energy levels up. I say play around with these if you intend on using them for long runs because every body is different!
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