Week in Training, May 26 - June 1/Gel Review

Monday, May 26: 12.7 mile tempo run on trails, running all hills until last lap. Didn't feel overly fresh but feeling stronger on the hills now. Spent about 2:30 during the run in transition time refueling and hydrating.

Wednesday, May 28: 0.3 mile warm-up, 3 x 0.6 mile repeats (4:22, 4:21, 4:20 - 7:12 pace), 1 mile cool-down. Nice improvement over last weeks intervals by about 10-15 seconds.

Saturday, May 31: 1.3 mile warm-up; 9.6 mile trail tempo (1:30:00, 9:22/mile pace); 1.3 mile cool-down. Very humid morning. I did a test to check my rate of dehydration/hydration, weighing myself before and after running and purposely dehydrating myself. Average rate was about 1 liter per hour which is pretty typical. Also tested out some different energy gel (Clif).

Weekly mileage: 29.1 miles; Again, not a very high volume week, but some quality training. I'll definitely get more miles in this week since I'll be doing some pacing for my bro at the Kettle Moraine 100.

Goo Do You Love?

Alrighty, time for my review of 3 of the most popular energy gels: Gu, Hammer, and Clif.



Gu - I used this gel when I ran the Ice Age 50 and it performed well. Like most gels, it's kinda thick, so I had to add some water to get it to flow well in my gel flask. As far as taste goes, the flavor was fine, but it got to be rather sweet after a while. The packets are fairly easy to open and the opening was sufficient to easily squeeze the gel into your mouth.

Hammer - This gel performed the same as the Gu. No wonder since they are basically the same thing, being maltodextrin-based. The raspberry flavor was pretty sweet, but the mocha flavor was a bit more mellow. I did have an issue with one of the packets rupturing for some reason, which didn't make me too happy, since these gels get really sticky. The package opened easily enough but I felt the opening it created was a bit small, which made a little tough to squeeze out in packet form. However, this would not be an issue if using a gel flask or buying it in bulk.

Clif - This turned out to be my favorite of the three. I felt it gave me the best boost and sustained energy. The taste was sweet like the others, although it didn't stick with you as much. I also liked the fact that the packets have a "leash" that keeps the tear-off tab attached when opening it. This is handy when using single servings so you don't have to worry about dropping the tab. I also noticed that the Clif gel's rice syrup base sat in my stomach a little better than the maltodextrin bases, which tended to give me a little gas afterwards. I'll be giving Clif the nod at the Kettle Moraine 100 to see how well it does over a longer distance and provide more feedback.