Advice needed!

[Bierzo Baggie]

I'm off to the Picos de Europa again on Friday to do this year's "travesera"... absolute madness and very little chance of finishing but I'll see how far I can get. For the first time ever I 'm taking some drugs with me..err, gels and salt tablets. Don't know whether I'll actually use them but if anybody has any useful comments I'd be very grateful.

As far as I can make out.. take a gel before a big climb for glucose. They shouldn't give me stomach problems. How many should you have in one day..1? 2? 3? ...20?

Salt tablets. Might be useful during the course of the day because I sweat loads. Could they react with the gels and make me grumpy?..

Ta!

[El Gordo]

I use gels on long runs and marathons, and I do think they have their place. However, a very important point is that they don't have an instant effect. Depending on who you ask, they might take 20-30 minutes to start working, so you need to anticipate the need. And even then, the noticeable effects won't last that long. But they do offer a little relief and extra energy when you most need it.

As for how many and how often. Again, this is just a personal habit but in a marathon I take one every 4 miles or so. After about 4 I can usually stomach no more, and am looking for the diversions you get towards the end of a race -- fruit in particular.

I started off on Lucozade Sport but these days favour Hi-5 or SIS. The high caffeine ones do seem to pack an extra punch.

Finally, the bad news. It's usually advised that you don't use them for the first time in a race, as they don't agree with everyone.

Good luck in the race. One of those events that is on my "One day..." list that I will almost certainly never achieve.

Can't advise on salt tablets as I've never used them, but I keep thinking they might help, so will be interested to hear how you fare.

[Sweder]

Gels - I usually take them about ten to fifteen minutes before a long climb, though I'd recommend trying them out before the day. If they're going to upset you best it happens on a short local run.

Salt tablets - not my bag. Took some before TOM and felt wretched on the day - convinced they contributed to my stomach problems on the day. Sports drink/ gels will have the minerals you need.

[glaconman]

I used to use make-up the SIS powdered stuff when I did alot of cycling but seem to have got out of the habit of using anything.

But trying to stuff dry tracker bars down my mouth whilst running up a hillside into a gale the other week has made me think that I probably need to think again.

You could go with some carbo energy stuff in your bottle and dried fruit, like figs, in your pocket. Think I'll try that combination on my next long 'un.

Good luck BB. Keep us informed.

[Sweder]

Like GM I've got out of the gel habit lately. For the Seaford Half I chose to go with wine gums - this worked well, but suspect they would prove too sickly over a longer distance. The problem is always one of carriage - finding a way to store fruit or tacky sweets without melting them into a disgusting soup.

[marathondan]

I found this article useful (for road running).

[Bierzo Baggie]

Thanks for all your very helpful comments.

The salt tablets might mess up my stomach and I’ve never tried them before so I’ll leave them in the cupboard.

I’ve been given gels a couple of times in races and I can’t remember them causing me any problems (unlike isotonic drinks which give me gyp when I’m running). At the moment I’ve got one apple flavoured sachet of goo so I’ll probably buy a couple more tomorrow.

I’m a big fig fan (try saying that with a couple of figs in yer mouth). Last year I tried to get around with water, a bagful of dried fruit and nothing else. It was too hot, I sweated buckets and I had difficulty getting any solid food down me. Ended up feeling very drained on a big climb and was so slow I arrived at a checkpoint out of time. I reckon a gel or two might have helped.

Cheers again!