How To Take Energy Gels and Hydrate During Your Runs

RUNNING IS SIMPLE RIGHT? YOU JUST GET UP AND GO! RIGHT?

KIND OF.

Yes, running is relatively simple and YES, we were born to run. But running regularly or training for races like half marathons or marathons can complicate things! From all the tech and gear, training plans, and training philosophies, improving your mental game, to all the cross-training and strength work necessary to stay healthy and injury-free, RUNNING CAN BE REALLY CONFUSING!

We asked the Badass Lady Gang to submit their running and training-related questions so that we can help you understand how to have more fun on the run!

TODAY’S TOPIC…How to figure out nutrition and energy gels!

“I always find it so hard to figure out my nutrition during long runs. How many gels/chews should I eat? How often? It seems like I’m always making it up but am never sure if it’s actually effective.“-Alyson S.

I took an energy gel for the first time during my first half marathon. I remember asking the volunteer who handed it to me, “What is this?”.

“GU!” They exclaimed. “Runners take GU! Take it!”

So, I took GU! LUCKILY, I didn’t experience GI distress. (IE, I didn’t poop my pants which is a real thing we runners have to worry about. GLAMOUR!!!!) And it helped me finish instead of quitting as I planned on doing.

But, what is GU? GU is a brand of energy gel which is one type of energy gel some runners take to help keep them energized during long, endurance runs. But there’s so much more to fueling than just taking GU because that’s what someone told you to do! (During my first marathon, I brought something like 14 GU’s with me, stuffed between my two sports bras, because I had no idea how many to take and where to put that many energy gels!) I know it’s complicated so let’s break it down:

Fueling is two parts really: Hydration and fueling. Every long run is an opportunity to practice and tweak your hydration and fueling strategy.

Your hydration strategy is the sports drink and water you’ll drink during your long run or race to keep you hydrated and energized.

Your fueling strategy is the fuel (energy gels, carb sources, gummy bears, fig newtons, orange slices, etc.) you’ll take in during your race so that you don’t bonk. (Our bodies use a combination of fat and glycogen to fuel us. One of the reasons we train for an endurance race is to train our bodies to burn fat more efficiently so we don’t deplete our glycogen stores. But, we all have a set amount of glycogen in our muscles. To prevent bonking or hitting the wall, (your brain only uses glycogen as fuel. Sometimes, if you don’t give your body fuel, you may get foggy or disoriented. You’re running on empty! To prevent that, we take in glycogen in the form of energy gels etc.)

Everyone is different and will require different hydration and fueling strategies depending on how far or hard you run, or whether it’s hot or cold out. Don’t let the fact that this sounds confusing stop you from taking the extra 10 minutes a week to sit down and start to figure out what works for you. Not enough runners do it and dialing in your hydration and fueling strategy will make running easier.

DID YOU HEAR ME? YOU WILL RUN STRONGER, HAVE MORE FUN, AND STRUGGLE LESS. STOP LEAVING IT UP TO CHANCE! FIND OUT WHAT WORKS. YOU’LL HAVE MORE FUN! YOU HEAR ME? YOU. WILL. HAVE. MORE. FUN.

If you’re reading this and thinking OH MY GOD, TOO MANY WORDS, here’s the SparkNotes version:

Hydration: If your workout/run is 45-minutes or longer, drink a sports drink during or a bottle an hour before your run/workout.

Fueling: When you run further than 90 minutes, consume an energy gel or carb source. How you take them varies from person to person. Some take one every 45-minutes. Some every 60. It depends on how your body burns fuel. BUT PRACTICE. Practice with different brands and find what you like.

Hydration Strategy:

I don’t care if you’re training to run your first 5K or if you’ve run 100 marathons. EVERYONE can benefit from a hydration strategy.

Where to start: SWEAT TRACKING.

I HIGHLY recommend sweat tracking. For 5-10 of your runs that are between 45 minutes and 90 minutes, weigh yourself completely naked right before you head out for your run. (If you need to go to the bathroom, do it before you weigh yourself.)

Write that number down.

Then, when you get back from your run, strip down, towel off any sweat from your hair and body, and immediately weigh yourself again. (DO NOT go to the bathroom and DO NOT drink anything before you weigh yourself.) Subtract the two numbers and that is the amount of sweat you lost during your activity. (If you drank water/sports drink during your workout, make sure you include how much you drank in your calculation.) Then, convert that number to ounces and you’ll be able to see how much you lost.

I know it sounds complicated and superfluous.

It’s not.

And it makes a HUGE difference. Doing this LITERALLY makes running easier and more enjoyable. DO THIS. The more you do it, the more accurate you can get about how much fluid to take in on the run.

(A note on weighing yourself: I know for so many of you, you don’t want to weigh yourself. I felt the same way. Then, I realized that my weight often fluctuates about 7-10 pounds from one day to another. How often do you tell yourself you need to lose 10 pounds? Yeah, that arbitrary number is meaningless. Chances are, you’re doing it just by existing. Health is not a look. It’s a lifestyle.

Seeing that variability and knowing I was weighing myself so that I could run stronger helped take the power away from the stupid number on the scale. Your worth is not attached to that number. This isn’t about weight loss. It’s about running as strong as possible. AND, I sometimes would lose 7 pounds of sweat during one run because turns out, I have an ABNORMALLY HIGH SWEAT RATE. Which I knew because I’m always soaking wet and run REALLY hot. But seeing it on paper blew my mind.

Dialing in my hydration strategy changed how I feel when I run. I wish I would have done it sooner.)

Sports Drink:

If your workout lasts longer than 45 minutes, include a sports drink. (Not a fan of sports drinks? Try 20 oz water with a dash of sea salt and 1 tsp. of maple syrup.)

Before a workout lasting longer than 45 minutes, drink 10-16oz 1-2 hours before and then 4-8oz of fluid or sports drink during your workout. Again, everyone’s sweat rate and the salinity of their sweat is different. And depending on the weather, you’ll need to dial in what works for you.

Pre-Load:

I often can’t get to a sports drink during harder mid-week runs (that can last 60-90 minutes), so if I’m running hard, I pre-load before the workout about an hour before with sports drink.

Before long runs, I’ll drink a sports drink with dinner the night before and then again at breakfast. When you pre-load, you’re starting your run properly hydrated which means you not only fight off dehydration, but you feel better and perform better.

FUEL:

As the miles start to build, you’ll start incorporating energy gels/carb sources to make sure your body is getting the energy and glycogen it needs to continue to perform when your muscles are depleted of their glycogen stores. There are lots of different brands out there for you to choose from- GU, Clif, Maurten, Huma, Honey Stinger, Generation UCAN, etc.

When to reach for energy gels? Anything longer than 2-hours. BUT, here’s the caveat, if you’re training for a race, you’ll want to practice with your fuel during training and if your longest run is 2 hours, that isn’t the time to play with fuel for the first time.

EXAMPLE: Let’s say I’m running 90 minutes at conversational pace. I won’t take an energy gel.

Let’s say I’m running 100 minutes at conversational pace. I might take an energy gel at the 60-minute mark.

Let’s say I’m running 120 minutes at converstaional pace. I will take an energy gel at the 50-minute mark and have a second ready to take at 90 minutes if I’m feeling foggy.

Let’s say I’m running a half marathon and RUNNING HARD. I’ll take 2 servings of Generation UCAN 30 minutes before the race. Then, an energy gel at the 40-minute mark, and an energy gel with caffeine at the 70-minute mark. (I like those Maurten gels which I call bourgie juice because it’s so expensive.)

Have I mentioned that EVERYONE is different? It’s all about trial and error.

(I use 1-3 servings of Generation Ucan before my longer long runs, more around the 90-minute mark, before switching to a faster-digesting carb source like Maurten and switch between a normal Maurten and a caffeine Maurten later in a marathon.)

Everyone’s body is different.

I highly recommend using a carb source with caffeine later in the long run or race.

I know it sounds complicated but you will only learn by doing.

Some people like chews while others like gels or drinks. Some people opt for gummy bears, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or fig newtons. The rule of thumb with energy gels is that you take them during efforts longer than 90 minutes every 30-60 minutes. (Why the variability? Because it depends on how far you’re running, how hard you’re running, and how your body burns energy. Chances are, every 45 minutes is perfect.)

Try not to use fuel for activities under 90 minutes. You want to train your body to become as efficient as possible to burn energy. For anything under 90 minutes: Sports drink, yes. Energy gels, no.

But write this all down. Write down what you eat the day before your long run and the morning of. Write down how you fueled during your run. Keep track of what you drink the day before, the morning of, and during your run.

Then compare what felt good and tweak what didn’t work.

It’s important to practice your fueling strategy during your long runs to see how everything sits with your stomach. What works for some may not work for others. And there’s nothing worse than spending months working for a goal only to have your race day blow up because you didn’t realize that a gel would leave you running for the bathroom instead of the finish line.

HAPPY FUELING!

Kick ass and take names,