Hartford Half Marathon Race bib acquired! Packet pickup takes place during a fitness expo, so my lunch break was spent racing to Hartford & back and trying not to get caught up (read: spend $ on accessories & stuff) in the process. Managed to avoid buying a new Flip Belt (my current one is a little snug) and NOT bite the bait on any arm warmers. Ever since that 5 Faves & a Dud where my awesome readers educated me on what they’re good for, I’ve had it as a constant question in the back of my head… do I or do I not get a pair? It’s going to be in the high 40’s around race start, and in the mid 50’s by the time I finish. I’m just going to run in a CRB and a Swiftly LS and call it a day. I made sure to run in a LS twice this week so that I know the feeling of having it on while I sweat.
The one thing I DID spend a quick few dollars on were a crap ton of GU gels and a pack of Clif Shot Bloks. Could I have a bulletproof coffee and a Quest Bar in the morning and make it through the 13.1 just fine? Probably, but that’s also like feeling ashamed of taking a water bottle along when going for a 4-miler. Ain’t no shame in trying to stay energized and hydrated. There is shame in suffering the consequences of dehydration etc when you make the conscious decision not to come prepared.
So, I have this giant pile, mainly because the GUs were 5/$6. Now, the question of the day is which flavor (or two, tops) make it into the flip belt on race day?
What are everyone’s flavor recommendations? I picked up the following:
- Salted Watermelon
- Tri-Berry
- Root Beer
- Lemon Sublime
- Mandarin Orange
Oh, and… OH MY GAWD 24 HOURS FROM NOW THIS RACE WILL BE OVER. That is all.
My requirement for GU is that it tastes like pudding so I go with Salted Caramel or Caramel Macchiato or vanilla. Salted watermelon seems like such a weird flavour but it’s actually pretty good.
Have you run with GUs before? They upset my stomach, so I only used things that I used in training (for me, that’s the Honey Stinger gels), which I used on all of my long training runs as well.
I order the flavor variety pack off amazon and they end up being about 1$ each. I don’t like the tri berry as well as I like the dessert tasting ones hahah the first time I had a chocolate outrage I instantly knew it’d be my forever favorite. It looks like frosting. So I’d never guess chocolate or coffee-like flavor a would be favorable to me over more Gatorade-like fruity/ citrus flavors but as it turns out, I actually prefer the salted caramel and chocolate outrage. Still haven’t tried root beer. Vanilla bean is okay. I wouldn’t rave about it. The blackberry one tastes sweeter to me than the chocolate ones, not in a good way.
The only GUs I can stomach are the lemon sublime ones. I buy them by the box when I’m in peak marathon training. The chocolatey ones make me gag, but the citrus ones work for me!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I was so in the zone that I didn’t bother with any gels during the race… I just kept running and grabbed some gatorade to supplement my water at a few of the fluid stations along the way.
By “grabbed some gatorade” I really mean tried to drink too much and would end up spitting most of it out before trying to take a smaller sip without stopping.