How many gels during a marathon

Is there a best energy gel for running? Therefore, your body relies on carbohydrates as its primary fuel source when racing. What do energy gels do?

They are designed to replenish carbohydrate stores that are depleted when running. Sounds like energy gels are a savior, right? Should you take an energy gel for running a half marathon or 10k? If only there was a simple answer to this, but: Just like almost every facet of running, the timing of when you should take your gels is individual. This is important: When running hard, your body often diverts blood away from the digestive track to help give your legs more blood and therefore oxygen.

Sometimes, your body shuts the stomach down completely while other times it just slows down. Therefore, you want to begin taking gels relatively early into the race. When should I start taking gels? Should I take a gel before the race? Some runners like to take a gel right before the gun goes off. This helps you avoid eating nothing but simple sugar for hours. Therefore, I suggest waiting about minutes between gels before taking another one. Most runners should be closer to the 60 minute mark, especially if they have sensitive stomachs.

So f you eat gels in training, particularly if you do it at set intervals that correlate to when you will take them during the race, your body will learn to keep the digestive track running and you will digest the gel more readily. Test out flavors and brands to see which energy gel is best for you Not all energy gels are the same. The important thing is that you have to experiment and find something that works. How many carbohydrates are you burning and how many do you need to replace?

How efficient is your stomach at digesting carbohydrates? What type of sugar does your energy gel contain? Will this need to change later in a race?

What type of gel is going to work best for you? How do you factor in the sugar you take with your sports drink? Who We Are. A version of this post originally appeared at competitor. Hi, Do you really need energy gels during a half marathon? Hi, Are energy gels needed even during a half marathon? Not if you need to consume calories. Not going to happen from drinks alone. Hi, I followeds your 3;45 plan on runkeeper and it worked out well enough for me to finish my first marathon despite having a calf injury 4 weeks before the race More Running Articles.

Look for this banner for recommended activities. Cancel Yes. Join Active or Sign In. All rights reserved. Go Premium. Need Help? Learn More Customer Login. American Running Association. Share this article. A Goodbye From Cool Running! Are you sure you want to delete this family member? Find activities close to home. It is easy to consume a gel at this point, and the body can start to digest it while at relative rest. There is some evidence that adding protein to the carbohydrate can improve performance [2] , as well as attenuate muscle damage in endurance exercise [3].

Caffeine not only improves performance, it also increases the absorption of sugar from the gut, so it will make Gels quicker acting. It is vital to remember The Golden Rule of Racing and practice this in training. If you want to try energy gels with protein, you need to try these out at race pace. ZERO does not contain carbohydrate. Drink ml of Recovery Drink as soon as you finish. Drink another ml one to two hours later and eat a balanced meal as soon as possible. The HIGH5 Run Pack contains the nutrition essentials to support your next run or race with a combination of our most popular Energy, Hydration and Recovery products for runners.

Get yours here. Good luck! Caffeine Note If you have any medical condition including high blood pressure, if you are pregnant, breast feeding or under 18 years of age, do not use caffeine If you are sensitive to caffeine and suffer any side effect, such as a higher than expected heart rate, discontinue use immediately. If you do not wish to use caffeine for any reason, simply follow our marathon nutrition guidelines using gel without caffeine.

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One of the critical pieces now is your marathon nutrition plan… The Fuelling Facts During a marathon, more than two thirds of your energy can come from carbohydrate. Go 11 Minutes Faster Recent Research at the Copenhagen Marathon showed that runners were on average 11 minutes faster by following our marathon nutrition guide on race day with no extra training and no stomach upset.