UKH

I had a brief encounter with one of the above whilst racing today. 

I can say with absolute conviction it’s the worst thing I’ve ever had the misfortune of putting in my mouth.

How on earth the R&D people at SiS considered this product even vaguely palatable is beyond me.

If you happen to enjoy these, please seek help.  

 

In reply to plyometrics:

How bizarre. I think they’re fine, as gels go.

In reply to plyometrics:

Huh, the product use directions say to rub directly into the area in question 30mins before coitus.

In reply to plyometrics:

I have never found any SIS product anywhere near palatable yet, it’s all horrible, I can’t do more than one gel anyway and that would have to be an emergency, however Torq gels are OK(ish) 

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Agreed. They’re all horrible. I’m a GU man normally, but thought I’d give this SiS flavour a chance... 

...I’d have been better off with a use condom dipped in Nescafé. 

In reply to plyometrics:

What's wrong with Jelly babies, haribos and kendal mint cake?

In reply to plyometrics:

I think I had some of that a few years ago on a long run. When the caffeine hit my stomach I had a Paula Radcliffe moment, quite uncontrollable.

 

Luckily I was running along an old railway line and managed to vault over a wall into some trees before my bottom exploded. 20 minutes earlier I had been running along Portobello promenade. A bullet dodged.

In reply to plyometrics:

Maybe it’s a caffeine thing? I’m not keen on this flavour either, but I can assure you that the Mule espresso gel is FAR far worse. I actually gagged when I tried one - and I will eat almost anything normally.

Etixx gels are uniformly awful too.

Most of the SIS gels I find absolutely fine: they are quite bland, not overly sweet and have a good texture. The berry caffeine one is excellent.

 

 

In reply to bouldery bits:

Haribos are an insult to sweets everywhere, but agree with Jelly Babies.

I don't like any gels (make me sick) but Clif Bloks are ok for my sensitive tummy

In reply to bouldery bits:

Nothing. 

In reply to bouldery bits:

I’ve experimented with sweets. I reckon they are much worse than gels

- they’re hard to eat when you’re running at pace

- if you keep them in a pouch or pocket they go sticky

- they’re not as easily absorbed as gels

- they’re only simple sugars

- in big marathons they give out gels anyway  (and at the correct intervals) so you might as well take advantage of the freebies

 

that said I was very appreciative of the chap ahead of me in Turner Landscape couple of years ago who kept dropping his jelly babies that I hoovered up

 

In reply to plyometrics:

If you want caffeine I thought the Clif Bloks (black cherry maybe?) with caffeine were ok...and as per my other post, I have a very fussy tummy.

Only issue with the Bloks is they're very chewy and stick to your teeth, but I don't mind that too much.

In reply to Stig:

Ah! Not a problem for me then :p

 

In reply to mountainbagger:

Don’t mind the Clif Blocks. Agreed they’re a bit chewy. Tend to stick it in one side of my mouth and let it dissolve as I’m running.

Wifey swears by them. 

In reply to plyometrics:

A partner on a mountain marathon gave me a shot Blok once, a sort of cube of inedible jelly. I'll eat practically anything but no way that was going down. Spat out.

In reply to bouldery bits:

Nothing, plus there isn’t an empty packet/tube/foil type thing discarded onto the ground (which in most cases I know gets picked up but still)

I’ve driven a sweeper bus at a 10k event a few times and get mildly amused/confused why in the first couple of kms there are so many gel tubes on the ground (actually why ANY gels are being used on a 10k event is questionable) 

In reply to Tobes:

Gels in a 10k, that’s funny, I am only warmed up after 10k and never eat within the first hour of anything, I do wonder where some people get their nutrition advice from, wherever it is it’s wrong.

In reply to plyometrics:

They are a divisive product...

...me, I love them. First thing in the bag for an ultra or something like the Cuillin ridge. Whereas, my wife would agree I need help (and no doubt not just with regard to gel flavours...)

In reply to Tobes: likewise I’ve seen people eating gels on the start line of Halves. It’s just bizarre and is basic ignorance of physiology.

and chucking empty gel packets on the floor  is disgusting and perhaps the one thing I dislike about running ‘culture’. It’s not even difficult to roll it up and put it back where it came from.

 

In reply to Stig:

I always enjoy seeing people with 10 strapped around their waist on road marathons.

The quantity these companies suggest you should consume per hour is astonishing.

(For the purposes of transparency, I wasn’t doing a 10km...)

In reply to plyometrics:

I have used them on 100 mile bike rides and found that they give a boost to flagging legs but as far as I know you might as well be swallowing very thick Bisto, because the main ingredient is maltodextrin. 

I tried a couple of sachets of the Clif equivalent, which is like thick chocolate sauce and the sweetness was so overwhelming that a dodgy cracked molar went absolutely orbital  and I suffered excruciating pain for weeks afterwards. 

In reply to plyometrics:

Those things are amazing

In reply to bouldery bits:

Gelatine, gelatine and grim.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Probably need to improve your warm-up regime!

 

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

They always upset my stomach but then realized they had sweeteners in them that often do.

I like Gu, no issues on them and have some cool flavors but really like stinger gels as they are basically just honey.

In reply to Stig:

why?

I'll have gels on a start line especially if I'm feeling flat. I'd probably have none in a half but may grab one around 10 miles in for a kick. Just the sugar solution in your mouth will invoke a response in your brain.

 

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

If you're really racing a 10km you should be properly warmed up by the start line anyway. I only do one a year (a road one run by our local club) because I prefer longer trail stuff but I really go for it out of curiosity and to get a bit of a yearly speed calibration, and take a gel about 20 mins in to see me through the second half. 10k race pace for half an hour will burn through a hell of a lot of glycogen.

I can't see the point on longer stuff - although its all I have for marathons since they're convenient when trying to maintain a high pace (although I don't really do them ansy more). Once you get into ultra territory when speed (for me at least) isn't really an issue I don't bother because you might as well take real food.

I had the misfortune of using some Decathlon own brand in my first ever ultra about 10 years ago and it was absolutely disgusting, especially after they'd warmed up in your pack all day long. Fortunately I found better alternatives (Wiggle own brand lemon/lime ones weren't bad for the price).

In reply to yorkshireman:

I think this is one of those cases of if it works then do it, personally I would be disappointed if I couldn’t run a 10k without taking a gel on board, I haven’t got a fragile stomach but it wouldn’t tolerate anything at race pace anyway so it’s not an option.

In reply to Roadrunner5: that’s interesting! I bow to your greater knowledge.

However, my understanding is: in a 10k (say) you are using stored glycogen and if you’re reasonably fit (ie not out for 50mins plus) there’s no way you’ll get close to using it. If you eat - which I do - around 2hrs before a race then your glycogen stock is full and you  can’t add to it. So eating a gel on the line is pointless and only increases the chances of cramping.

Maybe I’m wrong?

re. Half marathon. Again we’re all different but I would think 10 miles is too late? I doubt anything can be absorbed in the last 3 miles particularly as you increase the pace. I can feel myself shifting to fat burning around 8/9 miles. So I eat a gel around 7.5. 

What’s your thinking for a response in the brain?

In reply to Stig:

Glycogen and fat, and the more adapted you are to endurance exercise the more fat you’ll burn, sparing your glycogen. 

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

I need to read up on getting properly fat adapted. 

In reply to bouldery bits:

I just got fat...

In reply to Stig:

The key thing here is that we are different, I like eating salted frikkin almonds, it's whatever works for the individual. Roadrunner5 has clearly worked out what works for him, and with great success. Some people like the gels and some like cheese, some before some during etc etc

 

In reply to Yanis Nayu: 

That depends. 10k at 10k pace you won’t be burning much fat (I would guesstimate less than 5% fat). Burning fat is less efficient so all things being equal you don’t want to be running out or glycogen. Clearly, the slower you run the greater proportion of energy comes from fat, so it all rather depends if you are running for a fast time or ‘just getting round’.

(also, in reply to Yorkshireman, if you are fit you *really* don’t deplete your glycogen store in a 10k. Eat a gel by all means if you think it works but it won’t do anything physiologically).

 

Although as I understand it this is correct, IMO, and assuming you are trying to get the best possible time, it doesn’t seem like the most optimal race strategy. If you can eat something during then it’s surely a good idea to try not to run out of glycogen at all and minimise the amount of fat used? (Talking mainly about the marathon here).

btw I don’t claim to understand the real science here  - the biochemistry of it all is highly complex once you get beyond the basics 

 

 

In reply to Stig:

I don’t know, as I race a bike, and in bike racing you have lots of bursts which are anaerobic. I presume running a 10k you can afford to run it more like a time trial, at a constant pace that suits you around your lactate threshold. In a bike race you have to stay in the bunch for the drafting effect - if you get dropped you’re f*cked. I would see it as an advantage in bike racing to burn a greater portion of fat as fuel while at aerobic intensities in order to spare glycogen for the frequent anaerobic efforts where glycogen is the main or only fuel. 

I certainly know from experience that when I raced 10 years ago, more time pressed and having done less endurance work, I got more tired, was less consistent, didn’t recover as quickly from hard efforts etc as I do now, having got and maintained a base created from lots of miles at endurance intensity. I’m aware that fat burning is not the only physical adaptation that could contribute to this effect. 

I can ride 50 miles at endurance intensity fasted from 8 o’clock the night before - I certainly couldn’t do that on 60 miles a week.

I agree that it makes sense to eat if you can, although I’ve never managed it in a bike race!

 

In reply to Stig:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2683964/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5700683/

This gets at it. Just swigging a sugar solution produces a benefit before you'd have absorbed those sugars through your stomach. 

You see African runners swig sugar drinks and spit it out, just trick your brain into a response.

TBH I dont think you should speed up much in a race, the perfect race is pretty much an even pace.