December

[Sweder]

Nice work Sweder. Would be interested to read more of your (and everyone else's) thoughts on the wine gums -vs- energy gels debate.

Here's my tuppence ha'penny worth.
Tried gels extensively over the past three or four years, working up to the super-viscocity of Hammergels. Paris was my most successful gel-powered marathon. I'd calculated that one should treat gels like hydration; best to follow a regime rather than wait until you feel the need. By working out a careful gel strategy I maximised thier effect to finish the race at optimum performance.

Then ... well, it's hard to be terribly scientific about this, but I started to wonder. What if I tried running without gels (in training of course)? What's the true, physical value of gels? I decided to experiment with wine gums in place of gels. There are obvious disadvantages; wine gums require a certain amount of chewing, get incredibly sticky in hot or wet environs (such as a runners' pocket or a sweaty water belt) and every now and again - and no matter how careful you think you're being packing them for the run - you always get an orange one pop up when you least expect it. However gels can be pretty hard to swallow too, not to mention those evil sachets that seem impossible to tear open in the heat of battle.

The upshot of all this messing about is that, for me at least, wine gums appear to serve as an adequate gel substitute. Remember I've only tried this up to half marathon distance. Well, OK, I tried it on the Bewl 15 with reasonable results. Perhaps beyond the 13.1/ 15 mile distance a combination of wine gums (or jelly babies) and gels might be best, though some - Moyleman included - have experimented with soluable suppliments carried in a second water bottle.

My other theory is/ was that if one were to over-rely on gels their effectiveness in races might be diminished. Ergo, if I leave them alone in training but use them during races where I'm trying to increase performance/ go for a time they might offer a real boost.

We're back to that Kevin Sheeghan chap and his singular experiment theory ... I guess we all have to suck it and see. Literally.