Gu Energy Gels

I liked the Just Plain ones. The chocolate and vanilla were too much for me.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 3:12 PM

OP here -
I tasted a PowerGel Vanilla last night and was horrified. It was like eating the custard from the middle of an eclair but twoce as sweet and sticky as hell. How could anyone gulp that down around mile 8 and expect to not barf? I am hoping people have positive reviews of the fruit flavors....

I can't shake the mental connection I made from the vanilla to a certain male body fluid. Yuck!

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 3:16 PM

Well, it's pure sugar, they are all sickeningly sweet. But they do the trick when blood glucose levels are down and you need to get them back up.

I've only used GU and used to use the triple berry a lot, orange was weird. I don't mind the chocolate and vanilla, but quite frankly, I try to choke them down fast and drown them with water. I see that they have lemon now and I think there's a chocolate one with caffeine.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 3:39 PM

Dang OP, if your bf comes in vanilla, don't complain! :-D

More on-topic: I haven't tried any of these yet, but my brother recommended Gu over the others.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 3:39 PM

I'm the 3:12 poster. I've been using Cytomax gels, and I like those pretty well. They are all going to be sickenly sweet, but the vanilla in that brand seems better. It has been quite a few years since I've used the GU, though.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 3:42 PM

Somewhere I saw a recommendation that you should down these with a good bit of water to help you digest them more easily...might help with the overwhelming sweetness as well. I've also heard the sportsbeans are good.

At this point, I don't run long enough to worry about it.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 3:49 PM

I use them for biking.

If you're training, make sure to use them during training. Running a 1/2 mary is not the time to experiment with new foods (just a friendly reminder).

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 5:34 PM

I like the strawberry/vanilla PowerGel for running longer than 6 miles. I use them during marathon training and during marathons. They have caffeine in them that seems to help my energy level a bit during my long mileage.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 7:51 PM

Make sure you drink water after taking the gus......another good product which is relatively new are the Clif Shot blocks....I use them for my tri training and love them...they taste like jello blocks........

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 8:03 PM

When did you try the Gu?

OP - you said you were horrified when you tried the vanilla Gu. My question to you - did you try it after exercising for about an hour or did you just try it straight.

Think of it this way - if you were to try the lemon flavor or the cherry flavor of a cough syrup when you weren't sick, you would find both revolting (even if you actually like lemons and cherries). If you had a terrible cough, however, you might just consider which flavor cough syrup was less revolting to you and then you'd just hold your nose and swallow as quickly as possible.

Here are my suggestions:
1. Accept that all of the gels are relatively disgusting.
2. Only consume the gels when you need them (during or post a tough work-out).
3. Be prepared to gulp down whatever gel you are taking; think of it as carbohydrate medicine to be chased down with lots and lots of water.
4. On different workouts, you can try different brands and flavors to identify which one(s) (a) horrify you the least; and (b) seem to provide you with the most staying power.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006, 10:22 PM

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