On my long runs, as long as I am under MAF, I don't drink water or take GU or shot bloks (which are my preference). After I've been running above MAF for around an hour, I take shot bloks and water, and tend to do so every 45 minutes or so. Any tips for this? I am thinking of trying the GU Roctane prior to the race, but with the idea that I will use it that day. Should I not be using these at all over MAF or is it common to follow their usage guidelines during a hard run? I have so much to learn.

Shiksa, Thank you, thank you. "Eyerything I wanted to know about GU, but was afraid to ask" Keep asking great questions, and i'll tag along, and try to learn something! Ace8, That is a heck of a nice explanation. Very concise and informative. The link is also first rate. Very timely for me, as I try to get nerve to cast bread upon the water. Don't ask me what the heck that means, though. lg

Shiksa, Thank you, thank you. "Eyerything I wanted to know about GU, but was afraid to ask" Keep asking great questions, and i'll tag along, and try to learn something!

You'll notice I'm getting more confident about asking questions I wonder about. Stick with me. I'll make an ass out myself for both of us.

On my long runs, as long as I am under MAF, I don't drink water or take GU or shot bloks (which are my preference). After I've been running above MAF for around an hour, I take shot bloks and water, and tend to do so every 45 minutes or so. Any tips for this? I am thinking of trying the GU Roctane prior to the race, but with the idea that I will use it that day. Should I not be using these at all over MAF or is it common to follow their usage guidelines during a hard run? I have so much to learn.

I suggest that you always hydrate on your runs, whether you are under MAF or not. It will lessen stress on the body, keep the HR down, and help performance. I drink 14-18 oz of water or plain Pedialyte (on medium and long runs) per hour. --Jimmy

I drank more earlier thanks to your suggestion Jimmy. I do think I felt better farther into the mileage. I'm not sure if it is my conditioning or my hydration. I struggle with increased liquid meaning increased bathroom stop. On race day, at least I know there will be porta-potties. My training runs leave me a bit too exposed at times to just pull over when needed.

You can work with that. If you are finding you are over-peeing, then drink a little less. But hydrate! --Jimmy

On my long runs, as long as I am under MAF, I don't drink water or take GU or shot bloks (which are my preference). After I've been running above MAF for around an hour, I take shot bloks and water, and tend to do so every 45 minutes or so. Any tips for this? I am thinking of trying the GU Roctane prior to the race, but with the idea that I will use it that day. Should I not be using these at all over MAF or is it common to follow their usage guidelines during a hard run? I have so much to learn.

Solely for the sake of learning: As mentioned in the race update thread, I ate way too much and felt stuffed during the race, but I practiced with Orange GU's during my long-runs and never had any problems with them, even liking them, and planned on using them during the race. I only have the one race under my belt, so I will just let you know what I did (right and/or wrong), so feel free to throw out the bath water, because there may be no baby in there. As I read, I realize there is a difference dietary philosophy for almost every runner, so it ends up boiling down to what works for you, but: On Saturday, I did a hard workout for about 3 minutes. I warmed up for about 10 and then ran for 2:30 at a pretty hard pace (I went approx .4 miles - tough to gauge, so give or take, but the first 1/4 mile was 1:30) and then did a 30 second sprint. In theory, this depleted my glycogen or makes my body think all the glycogen will soon be gone, so it begins to act like a sponge. After this, I made sure I consumed about 12 grams of carbohydrate/kilogram. Unfortunately, I followed a diet I found for a person that was 175lbs, which is about 15 more than me, which meant I consumed too many calories and felt bloated. Yet, despite my error, *I think* (me who knows next to nothing about dieting, aside from trying to piece something together) if I had done it properly that I would've been well energized during the run, needing limited help from the GU's. So, given that and given my training with GU's, I brought 4 along with me - took one 15 minutes prior and planned on taking 1 every 45 minutes during the race. This was not necessary, b/c I was full from the previous day and had plenty of energy and grabbed some orange slices along the way. I ended up consuming 2 of the 4 I brought with me - one about an hour in and the other about 2:45 just in case. I eating more out of fear than necessity, thinking "necessity" meant it was too late. That's only FWIW, b/c there are a hundred and one caveat's behind my running advice - it is a bit anecdotal, so caveat emptor. thekman

hmmmm...I can't tell if I'm enlightened or more confused. I don't take any calories at all in a long run until nearing the 2 hour point typically. Then, I tend to take a packet of something every 30-45 minutes. On my over MAF report on sunday, I reported gastrointestinal distress with shot blok and sports bean use. After ducking behind some bushes, I did take another GU roctane about 15 minutes later, and it worked very well even pepping up my legs a bit. Now, I'm not sure if I'm dependent on them or not. I have two more 20's left. I'll have to play around during them.

hmmmm...I can't tell if I'm enlightened or more confused. I don't take any calories at all in a long run until nearing the 2 hour point typically. Then, I tend to take a packet of something every 30-45 minutes. On my over MAF report on sunday, I reported gastrointestinal distress with shot blok and sports bean use. After ducking behind some bushes, I did take another GU roctane about 15 minutes later, and it worked very well even pepping up my legs a bit. Now, I'm not sure if I'm dependent on them or not. I have two more 20's left. I'll have to play around during them.

In light of formationfliers post, maybe ignore my "carb loading" madness.