I can't really offer advice but I can speak on my own experience.  For a HM, I take a gel while in the starting corral, and I take a gel at mile 5.  Only HammerGel though because it's the only brand that doesn't wreck me.  I drink only water during the race and grab a cup at every water station.  My stomach doesn't like sport drinks.  For training runs of 13 miles or more, I usually carry a gel and take it halfway through, plus I carry water in a handheld.

For a 5K and 10K, I don't use gels and don't take water during the race, exception being the BAA 10K because it was hot.

 

But - she's never run a half before.  If she's going to be out there for two hours+, I think she'll need something (though likely not everything she has listed).   If running a HM under two hours, that may be the case.     But just because it works for superhuman Happylily does not mean it'll work for others!

 

I know there's no way I could have made it through either of my HMs without water and at least a carb shot of something.

I have to say, I'm super glad I had gels with me when I "ran" my first half -- being out there for four hours, I got hungry!!    But that was an unusual situation, one I hope to never encounter again.

Still, while I'm fairly certain I could run a half with no fuel, I like the mental boost it gives me.  I used to take one gel at mile 5 and one at mile 10, and since I read Fitzgerald's latest book (I think meaghansketch mentioned it?), I stole his idea of taking one a few minutes before the start.  I happened to have gotten a lovely PR at that race, so I'll probably keep doing that.  It doesn't hurt, even if you don't necessarily need it.

I haven't run a half yet and am interested in this topic. Up until now I've just just eaten a 1/2 Clif bar a hour before my runs or sometimes a whole one before my long runs. Water around half way. I picked up some GU to try on my next long run. I was wondering about the after taste. I hate the syrupy after taste that coats your mouth. Gatorade has a syrupy taste that lingers and sometimes the acid cause heartburn for me.

I started taking a gel at the start line of short races (shorter than HMs) about 2 years ago (even though it makes me self-conscious that other people think I must be a total noob!) because of research like this:

Sweat Science - When and Why to Swish-n-Spit Your Sports Drink

that shows that even when exercise isn't long enough that you need to tap into your fat stores, if you 'top off' your glycogen stores before a race, you may perform better.  In the case of the research above it wasn't actually ingesting carbs that helped your performance-- it was the fact that your brain thought that there would be carbs available, so it didn't have to conserve any.

For HMs/marathons I don't take anything at the start line since I want my body to conserve carbs a little bit!

Looking over your race plan again-- Since this is your first HM, I would really encourage you to limit your carb sources to one or two at the most.  If you take energy beans AND GU AND sports drink, it becomes really hard to pinpoint what to change if anything goes wrong.

From my own personal experience, my stomach doesn't tolerate gels very well at all.  Here's what I do for HM distance:

Training runs less than 10 miles:  I don't bring anything unless it's hot.  Then I bring some plain water.

Training run of 13-15 miles:  Bring a handheld with Gatorade or HEED in it.  My stomach does better with liquid calories (opposite of Baboon).

Road HM:  Grab a Gatorade at every other aid station.

Trail HM:  Bring my handheld full of Gatorade or HEED.  Stop at the 6.5 mile aid station and refill if necessary.  Otherwise, I don't stop at all.

Longer distances (25K and above) and I start taking in some additional calories.  I much prefer real food when available.  An energy bar, PB&J, some watermelon, chips, Oreos, etc.

OP is doing the right thing by experimenting in training.  That's how we find out what works and what doesn't.

 

That was not slow as a snail, silly.

I was 403 long seconds off my PR. And I blame it all on the fact that I did not GU! 

Kristen, here's a few things to chew on :

1) I found that I really, really needed a lot of water and fuel to run X distance.  Then later, I didn't.  Whether mental or physical, the need was real.

2) It seems like you've been running/racing in some some brutal heat and humidity recently.  Cooler temps will definitely mean less thirst.

3) Gatorade and gels contain electrolytes.  Keeping your electrolytes topped off is a Good Thing.  Too much, however, can cause nausea, diarrhea and other problems.  So don't go crazy with it.

4) Like someone said, training your body to burn fat as a race fuel is something that matters mostly for longer (20+ miles) distances and for faster runners.  Your stomach can only absorb a certain number of calories per hour. (Eating more than this will only fill your stomach, not help you run any better.)  If your body is burning more than that number of calories per hour, the balance has to come from somewhere else.  For "shorter" runs (<=20 miles) the extra calories come from glycogen stored in your muscles; glycogen is an easy fuel to access.  Once the glycogen is used up, your body has to be able to "switch over" to fat burning mode or you'll hit the wall.