Morning Run & Performance Nutrition Review

I’ve been playing around a lot with my during workout nutrition. I’t becoming one of my bigger concerns as race day approaches. When I ran the RnR 1/2 I went with out my usual Accelerade Gels. I always found them to be kind of thick and gummy, but I figured all gels were the same. Boy was I wrong!

Some time around mile 10 of the RnR volunteers were anding out GU Energy gels. I grabbed one and slurped it down and was surprised to find it wasn’t thick and gummy at all. It made me wonder what else was out there, so I started doing some research.

I got some additional samples from GU, I had some Accel Gel I picked up and I also got some samples from Clif Bar, which will be out in October just in time for the Marathon!

Clif Bar and GU also sent me a few options other than gels to try. First I tried the GU Energy gels. GU has two versions of gels… GU Energy Gel and GU Roctane, I tried them both Roctane was developed for endurance athletes, where as GU Energy Gel is the standard during activity nutrition. I tried several flavors, personally I really only liked the Lemon Sublime and Orange Energy Gels and the Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane. They weren’t as thick at Accel Gel which was a nice change. 

I was also working with GU Chomps, a “fruit snack” like alternative to gels that I thought was pretty good. The only downside I saw to the GU Chomps was the packaging was a bit bulky.But overall I liked the products. I have a couple of packets of GU Electrolyte Brew and GU Recovery Brew that I haven’t tried yet, so I’ll keep you posted on those! GU sells a sampler pack on their website which gives you sample of just about everything which is nice!

As I mentioned I’ve also been playing with Clif Bar Products. Clif Bar is one of those companies that I had heard about all over but had never tried. But when I did it was an eye opener. Since my main reason for doing this experiment was to find gels I’ll start there. I triedseveral flavors of Clif SHOT, Clif Bar’s new gels and I liked them all… even espresso!  These were the thinnest consistency gels yet. The packaging is also a little smaller then Accel Gel and GU and Clif Bar has added a litter leash to the packages, so the top stays attached to the package to reduce litter on the path, trail or where ever you are.

Like GU, Clif Bar has also ventured past gels and developed products like Shot Bloks, Shot Roks, and an Electrolyte and Recovery Drink (I haven’t tried the drinks). The Shot Bloks come in a more “athlete friendly” package than the GU Chomps. The Shot Roks were an interesting concept to me, I’ve used recovery drinks before, but not recovery snacks. But I have to say I like it! Did I mention all this stuff is mostly Organic? Clif Bar makes several other snack products too, which are pretty tasty!

So based on the few weeks of research and trial & error with my performance nutrition, I think Clif Bar is what will work best for me. I really suggest trying a few different types of products before settling on one. I wish I had done this along time ago!

Big thanks to GU Energy and Clif Bar for sending me all the samples to try!