Tag Archives: gatorade

Fuel.

No, not the type that you cringe thinking about how it’s going to cost you a race entry fee just to fill up your car. I’m talking about the fuel that keeps you moving better, faster and stronger throughout training.

Fuel and I have had some serious issues in the past (e.g. in the med tent after the NYC marathon because I didn’t fuel properly). I’ll admit, I used to be the person that “wasn’t hungry” or thought I “felt fine” and thought that I could do long runs without fueling. Did I mention how dumb that was? I’ve since learned that you shouldn’t think about fuel as calories in the sense of your normal diet, but rather fuel to keep your car running smoothly. But unlike a car, you can’t wait until the last moment to fuel – instead, you must constantly be consuming for optimal performance.

Throughout Ironman training, I’ve adopted the following two fuel intake guidelines:

Running: ~100 calories every 45 minutes

Cycling: ~200 – 250 calories every hour

I’ll talk about what I specifically take in another post, but Gatorade reached out to me to try their new G Series Pro Carb Energy Chews. I am an avid fan of what we’ll call “gummy energy” as they are compact and generally an easy source of fuel. Plus, it tastes like I’m eating candy – so we’re already winning.

I tried the chews on a trainer ride and an outdoor ride – let’s get down to the pros and cons:

PROS:

- You can tell that Gatorade wanted to focus on one of athletes’ biggest complaints about chews: sometimes they are difficult to chew in the middle of activity. Thus, the G Series Pro Chews are definitely easier to chew and swallow. They are a bit larger, but that’s because they are flatter than others.

- The chews come in two flavors: fruit punch and orange. Both were tasty, but I’m a fan of the orange! Nom nom nom.

- The package team was smart and made it extremely easy to rip open the top of the package with your mouth. I did it on the bike and BOOM – seamless and easy open.

- I consumed the chews per my normal fueling schedule and felt fueled and great through the 50 minute trainer ride. So far, so good.

- The chews come in a vertical package with four chews per package. It’s shorter than other packages, meaning I can shove them in my bra easier (if you look at the majority of my finish photos, you’ll likely see chew packs shoved down my bra – it’s the most secure place and easiest to access for me).

CONS:

- First ingredient: corn syrup. I’m no dietician and I know that syrups are needed in all of these crazy endurance fuel products, but I’d love for an organic brown rice syrup option like other chews.

- As I mentioned above, the team did a great job at the easy rip top. However, because these chews are “gummier” than others, it was hard to get the final two chews out of the package (I usually just put my mouth over the package and slide them up, but I couldn’t easily do that). Thus, if the team can make the easy rip package on BOTH ends of the package, then we’d be in business!

- At first I was a bit shocked by the outside texture as it wasn’t as smooth as others, but you get used to it and inside texture is smooth as it should be.

For those that are curious, here’s some additional info on G Series Pro Chews:

Usage Times: Consume within one hour before the start of your training or race and during prolonged activities.

Nutrition Information (per 4 chews/38g)

> Calories: 120

> Electrolytes: 105mg Sodium, 50mg Potassium

> Carbohydrate: 31g

BUT WAIT…THERE’S A GIVEAWAY!

Remember how I mentioned that Gatorade sent me a sweet package? Well, IT CAN BE YOURS! Here’s how you can enter to win a G Series Pro Carb Energy Chews kit:

1. Leave a comment describing a win from within moment – this could be a time when you hit the wall, PR’d, or pushed to achieve something (mandatory entry).
2. Tweet @Page and @Gatorade how you #winfromwithin (second entry option) then leave a comment saying you tweeted (both handles must be in the tweet).
3. Send a messenger pigeon that wears running shoes with a special message.

The contest will close Friday, August 10^th @ 11:59 p.m. PST and the winner will be announce Monday morning.

Good Luck and Happy Running!