Energy Gel

not a gel but gummies and taste amazing. there organic 2.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442627827&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302881460&bmUID=1277412278346

Hammer Gel.

Several good flavors – vanilla, apple cinnamon are my favorites. A friend of mine loves the espresso.

The Honey Stinger Energy Chews are also a favourite for me!
same function as energy gels, but easier to eat, and the taste is better.

I'm a big fan of Gels.
I take one every 30 minutes when I run Ultras.

Each brand has its own formula, they are not all the same.
In my view the best are : Hammer and Gu.

I prefer the Non-caffeine gels.
I would stay away from the double and triple shot caffeine gels. 30mg caffeine per gel is ok, but the ones with heavy caffeine defeat the true purpose of taking gels.

Individually they are very expensive. If you decide to become a fan of Gels, buy them by the box to get a price break.

GU Vanilla Bean is the only one I use. I take a pack every 5 miles or 45 minutes – whichever comes first when ultrarunning and a pack every 90 minutes or so when speed hiking.

I tried out Perpetuem on a hike last weekend and loved it. But I am WAY too cheap to spend $12/day of hike on gu stuff. So… I just ordered a 50lb. bag of maltrodextrin and will start experimenting with making my own gu at $1.25 a lb. By the way Brian, I made it back to my truck and was at 48.3 miles for the day. Thought it would be silly to go .8 miles up the hill just to return and make it an even 50 miles.

Here's my starting recipes. (From http://smaryka.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html)

Basic Sports Drink Mix

Makes 24 servings @ 30g per serving (120 calories)*.

5 1/4 cups or 720g maltodextrin
1 tsp or 3600mg lo-salt
2 tsp or 7200mg sea salt
2 tsp or 2400mg calcium powder

3.5 tsp or 1200mg magnesium powder
optional: some kind of flavouring to taste, as desired (i.e., cocoa powder, Kool-Aid packets or myprotein.co.uk powdered flavours, or a tiny bit of fruit juice once mixed)
optional: caffeine powder, use at your own risk but more than 50mg per serving is not recommended

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl, put into a container and keep dry. One 30g serving is approximately 60mL or 1/4 cup. Electrolytes can be adjusted to taste/need.

*Mixed with 375mL of water, it's a 7.5% solution, though maltodextrin's osmolality means it can be mixed as high as 24% in solution. 10-12% is recommended, but I like my drinks to be weakly flavoured as I generally only use them in intense activities or hot conditions.

Basic Endurance Mix

Makes 24 servings @28g per serving (113 calories) with 7:1 carbs to protein ratio.*

1075mL or 615g maltodextrin
140mL or 80g soy protein powder

optional: some kind of flavouring to taste, as desired (i.e., cocoa powder, Kool-Aid packets or myprotein.co.uk powdered flavours, or a tiny bit of fruit juice once mixed)
optional: caffeine powder, use at your own risk but more than 50mg per serving is not recommended
Mix all ingredients well in a bowl, put into a container and keep dry. One 28g serving is approximately 50mL or 1/4 cup less 2 tsp.

*I mix this into a paste, basically 3-4 servings in a small gel flask or many more servings in a regular-sized water bottle. See above notes for more dilute concentrations.

Basic Recovery Mix

Makes 24 servings @ 55g per serving (200 calories) with 3:1 carbs to protein ratio.*

3 1/2 cups or 480g maltodextrin
2 2/3 cups or 420 g dextrose
780mL or 320 g whey powder
1/2 cup or 108g glutamine

2 tsp or 7200mg lo-salt
4 tsp or 14400mg sea salt
4 tsp or 4800mg calcium powder

7 tsp or 2400mg magnesium powder
optional: some kind of flavouring to taste, as desired (i.e., cocoa powder, Kool-Aid packets or myprotein.co.uk powdered flavours, or a tiny bit of fruit juice once mixed)
Mix all ingredients well in a bowl, put into a container and keep dry. One 55g serving is approximately 95mL or 3/8 cup. Electrolytes can be adjusted to taste.

*Mixed into 500mL of water it's just sweet enough and not too salty. Some research (e.g.) has been done showing that drinks with mixed and single carbohydrate sources have similar absorption rates, and since this is a post-workout drink containing protein, I'm not so worried about sugar spikes and stomach upset. Therefore I mix malto and dextrose nearly 50/50 in this drink. 100% dextrose would be way too sweet and 100% malto is a bit bland for my taste in recovery drink.

Hi Brian,

I've found Clif Shot more palatable than Gu. Combined with enough water the stuff does seem to help maintain energy and is easier to choke down than a lot of the bar products. Since flavor does make a big difference, I suggest getting a variety and narrowing down which ones you like personally. On a hot, long day I sometimes find it impossible to eat even this stuff, ironically when I need it most. The right flavor helps, and that may vary from one day to the next.

Oh, it also gets everwhere and is quite sticky.

cheers,

Rick

Accel Gel has protein and is unique in this way- superior for endurance events.

For serious efforts, fuel like an ultramarathon runner. For these trips I use Perpeteum. Otherwise I like to have a couple of gels per trip for times when my energy is getting low. Hammer is great stuff.

For moderate hiking they are largely unnecessary. But on my mega mileage days, these sports foods are a key part of the trip.

Hammer Nutrition has a great web site for info.

Have fun!
Doug

Right on, Greg. Excellent work.

Tom,
Thanks to you and others as well. This may be a key piece of what I was missing in achieve the high mileage days. If you want to mix your own version, let me know and I can send you a few lbs. Its the least I can do for your help.

Greg,

Many thanks for the generous offer. However, I think that by the time you added up shipping and ingredients you would have way over paid for whatever I might have contributed. The most valuable thing is the list of ingredients and instructions for dilution when mixing that you have posted. I shall print that out and consider us even; actually, on further reflection, I'm getting the better of the bargain-knowledge is priceless. ;)

Thanks for sharing.

Tom

Many of my friends blew theirs open on the AT, so be careful where you place them in your pack.

@Greg Great job on the 48+ miles. I'm heading out Saturday for a 40-miler.