March 30, 2007

• Yes, indeed you are. ;) The gels and the beans are better for distance. You get your calories quicker, and without heavy shit sitting in your stomach for your run/bike ride/whatever. Clif bars be damned tasty, but they sit like hockey pucks in your gut. If you've got to fuel more than once, you ain't gonna like 'em. The gels (Gu is a particular favorite with a lot of runners I know) do a good job, but it's kind of like eating flavored Vaseline. Stickier, though. Clif also makes a gel. The beans are tasty, kind of like Gatorade jelly beans. Surprisingly hard to find around here.
• MonkeyFilter: it's kind of like eating flavored Vaseline I personally hate Gu. Disgusting stuff.
• Can't stand those Power Bars Cliff bars, et al. They all taste like tree bark and dried dog doo. I'll stick to bananas and apple juice.
• > The gels and the beans are better for distance. Whatever happened to eating big bowls of pasta the night before?
• Whatever happened to eating big bowls of pasta the night before? Earth to grandpa! The human body is an elastic component of alien technology to be artificially manipulated however possible for short-term athletic experience! People quit praising Booganoodle the Sun god and sleeping years ago! Pasta! *snort* Oh man! *chugs taurine/guarana infused kola nut extract, snorts powdered B-complex and bee pollen mix* Whooo!! Let's rock! WOOOO!!
• Whatever happened to eating big bowls of pasta the night before? Bloating, bowel loading, inefficient absorption. You still want to maximize your muscles' stores of glycogen --- but pounding 3000 KCal of spaghetti pre-race isn't a great way to do that. The candies aren't a complete in-flight refueling solution. More of a helper to keep your stores burning, and a salt boost to keep your muscles from cramping after the two-hour mark (personal datapoint, yours will vary). I liked gummi worms and tiny pretzels, back in the day.
• MonkeyFilter: Bloating, bowel loading, inefficient absorption. Ahhh. That's the stuff. And just to clarify roryk I was just kidding. I have no idea about any of this stuff beyond the usual energy drink and melted-chocolate-multivitamin packs part
• Waitaminnit -- flavored Vaseline? Does that mean that I could use my emergency bottle of strawberry-scented butt-blasting creme in a pinch?
• Er, can anyone tell me what the difference is between regular jelly beans and these? Seems to be more of a marketing scheme than anything else. I mean, if you want a shot of energy you eat sugar, if you want something for stamina you eat complex carbs. How are these sugary pieces of crap any different than other sugary pieces of crap?
• It looks like they have electrolytes (read: salt) and vitamins C and E. And they have the word "sport" on the package.
• Hmm. And here I thought it was just the price.
• Re the pasta, it was for long-distance cycling that I found it useful (and v. cheap).
• It looks like they have electrolytes "The secret ingredient is... salt."
• Well, that's all Gatorade is. Sugar water with salt.
• Ah, that explains it! /hates Gatorade
• Re the pasta, it was for long-distance cycling that I found it useful (and v. cheap). If I try to run more than seven or eight miles without eating, be it gels or beans or even just half a Snickers, I get the shakes and bottom out in a hurry. Hammering down 100 calories every five miles makes a huge difference for me.
• Wow, I honestly had no idea there are so many details involved in running. Now that I see there are, though, it makes sense. You're really pushing your body to its limits, and it stands to reason you'd want to keep it fueled in a healthy manner. Still. Sport Beans are just funny.
• They give you Sports Farts tho.
• The acronym-anic within myself keeps reading this post as, beats p 0rn!
• Salty Jelly Beans... *gack*
• They don't taste salty. They basically taste like Gatorade. Which may be ack ptui to you as well, but doesn't taste salty.
• My wife likes the sport beans. I think they're OK also; we've only tried the orange (do they come in more flavors?) and they are great for a quick refeul during long bike rides. The Clif Shots gel is also great - some of the flavors are really very tasty for an energy shot. They were also smart enough to package them such that the part you tear off to open them is hooked to the rest of the package with a little "tether" so that you aren't likely to drop the torn-off portion as litter. Clif also makes some gummi energy blocks, but you need to follow those with water; you can't just chew and swallow, making them a bit tougher to use during a run unless you also have water with you.
• Mr. meredithea always carries some sort of clif bar type thingy on him in case his blood sugar tanks (he's a type-I diabetic). I wonder if the gels would be more efficient (if less tasty -- he quite likes them) and take less time for him to feel better? (On the other hand, he finds that he needs some sort of bulk, because when he brings his sugar up with soft drinks or candy it can tank again in a hurry if he's not careful.)