Monday, September 06, 2004
Here's a product review. I've used sports gels in the past, but now that we are into serious distance I am finding that they are essential. In years past I'd take a packet of PowerBar's Power Gel into the Boilermaker, and have it at the top of the golf course. I'm picky about flavor and found that the vanilla was the least offensive. Chances are that anything ostensibly fruit flavored is going to taste like that medicine you hated when you were a kid, and the chocolate seemed a bit heavier than I wanted in the middle of a race. Twenty-eight grams, 110 calories. It may seem like a trivial complaint, but the PowerGel package is a little too big to fit easily into the pocket of my running shorts. During this time Tom has been a Gu user, no doubt attracted by the aesthetically pleasing name. Gu's Chocolate Outrage lists "Belgian chocolate" as one of its principal ingredients-- which might sound like lily gilding, but actually seems to make a difference. If I wanted a Belgian chocolate and was given a packet of Gu I might cry, but as energy gel flavors go Chocolate Outrage is a whole lot closer to something I might eat and enjoy than anything else I've tried. In fact, I'd have to say that it is better tasting than the Snickers bar I usually have for lunch. Thirty two grams, 100 calories, so it's somewhat less efficient that the PowerGel, but the packet size is better. Gu's Orange Burst and TriBerry flavors offer the chemical aftertaste I associate with children's antibiotics. The most I can say in their favor is that they do not linger overlong on the palate.
I figure I'm going to want three packets of this stuff out on the course-- one before starting, one at an hour, one at two hours, and one in reserve. We get a Cliff Shot at the twenty mile mark, but I am dubious: I haven't seen this product in either Fleet Feet or Dick's, and the flavors give me pause: Sonic Strawberry, Mocha Mocha, and Cola Buzzzz. Sonic Strawberry-- what do you bet that's all that's left by the time I get to the table where they are handing it out? Thirty two grams, 100 calories, and the package is designed to eliminate litter.
I figure I'm going to want three packets of this stuff out on the course-- one before starting, one at an hour, one at two hours, and one in reserve. We get a Cliff Shot at the twenty mile mark, but I am dubious: I haven't seen this product in either Fleet Feet or Dick's, and the flavors give me pause: Sonic Strawberry, Mocha Mocha, and Cola Buzzzz. Sonic Strawberry-- what do you bet that's all that's left by the time I get to the table where they are handing it out? Thirty two grams, 100 calories, and the package is designed to eliminate litter.
