Trail Trick-or-Treating: Variety is the Spice of Gu

Take your pick. Pick the caffeinated ones. 

Next up in the Trick or Treat series is Gu Energy. I'll eat just about anything, but when I'm training seriously, I pretty much stick with Gu. I ate Gu in some form or another (gel, soft chews, drink mix) almost exclusively while I spent the summer training for the TransRockies Run. I'm still finding Gu tabs and empties in the nooks and crannies of my race vests.

Like Kleenex or Band-Aid, Gu is synonymous with energy gel. Its semi-liquid form means faster nutrient absorption than solid food and Roctane's higher histidine and amino acid provides a boost for long distance and high energy workouts. For Trick or Treating purposes, however, flavor is the priority. 

I crave sweets when I'm on the trail, so Gu's dessert-oriented flavors really strike a chord with me. The original Gu line's Chocolate Outrage and Mint Chocolate and the Roctane Chocolate Raspberry nail chocolate cravings on the run, while Espresso Love's caffeine keeps my coffee shakes away.  If you don't dig chocolatey goodness on the run, Roctane's Vanilla Orange and Blueberry Pomegranate and Original Gu's Jet Blackberry and Tri Berry are sweet and tangy. 

The sweet thing about Gu is that there are a ton of flavor options in case your palate isn't as refined as mine. I'm not as big a fan of Cherry Lime and Pineapple, but some of my running buddies swear that they're the best flavors.

Variety also comes in handy when you're eating a bunch during a long run. I don't care how much you like Mint Chocolate, you're not going to be happy after eating eight packs in a row on a 4-hour run. 

Gu's also releasing two new flavors for the holidays - Peanut Butter and Peppermint Stick. Peanut Butter will add some saltiness to Gu's predominantly sweet lineup, while Peppermint Stick will hopefully taste like a peppermint stick. Both are due for release on November 4th. I've been dropping stocking-stuffer hints to Mrs. Trek Tech.  

Trail Trick-or-Treating: Honey Stingers Organic Energy Chews and Stinger Waffles

One of the biggest flaws that I have in my running game is lack of on-the-road nutrition. During my first marathon, I only took in water and a pack of sport beans and ended up staggering across the finish line a mass of cramps. The same thing happened earlier this year as I left my food in my pack and neglected to eat for the first 8 miles of the TransRockies Run. The next 16 miles were (you guessed it) a crampfest.

The best way to combat undereating on a run (or hike, or ride) is to have food that you actually look forward to eating.
So this week, in honor of Halloween, I thought I'd profile some of my favorite trail treats.

Enter Honey Stinger's Organic Energy Chews ($1.99) and Stinger Waffles ($1.39). I'm a total sucker for honey, so when I got my first pack of Organic Energy Chews, hopes were high. 

They've got sugar, sodium and potassium, the prerequisites of the race fuel genre, but the flavor is what really makes them stand out. I've been noshing primarily on the Pink Lemonade and LimeAde (with caffeine!) flavors, and they both provide a great tart-to-sweet ratio. Starting out with a sharp citrus flavor, the chews finish with a honey sweetness. Everyone who I've given them to (and I've been passing them around like candy) always responds with something like "dayyyyummm!"

Well said. 

Hey kid, want some candy?

Taste aside, sometimes I just get sick of the consistency of goo and chew. Hence the genius behind the Stinger Waffles - they're essentially two waffle cone discs stuck together with honey. What's not to like? Waffle cones, check. Honey, check. Crunch, check. They come in Vanilla, Honey (duh) and Strawberry flavors. I recommend the 'nilla wafers.

One warning for trail runners - I recommend stopping to eat your Stinger Waffle. I tried to pound one on the run, and I managed to inhale a lungful of crumbs. 

With trail grub like these (and some new Gu flavors that I'll be profiling next week), my problem isn't forcing myself to eat on the run. It's leaving the stuff alone between runs.