Blood Sugar Intake

Blood Sugar intake: Mr Galloway suggests that for most of the exercisers he has worked with, the gel products have worked best. The most successful formula on long runs, for the largest number of people, is the following: 30-40 calories every 1-2 miles. He suggests trying a variety of foods: gels, energy bars, gummi bears, sugar mints, etc., to find the one that works best for me.

If you use gels, a successful method is to squirt several packets of your favorite product (Mr Galloway recommends trying Accelgel) into a plastic bottle with a pop-top (he says Fuel Belt makes a great product). Starting between 4-7 mi, start taking 2-3 squirts of the gel, with 3-4 sips of water, every mile or two. His website has more information on these products. But whatever blood sugar fuel you choose to use, he says to practice it on your long runs before using it on raceday.

The most important time to reload your important glycogen energy stores is within 30 min of finishing exercise--particularly a long one -- take 200-300 calories of a fuel that has 80% carbohydrate and 20% protein.

I have used some gels that tasted disgusting. I found some dextrose tablets that I like. No sticky teeth.