Sunday, May 6, 2012

These are a few of my favorite things (Weekly Runner Photo Challenge Week 3)

Week 3 of Maggie's Weekly Photo Challenge!  This week's theme:

What is your favorite running “thing”? Something that you either HAVE to have for every run or race, or something you don’t always have or use, but look forward to eating/using/wearing before, during or after a run. Maybe it completely changed your running, or is something you just really like. It can be something you wear, something you eat, something you use (in reality or digitally), etc, but it has to be a thing.

I debated back and forth on this one because I have so many favorite things in running (although, I guess in theory you can only have one true favorite).  Contenders included running shoes, online running stores, my Garmin (at least until yesterday), my training log, and post-run refueling food/beverage (most notably diluted orange juice and bananas).  However, I would have to say that my favorite running thing is GU.



Prior to last October, I never took in any kind of fueling during long runs.  I even ran two half marathons where my only mid-race fueling was a cup or two of Gatorade.  As you might imagine, I didn't feel very good during the latter portions of those runs/races, and I finished completely and utterly spent.

I started using GU last October.  It has changed my running career.  Using GU makes my runs infinitely more enjoyable.  It makes me feel so much more energized, it makes my recovery faster, and my legs feel lighter.  For a long time, it was incomprehensible for me to ever run a negative split in any situation - but GU has enabled me to do it regularly.

The GU flavors are really good, too.  So far I've only tried Chocolate Outrage, Vanilla Bean, and Mint Chocolate, but they taste like frosting and are all delicious.  I am looking forward to trying more of the existing flavors in the future. 

On that note, I would love if they someday came out with savory GU flavors (Cheddar cheese?  Ranch?  Honey Mustard?)  I've mentioned before that I have both a sweet tooth and a salt tooth, but when it comes to running my salt tooth definitely takes precedence.  If anyone from GU Energy Labs ever reads this and is in need of focus group participants/taste testers for savory GU, please pick me!!!  =D

8 comments:

  1. I can't imagine running a half without gu. I'm an addict! Chocolate and peanut butter are the only flavors I can stomach. Your idea of savory flavors is very cool though!*

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    1. I've become an addict, too - and I myself can't imagine how I ever ran halves without GU! I love the chocolate and the peanut butter is very high on the list of flavors to try in the near future. If they could combine the two into a peanut butter/chocolate GU, that would be awesome!!!

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  2. Ok, I'm convinced...where can I find GU...probably my local sports store...I love my long runs but feel so spent by the time I'm done and all I carry with me is water...Time to get a little more serious about energy I guess!

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    1. If you haven't yet tried GU or any kind of energy food for long runs, then definitely give it a whirl! For me, it made such a world of difference, I can't even begin to tell you!

      You can definitely find GU at your local sports store or any specialty sports store like a running store or biking store - but I actually buy my GU from Amazon.com. Amazon has the lowest price I've ever seen for GU. Check out my post in April entitled "Have credit card will shop" where I discuss it in a bit more detail! =) And if you do decide to try GU, please let me know how it works for you!

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  3. I had a hard time picking my favorite thing too!

    Have you tried the GU Roctane? They have a few more flavors :) I still have not tried the PB ones! I like the sweet flavors more :)

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    1. Wasn't it incredibly difficult picking a single thing? I loved your visors, though, and am really inspired now to go shopping for a hat/visor with the summer just around the corner!

      I haven't tried GU Roctane yet, but I hear good things about it! Will definitely have to look into it, especially if they have a few more flavors to pick from. What has been your experience with the Roctane in comparison to regular GU?

      It sounds like your sweet tooth is your dominant tooth. ;)

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  4. I love me some GU.. Which 2 years ago I would have never said that- i was on the "Team Bloks or Team Chomps" at the time, until i nearly choked to death on one in a race :) I just ordered a nice sampler pack of GU tonight in fact..

    Not sure about savory flavors, but I think a nice Chicken Broth/stock type flavored gu might be good.

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    1. So sorry to hear about you going through that experience during a race, it must have been terrifying! I've actually never tried shot bloks or chomps, but I've heard a number of other folks say the same thing about how it can be tough to get them down while running. Yikes!

      Oooh - a sampler pack of GU! I tihnk it would be fun to just blindly grab one out of the box before heading out for a run, and then enjoying the surprise of finding out what flavor it is. =) And I agree, you can't really go wrong with a nice chicken broth/stock flavor and I bet a lot of folks would like it!

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