Running gels versus real food is one of those debates that generates far more argument than it deserves. Your body does not know whether the carbohydrate arrived in a sachet or a sandwich. What it responds to is how much carbohydrate arrives per hour, and whether your stomach can cope with it while you run.
Get those two things right and the delivery vehicle is mostly a matter of preference, cost and convenience.
The number that actually matters
For runs over about 90 minutes, somewhere around 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour suits most runners. Well trained endurance athletes going long can push higher, often 60 to 90 grams per hour using mixed carbohydrate sources, but that upper range needs deliberate practice to tolerate.
Most runners who bonk are not taking in too little of the right product. They are taking in too little, full stop. Working out your number first and then choosing a product that delivers it is the right order.
Where gels genuinely win
Gels are predictable, portable and easy to take at pace. You know exactly what is in one, they do not need chewing, and they fit in a pocket. For racing, and for anything where you are running hard enough that chewing is unpleasant, that convenience is worth paying for.
The downsides are cost and sameness. Gels are expensive per gram of carbohydrate, and most people get sick of the texture over a long build.
Where real food works fine
On easier long runs, where the pace allows it, real food works well and costs a fraction as much. Dried fruit, a banana, jelly sweets, a jam sandwich or potatoes with a pinch of salt all deliver carbohydrate perfectly well.
The practical limits are chewing at pace, carrying it, and the fact that fat, protein and fibre slow digestion and can upset the stomach. Which is why the real food that works on the run tends to be the simple sugary kind rather than anything wholesome.
- Jelly sweets or wine gums, cheap and easy to portion
- Dried mango or raisins, though fibre can be an issue for some
- A small banana on easier efforts
- Bread with jam or honey, surprisingly well tolerated
- Boiled baby potatoes with salt, popular on ultras
Gut training is the part people skip
Your gut adapts to what you ask of it. Taking a gel for the first time on race morning, having trained every long run without fuel, is how people end up in the portaloos at 25km. The stomach has to practise too.
Start taking fuel on long runs six to eight weeks out, at the rate and with the product you intend to use on the day. Increase the amount gradually. By race week it should be boring and familiar rather than an experiment.
What to use on race day
Use whatever you practised. Race day is not the moment to try the sponsor's product handed out at the table, however convenient it looks. Check in advance what will be on the route, and if it is not what you train with, carry your own.
A note on stomach trouble
Recurring gut problems on runs, especially cramping, blood or symptoms that persist after you stop, deserve a proper look from a doctor rather than another change of gel. The same goes for dizziness or feeling faint, which may be about hydration and sodium rather than carbohydrate.
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