I have personally used several of the GU products throughout my training and racing. The products that I’ve found work the best for me and my racing/training needs are the GU brew, GU chomps and the GU gels. I generally purchase the brew and chomps in the bulk containers and boxes as they are more economical on the pocket book. The GU nutrition has fuelled me through half marathon training, half marathons, adventure races and throughout all seasons.
GU Gels and Chomps:
What I love about the GU Gels and Chomps is there are so many different flavours to suit your pallet. I tend to gravitate towards the fruit flavours and generally I don’t get sick of the flavour during a race provided I have a variety. I find the GU chomps especially tasty and are as good if not better than candy. I have on occasion come home to see my husband stacking on a package.
The chomps are great for running as you do need two hands to open the package and to pick out the individual chomps. They are also more difficult to eat when frozen during those winter training runs. By keeping the package in my glove or in my bra strap I can usually keep them warm enough to eat.
The GU gels is a great versatile product as I’ve been able to use it both for running, cycling and during the mountain bike leg of an adventure race. The packages are easier to open and can be consumed one handed. For a long bike leg of an adventure race I’ll duct tape a few packages one on top of the other to the stem or handle bars of my bike. When I need a little energy boost I can simply rip off the top packet with one hand. The GU gels also freeze during wintery activity and also need to be pre-warmed before consuming.
GU Brew:
GU Brew was the first nutrition product I was introduced to and I particularly enjoy the lemon-lime and raspberry tablets. I’ve used it for both training and racing. Generally I stick to the powdered brew versus the electrolyte tabs in the winter after loosing half of my drink during the Chilly Half Marathon down my backside. (The fizzing of the tabs caused my winter running bottles to no longer seal and my drink was escaping out the top of the bottle.)
Overall I’ve been very pleased with the GU nutrition products and I will continue to use them in the future.
