Team member Dan Piquette has a great review of *most things Gu here. He did leave out Gu chews, so I will take the opportunity to share my thoughts on this sports nutrition product.
I had the opportunity to try out a number Gu products as part of the TRF awards draw. Gu, a great support of Team Running Free for a number of years has typically been my go to with respect to sports nutrition products. Many of their gels are top notch, I like the variety of caffeine/non caffeine, and their drink/hydration products have been great in training, though I tend to rely on plain water for racing.
I used the Gu Chews during training runs as well as several time during the Halliburton 100 last month. As with most Gu products, there is a good variety of flavours, trending towards fruit (strawberry, watermelon, orange and blueberry pomegranate are available at Running Free) with choices in caffeine versus caffeine-free ( the strawberry ones have caffeine). The chews come in a double serving package with 8 chews totalling 80 calories per 4 chews (one serving). The chews have amino acids (BCAA) as well to assist with mental and muscle fatigue as well as your standard carbs.
Flavour is on point, I liken them to a chewier, stickier, if slightly sweeter jujube, and about the same size. During my training runs and the race I enjoyed the variety of this quick sugar, which offers some texture instead of the gels which I can find somewhat tiresome after 2 or 3.
The packaging and double serving makes it easy to stuff in my pack or even in a pocket of my shorts or tights and is less messy than gels when packing out the garbage.
Overall I highly recommend these as a solid alternative to standard gel products as a quick, digestable carb for long efforts on the roads and trails.
Happy running!
