Personalized Marathon Training Plan Guide
Preparing for a marathon requires a systematic training plan. RunBox AI coach creates a customized 16-20 week marathon training plan based on your fitness level, goal time, and available training time.
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- Personalized Assessment: Based on your running experience and fitness condition
- Smart Adjustments: Training intensity optimizes automatically with progress
- Scientific Pacing: Based on your target finish time
- Injury Prevention: Reasonable intensity progression to avoid injuries
my marathon must have besides hair gel is this gel
As a serious runner with a wife and kids, there are two things I must carry with me when running marathons or trail runs. These two items are somewhat similar; both are a bit sticky and have similar names, each containing the word 'gel.' One is hair gel, which keeps my hair in place no matter how much I run, and the other is energy gel, which provides me with energy replenishment.
Recently, I came across a good energy gel product and wanted to share my thoughts on using energy gels with everyone. So, I had the idea of doing a product review of energy gels. Today, I will share my 'hands-on' results of the Jianle Duo caffeine-free energy gel and the low-caffeine version.
Most runners are familiar with energy gels, so I don't need to explain what they are. Anyone who has run a half marathon or full marathon has likely used energy gels. Some marathons even provide them at aid stations. Generally, the carbohydrate stores in most people's bodies can sustain about 2 hours of exercise. Unless you're a top athlete, most marathon runners can't finish the race before depleting their glycogen stores. So, energy gels are quite useful.
As a 'non-expert' runner, I've participated in many races and consumed a lot of energy gels. However, this is my first time writing a review on energy gels. Honestly, if you asked me to review running shoes or headphones, I could easily find the words to say a lot. But how do you review energy gels? Unlike running shoes, which you can feel immediately upon wearing, or headphones, where you can instantly judge the sound quality, you can't just eat an energy gel and say, 'Hmm, it tastes good.' People might think I'm just fooling them.
I can't do something like that. If someone recommended an energy gel to me by saying, 'It's really delicious,' I'd probably squeeze the entire gel onto their head like hair gel.
Therefore, adhering to the principle that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, and taste-testing is the best way to evaluate food (including energy gels), I decided to 'test the gel myself' and provide my impressions and opinions from three perspectives: appearance, taste, and effectiveness.
1. Appearance
As someone from a good-looking family, I consider myself a bit of an appearance enthusiast. This applies not only to faces but also to choosing an energy gel. An ugly energy gel isn't worthy of accompanying me on a picturesque running path.
Honestly, I wasn't familiar with the Jianle Duo brand before. After some research, I found out it's a sub-brand of the well-known international brand By-Health. Coming from a reputable brand, it's relatively trustworthy, at least it's a well-known brand.
To be fair, the design of this energy gel is quite good. Firstly, the flavor is clearly labeled, so you can tell the taste at a glance. Additionally, like most energy gels, it has a tear-off opening rather than a screw cap, making it easy to open with one hand while running. You can bite and tear it open, which is quite convenient. One detail I must praise is its slim design, allowing you to consume it in one go without having to squeeze it bit by bit from the sides. As someone who has had the corners of my mouth cut by wide packaging, I particularly dislike wide packaging designs.
Moreover, this energy gel has a generous capacity of 60ML per packet, providing 438KJ of energy. This is almost double the amount of many other energy gels, which is quite substantial.
2. Taste
There are two flavors in this review: apple-flavored caffeine-free energy gel and mixed fruit-flavored low-caffeine energy gel. Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for their taste. I've tried many energy gels in various flavors, from original to strawberry, lemon, chocolate, and more. However, the taste is generally mediocre. If you think strawberry flavor tastes like ice cream or chocolate flavor tastes like Dove chocolate, you're very mistaken. They're not that delicious and are quite sticky.
However, these two flavors pleasantly surprised me. Running marathons or trail runs is exhausting both physically and mentally, so having a tasty energy gel is a small blessing.
I don't like overly sweet or sticky things as they tend to 'clog' my throat. Eating some energy gels can be a bit painful, and as everyone knows, most energy gels need to be taken with water. However, during a run, especially a marathon, it's hard to ensure you have water available at all times. You either wait until an aid station to consume the gel or carry water with you, both of which are inconvenient.
This energy gel is convenient because it doesn't require water to consume, and the taste is refreshing without being too sticky. It doesn't 'clog' my throat. I personally like the green apple flavor, which is sweet and sour, making me want to sing: 'Lonely midnight, don't wander, come to the apple paradise, la la la la la...' Oops, got off track, back to the topic!
As mentioned earlier, the main difference between these two energy gels is whether they contain caffeine. What's the difference? Let me explain.
Caffeine can help us during training or races. It stimulates the central nervous system, increases adrenaline release, and helps the body metabolize fat as fuel, allowing you to temporarily forget the pain and focus on finishing the race.
However, if you're allergic to caffeine or prone to insomnia, you need to be cautious. Caffeine can also exacerbate high blood pressure and induce osteoporosis, making it unsuitable for runners with heart issues or older runners. If you fall into this category, I recommend choosing the Jianle Duo low-caffeine or caffeine-free energy gels I reviewed.
3. Effectiveness
Now that we've discussed appearance and taste, let's talk about the most important aspect: effectiveness. No matter how good it looks or tastes, if it doesn't work, it's pointless. We might as well eat candy instead of gel.
By checking the ingredient list, I found that this energy gel has a reasonable composition. Firstly, it contains added vitamin B1, which can improve the breakdown and metabolism of sugars, positively impacting our athletic performance. Secondly, it contains taurine, which I wasn't very familiar with, so I Googled it. The results showed that supplementing taurine during endurance exercise can extend the time to exhaustion. In simple terms, it helps you last longer, and I'm sure everyone prefers to last longer.
Of course, while sugar is essential, too much isn't good. This energy gel uses maltodextrin and fructose as carbohydrate sources, which have a lower impact on blood sugar levels and provide sustained energy replenishment. It's a pretty good energy gel.
That's it for the review. Finally, let me share some tips on using energy gels.
In long-distance running, especially marathons, maintaining a good rhythm is crucial. Everyone has their own suitable rhythm, which we need to find during training. The same goes for energy gel supplementation. This explains why some people feel the effects within two to three minutes, while others take 15 minutes.
First, I recommend taking energy gels early. Many runners like to 'tough it out' and wait until they hit the wall to take a gel. I don't recommend this approach. In my experience, it's better to take an energy gel in the first half of the race. Early supplementation has two benefits: first, your body still has enough energy, and your digestive function is relatively intact, allowing you to quickly break down and absorb the sugars in the gel. Second, the energy provided by the gel can seamlessly bridge the gap, preventing low blood sugar and other adverse reactions that could affect performance. For example, taking the first energy gel about an hour into the race is much more effective than waiting until you hit the wall.
However, we must also be careful not to put too much pressure on our stomachs and maintain a good rhythm. A simple and effective strategy is to take an energy gel every 45 minutes to an hour from the start of the race. The faster your finish time, the higher the frequency; for average finish times, an interval of one hour is sufficient. Another benefit of interval supplementation is that it prevents large fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Since energy gels provide simple sugars, they quickly enter the bloodstream and remain there until consumed by muscle activity.
That's all for my sharing about one of my marathon essentials, energy gels. I'm off for a run now. See you at the next marathon, and don't forget to bring your Jianle Duo!
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