The Bonita, The Muse, & The Weirdness That Is Gel

Here is a more balanced review than what you would have gotten on Wednesday (or Th, Fri, or even Saturday! Yes, I was just that bitchy for that long!) *Note for the guys - you cracked me up with your comments about the girl gear. Sorry for yet another relatively gender specific post. You can skip to the Gel discussion towards the end or check back with me tomorrow for a more androgynous post!

The Bonita Skirt
Pros:
In terms of technical specifics - this skirt dries super (super, super) fast. It was RIDICULOUSLY humid today during our NINE (eek) mile run. For more than half the run I had sweat fringe dripping (pouring, cascading!) off of me from wrist to elbow. It was sooooooooooooo gross. Two separate guys we saw were soaked to the point they looked like they'd been swimming. I was ever so grateful for my cute and DRY skirt.

In terms of pretty - I love the way this skirt hangs! The slits are exactly right and the length is perfect. When the sun is behind me it's fun to see my shadow self with my skirt flipping and floating as I run. Maybe it's the conditioning from seven years spent in prep school wearing a short (as I could get away with) kilt, but wearing a running skirt suits me. My butt and thighs are covered instead of highlighted and exposed (<-- which is how I feel in running shorts). And yet, I don't look like a granny out there. Safe and still sassy - works for me!

Con:
Maybe I have mutant thighs - but the undershorts ride up. Grrrr! There was much bunching and chafing (and tugging and grumbling) on Wednesday's 4.5 miler. Friday and today I wore my under armour and was completely comfortable. Bummed to have to wear the extra layer, but cooler than I expected. I'm still in search of the perfect running skirt (i.e. one that is exactly like this one without the bunching!) but since I'd be wearing the under armour with either my old Nike skirt or any pair of running shorts, it's ok. In fact, it's ok enough that I'm going to wear this skirt for the half marathon in two weeks.

The Muse Hydration Pack
Pros:
Um. It's great for walking. The bottle doesn't spill and is easy to drink from. It is easily adjustable. There are two nice pockets - for gels, id's, phone, keys, what have you. There is even a little place to clip keys to so they're easy to retrieve. I'm sure it's well engineered.
Cons:
It drove me batshit crazy. It fit me perfectly around the hips but it didn't stay there when I started to really run (as opposed to the pretend run of two steps I did in the store and in my bedroom.) Grrrr. I had to cinch it around my waist. If I could have handled wearing it there, I'd LOVE this pack. It didn't jounce or slosh. However, I don't really have much of a natural waist and I am uncomfortable in the extreme having something high up on my stomach.

My review may have been a mere "Meh" instead of a decided "Bleck" if I hadn't had an even more tender tummy than usual on Wednesday. Have you ever cooked Jiffy Pop? Well, then you can imagine my stomach after about mile two. Sore, swelling tummy met unforgivably tight belt - no matter how I kept loosening it. I seriously considered slinging the stupid pack over one shoulder like a bandolier just to get home.

I tried to make myself try it again on a "better" day but I couldn't do it. I was so freaking irritated by having to mess with that thing that it will probably be months before I'm willing to hassle with it again. Is it so demanding of me to want to run & stay hydrated without having to tug and fuss? Probably. I'm not sure that any hydration belt/pack would have worked for me that day. Camelbaks are too hot and I can't see that Fuel Belts would have ridden any better. I'm quite sour and discouraged about the whole hydration situation. Luckily (or should I say hopefully?) I don't think I'll have to worry about it during the race. I expect there to be plenty of liquids on the course!

For our other short run this week, we just carried $2 and bought water at a little market on the route. We had a GREAT run that day. Today, John was our sherpa - biking ahead every two miles and handing out water or Gatorade Endurance or gels. He ROCKS! I had a rough mile 6 and 7 and did the math wrong about where he would be waiting for us. I was off by a quarter of a mile and when he wasn't where I expected him to be, I hit this sad, dark place. When we finally had him in sight, I was almost beside myself glad to see him. He had bottles in hand and started walking away from us to match our pace so we wouldn't have to stop to get to him, which was very thoughtful. Except when he started walking away from me before I could get to him, my heart plunged down to my toes. It was this wacked out emotional response, like he was leaving. Forever. I fought off tears and shouted, "Don't take another step!" I probably sounded like a mad woman, but I so very much needed to have him within reach. I tried to apologize but I must have been babbling because he gave me an odd smile. (I was much better after that. Long runs are weird.) He is a prince!

The Great Fuel Experiment
I know that everyone's taste buds and metabolisms are different but for what it's worth, here are the results of me trying every type of gel I could get my hands on this month.

Gu - my favorite overall. It was consistently the easiest to swallow, had a light flavor, and seemed to "work" quickly. I tried the Vanilla Bean (which tasted kind of chocolatey to me) and the Just Plain. The plain flavor ROCKS! I don't know that I would have been brave enough to try it on my own but Donna really liked it so I tested one too. Slightly sweet but really not much of anything to deal with either way. I want a case of these. And I want to try the Roctane (if they ever come out with flavors other than Blueberry/Pomegranate and Vanilla/Orange.)

Accel Gel - I wasn't sure what it was about this one that made a difference, but after reading some more I think it must be the protein. I felt GREAT after taking this at my halfway points and think this gel helped me get my recent negative splits. I tried the Key Lime flavor since I have so much strawberry everything else. It was a sickly neon color that might have made me change my mind about trying it had I any other options at that point. It was also slightly thicker and a bigger packet - so correspondingly harder to swallow. The light yet tart flavor was perfect though - especially on such a hot day. And I was less sore after the runs I had this gel. This one will definitely be one to keep putting in the bowl.

Carb BOOM! - Did NOT work for me. The Vanilla-Orange flavor tasted like baby aspirin (chalky aftertaste and all!) and this was the only new or even remotely unusual food I had eaten within 24 hours of the Jiffy Pop tummy issues. I still have an Apple-Cinnamon one in the bowl that already sounded slightly weird to me as a flavor but now will either go in the trash or to the first person who shows any interest in it. Bleck.

Cranksports e-Gel - I did not get a chance to try any of these but what I read about them makes me think they might work for me. Will keep looking for a way to buy a couple to try out.

PowerGel - The first one I had was the vanilla and OMG it was like eating cake frosting! I kept waiting to get sick to my stomach but I never did. I felt fine and had a decent run. Still, my first impression was, "Meh. Not on my repeat list." Then I forgot to take any fuel with me when I was traveling and Kroger's was my only source. The ONLY gel of any brand, any flavor they had was one six-pack box of Strawberry-Banana PowerGel. Surprisingly I liked this one better. It's another one for the bowl. The gel itself seemed thinner and the flavor was light. Not too banana-y. (You may have noticed that "light" is important to me, flavor-wise.) Also this one has caffeine - which is nice because most companies put their caffeine in the mocha or chocolate flavors, neither of which I can tolerate. Which brings us nicely to the end of the list.

Clif Shots - I wanted very much to like this gel! This is such a smart, innovative, conscientious company. I want to support them. I love their idea of a "litter leash" and the shot bloks are working so well for me! Sadly, my experience with Clif Shots was much like my experience with Luna Moons. I am (mostly) willing to give them a second chance. I'll keep looking around to find either the strawberry or vanilla flavor (though did I mention I'm sick of strawberry and vanilla?) Of the flavors I could find, Mocha seemed the best choice at the time. Mistake. So thick, so bitter, so ... gagly. Like smoked paste. Just...ugh.

I didn't try Hammer Gel since I've heard from a couple of people that you shouldn't mix it with other stuff. (At this point, I'm not willing to give up the things that are working for me like Shot Bloks and Gatorade Endurance just to spend (a lot) of money on a "complete line" of nutrition that may not even suit me. ) For the relative newbie that I am, this is a good enough start. I've got a couple that I know work for me. I've got two weeks until the half to think about and play around with which of those work best for me. And then I've got six weeks to tweak things around so they work in a triathlon setting. Phew. I'm done now.