Clif makes a lot of good things. Clif Gel Blocks are not one of those things. Even for hiking they're atrocious, during a marathon sounds significantly worse. Congratulations on the finish in a very respectable time! Let us know if in a close few Pubski's from now if you'll be running another one. What kind, if any, of other workouts were you doing beyond the long run? Tempo, intervals, etc?
I was mostly satisfied with the blocks in training runs, but in the race environment they didn't work even if nutritionally they were a success. What foods do you use on long runs? Any suggestions for things beyond gels? I did hill intervals once a week, and I've been doing them regularly for over a year. I warm up and then run up and walk down as many times as I can before either my form suffers or my run up is just a jog. Then I do a cool down jog. I love/hate them.
I take everything back. Just ran a trail half and forced myself to try Clif Gel Blocks at an aid station, it somehow worked out well. Better than the one time I tried them on roads.
I'm fine with them as food, but the packaging kills me. Did you have any trouble getting them open? How was the run?
No problem getting them open, but a bit of a problem further opening the package to get to the bottom. Which, in retrospect, I could have just turned the thing upside down and torn from there... Amazing, but I'm confused on the distance. GPS watch measured 13.9 mi, and I'm seeing others measured anywhere from 13.3 mi to 13.9 mi. The one thing that's consistent was the elevation gain, there was about 2,200 ft of elevation gain over the half marathon route. For a run in Washington, in November, it was a beautiful day. Definitely made the "B" goal, not sure about the "A" goal until official times are released.
2200 feet! My marathon was 650', and it's considered a hillier course, at least for the area. Congratulations on a great run. 13.9 is definitely longer than I'd expect a watch to measure. I measured 26.41 for the marathon. I have seen my watch track jump around a bit if I'm between tall buildings, and maybe yours could do the same if you were in a gorge or heavily treed area that blocks the satellite signal?
I mostly use gels and protein bars, but one thing I've really enjoyed is honey roasted peanuts. Light weight, you get some salt, some sugar, and a lot of protein/fat to keep you going. Also toyed with the idea of packing some coconut shavings or flakes. I've done dried mangos before, those are really good too. I don't believe in loading your body with junk food and only gels during a long run, but also haven't ran long enough distances to know if it makes a difference or not. Hill intervals!? Holy hell, man. I'll do hills, I'll do intervals, but never both at the same time. That's intense.
Over on this side of the Atlantic, there's this chain of to-go supermarkets with stores on every train station. Earlier this year I found out that these tiny stores sold Clif Bars at basically cost price. They're pretty great! Sadly, a mere few weeks after I found out they stopped selling it. They now sell their own bars, which are much more generic. I have yet to find another place where you can buy them at all over here that doesn't mark it up into the stratosphere. :(
Apparently you can buy a 192 pack of Clif Bars via their website. You'll probably get raked over the coals with shipping, though.