She Runs by the Seashore

Follow @vanessajunkin

Disclaimer: I received Gatorade Endurance products to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

 

The heat is my least favorite type of weather to run in. I don’t run if there’s thunder and lightning, but other than that, I will run in anything.

The heat, though, can be miserable. I just started marathon training this week (for Freedom’s Run), so that means I’m going to have to do some long runs in the heat. And as someone who suffered heatstroke nearly six years ago and then another dehydration-related issue about a year-and-a-half after that, I’m definitely someone who needs to think about hydration. I think all runners should make hydration a priority.

I was already planning to write this post today, but then I saw the Philadelphia Marathon posted that today is National Hydration Day — perfect! Any day is a good day to think about hydration, but it becomes extra pertinent in the heat of summer, so early summer is a good time to give it some additional thought.

Gatorade Endurance is not the regular Gatorade — often known by its colors of red, blue and more. I received a 32-ounce canister of Gatorade Endurance Formula powder in the new watermelon flavor, and six Gatorade Endurance energy gels in the new mango flavor to test for BibRave.

Gatorade Endurance Formula Powder

As a disclaimer, I don’t really like watermelon, but I still tried this product. My dislike of watermelon has nothing to do with Gatorade Endurance (and I know it’s weird not to like watermelon). Although the flavor is not my favorite because of that, I did feel like as I drank the Gatorade Endurance Formula, I got more used to the taste. I’d still probably opt for a different flavor in the future.

The other flavors are lemon-lime, orange and cherry, and I don’t like oranges or anything orange-flavored (although I love my BibRave orange!), so it would be one of the other two.

 

The canister comes with a scoop, and there are amounts to use for 12 ounces, 24 ounces and one gallon listed on the container. The powder goes in first, then water is added, and then you shake the bottle. Gatorade Endurance also sent a water bottle, which I estimated was around 16 ounces (although I could be off on that), so I normally used slightly more than the amount for 12 ounces, which was one-and-a-half scoops.

I brought the Gatorade Endurance Formula on an eight-mile run last weekend. When I did a 50K last year, I used an electrolyte product in my hydration pack and found myself craving water. I found that to be similar for me with this product, but I do think having the Gatorade Endurance Formula before runs — what I’ve generally done with a different electrolyte product — was helpful in keeping me hydrated.

For example, today, I ran 10 miles. Yesterday, I had a bottle with the Gatorade Endurance Formula, along with additional water. This morning on my half-hour drive to the run, I had much of another bottle with the formula and drank the remaining part when we got back to the car at eight miles.

I did bring a bottle of water with me on the run that I drank from, but I felt great as I ran. It was overcast and foggy, but there was still humidity. I do think the Gatorade Endurance Formula helped.

I recall feeling pretty good on any run I did after drinking the Gatorade Endurance Formula. I did struggle a little with the eight-miler, just because it was hot, but I didn’t feel that terrible.

The powder, according to an informational sheet that came with the products, has “Nearly 2x the sodium (310mg) and more than 3x the potassium (140mg) than traditional Gatorade, now with no artificial flavors and a light taste.”

Gatorade Endurance Energy Gels

I usually don’t use fuel unless I’m doing a long run. The eight- and 10-mile runs I have completed since receiving the Gatorade Endurance products nearly two weeks ago wouldn’t usually be long enough for me to require fuel.

However, I brought a Gatorade Endurance energy gel with me on each of these runs to test them out. I had seen others’ posts first, so I wasn’t entirely surprised when they weren’t anything like the consistency of other gels — in a good way. I’ve never really been able to take the consistency of regular gels, and even with my first marathon — I’m training for No. 9 now — I used chews.

 

These gels are gels I would actually continue to use. I really liked the mango flavor, but most importantly, the gels were not thick and went down easily. If you’re someone who just can’t stand regular gels, I would still give these a try.

I’m looking forward to trying these on longer runs as I get further into my marathon training.

I’m also interested in the other flavors — particularly apple pear and blackberry. There are also vanilla gels.

Visit www.GatoradeEndurance.com to learn more about the products, read nutrition information and order. You can also buy Gatorade Endurance on Amazon (not affiliate links).

 

BibRave also featured Gatorade Endurance in the past two episodes of The BibRave Podcast.

Check those out here:

• The BibRave Podcast Ep. 98: Giving Gatorade Endurance the Taste Test
• The BibRave Podcast Ep. 97: Mastering Fuel and Hydration for your upcoming Half or Full Marathon

Have you tried Gatorade Endurance products? Let me know what you think! 

See what fellow BibRave Pros had to say:

• Living Loving Runner
• This Old Runner
• RunNerd Girl
• Run Katy Run
• Fun Size Athlete
• Runspirational
• Life to the Full
• The Marathon Lady
• Pixie Dust Runner
• Road Back to Boston
• The World of a Bipolar Father, Athlete, Runner, Marathoner
• Racing & Wandering
• Miles of Sunshine
• Alastair Vance
• Scoot a-Doot
• Eric Runs a Lot
• AMPd Wellness
• A Girl on a Search for Adventure
• Run Bigfoot Run
• Live Laugh Explore
• Slacker Runner
• Angie Runs

Like She Runs by the Seashore on Facebook here.