Energy Drinks vs. Water: Your Choice

Many marathoners prefer to replace lost nutrients during long runs and marathons by consuming energy drinks such as Gatorade, Excel, or other products. These drinks provide the same benefits as energy bars or gels. But a gel is more concentrated, and you may have to drink more of an energy drink to get the same amount of nutrients as you would get from a slurp of gel. But as with other marathon day activities, don’t drink something during the marathon that you haven’t tried during training. Many marathons offer lesser-known brands of sports drinks, rather than a big name like Gatorade. The formulas for these drinks are similar, but not identical, and just because you like Gatorade on your training runs, doesn’t mean that the unfamiliar sports drink available at the marathon water stop will agree with you You can have both gel and sports drinks; there’s no rule against that. But be sure to consume some liquid along with the energy gel to promote the absorption of the nutrients into your body. I do recommend drinking some type of sports drink after a very long run (16-20 miles) to help replenish lost nutrients immediately. In my experience, a post-run sports drink tastes good and makes me feel better after a long run, and that’s enough of a reason to try it.