On the topic of long runs and nutrition, what are your opinions and practices around energy gels on long (say, more than ten mile) runs? Hitting the wall was new to me last weekend, so I'm going to give them a shot this Saturday. My practice hiking is to take gummi bears or jelly beans, so I think my body will handle the sugary gels ok.
I don't have any great solutions, but wouldn't attempt anything longer than a half marathon without carrying supplemental fuel. Sports drinks have plenty of sugar, but there's only so much liquid you can keep down. Clif Bars are energy dense, and the varieties are not equally nasty. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut is the one I find most tolerable, but I carried two of them for 30 miles and never ate them at the 2014 50M. Gels are about as good as it gets. I recommend trying a few flavors and only carrying something you know you don't hate on a run you care about. I have to plan a schedule and keep an eye on the clock or I will postpone them. If there are no aid stations, I would aim for a gel every half hour or so, followed by fluid. The Clif Shot package has a strip to keep the tear-off tab connected to the packet, which makes them a little less annoying. I keep some gels spiked with caffeine in reserve for late in the run. Like with Advil, I never feel sure that the drug makes much difference, but sometimes it really seems to help and that is good enough. If it's a warm day or a very long run, electrolyte capsules are also essential. Succeed S!Caps are popular and have worked well for me.
A schedule makes a lot of sense. I felt good with nothing beyond water for 14 miles Saturday, then bam, hit a wall. That's too late to do something about it. I'll have to work out some plans. I have a couple Gu gels I'm going to try this weekend. They have sodium, but it's way less than an S!Cap (a product new to me). I read some Gu reviews yesterday saying they feel the caffeine helps. One more thing for me to experiment with.