So I have been training with Gatorade Endurance formula for a 70.3 turns out the race will only have regular Gatorade formula on course NOT the endurance formula.
Should I risk it and go with regular Gatorade from the course or plan to pack the extra weight on my bike and bring my own second bottle?
From a calorie perspective they are essentially equivalent, though from a carbohydrate source perspective they seem pretty different
CHO:
**Endurance: **Sugar, Maltodextrin and Fructose
**Regular: **Sugar and Dextrose
Also from an electrolyte perspective regular formula has much less.
Personally, I use Gat End for a major portion of my calories as well, so unless the race has a ton of climbing, I’m probably going to put a bottle of GE in each of cages so I can have what I trained with. I’m at about a 24oz every 15 miles for a 70.3, so I’d bring my first 3 and just pick up a bottle at the last aid station to get me back to T2. But that’s me. If you have a bunch of climbing, I’m probably only starting with 1 or 2 bottles and then live off course as planned.
Chatt 70.3 a couple years ago had an aid station every 15 miles, it was definitely nice to race with only a single bottle on the bike, but they also had the GE as advertised.
It depends how much you need the extra electrolytes. As a horrible cramper GE is pretty much a must for me or I will use a custom mix. A few years back I raced IM Mt Tremblant and they only had regular there (some Canadian regulation prevents them from using GE) and I definitely noted the difference. I would suggest having a concentrated bottle on your bike and just taking water at the aid stations and carrying a run belt with GE.
You can also bring home one of those candy rings from the rave for additional sucrose!
I’d bring my own…I’d be worried about bonking. Gatorade is just simple sugars, not complex carbs. Would suck to have a crap race because of something simple like this.