Ok so I've been quietly training for a half and full marathon for the last 8 weeks now. It's been very difficult to say the least and I've come to the point where my body has finally acclimated to the routine.

It all began with the thread on the "UY's Biggest Loser Contest" which really got me thinking about how overweight / unfit I was. I knew looking at the mirror every morning that I had to definitely do something or I'd fall victim to the millions of overweight individuals with a lot of medical issues. Since I'm not a big fan of needles I figure I'd go about the conservative route by changing my eating habits and also exercising.

Welp I've got to the point where I can honestly prepare for the half and full marathon.

I know that we have some avid outdoor members here that run, swim, hike and bike. I also know that many of you have trained for similar adventures and wanted to get a different perspectives to the whole deal with energy gels. Have any of ya tried any of the energy gels? I just started taking the GU Vanilla gel but haven't had the chance to try any other brand but wanted to hear from other members that have tried other brands. Which brands are the best and what flavors are your favorite?

I'm running close to 1 hr on my weekday run and my weekend runs are starting to hit the teens so I really need to make sure my body doesn't fall apart from the long runs. I sweat like a crazy sweat monster so I know I'm losing a lot of fluids. I'm being proactive by drinking water in 30 min intervals but I really haven't started on the gel route on a routine basis. A friend who trains for these full marathons recommended them to me and gave me a few to get me started but I'm honestly clueless as to which brand/flavor I should look at. Vanilla seems to be the most neutral flavor so it works for me now (only cuz I got em from my friend) but I've noticed some other cool flavors so now I'm like a little kid having a difficult time trying to decide which one to get!

Tom, I know you've trained for a triathlon so I'd like to hear from you too!

ps, I know that at the end of the day I'm just going to have to sit down and try em all to see if it agrees with my stomach but hopefully some of ya have friend a few flavors and can help me narrow down some based on experiences.

thanks!