Food for Marathon des Sables

When you’ll be carrying your food for an entire week with no resupply option like I’ll be doing at the Marathon des Sables, food choices become very important. My original plan had been to maximize the caloric density of my food to minimize the weight that I’d be carrying. That would mean choosing high [...]

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2009: Food and Shoes

This past weekend, iRunFar had dozens of appointments with trail running companies and scoured the entire 2009 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show floor. In between consuming our fair share of coffee and beer, we learned as much as about trail running gear in those three days as we normally would in three months. While over [...]

Energy Gel Comparison

With energy gels being my primary energy source during ultras and weight being an essential consideration at the Marathon des Sables, I started thinking about which energy gels offer the greatest caloric density. While I initially planned on looking at only caloric density, I ended up comparing many other aspects of energy gels including [...]

Clif Shot Bloks FastPak Review and Shot Roks Preview [Was Giveaway]

With the holidays upon us, iRunFar.com and Clif Bar teamed up to spread joy to runners around the country. If you were one of the first 25 U.S. residents to leave a comment noting your favorite flavor of Clif Shot Bloks (or why you’d like to try Shot Bloks) and we’ll be sending you two [...]

Gu Roctane Review

If you hang around running stores, outdoor retailers, or sporting goods stores nearly as much as we do, then you’ve probably noticed Gu Roctane along side the other energy gels over the past few months. You’ve also likely noticed that it’s between 50% and 100% more expensive than the competition. As any personal [...]

Sardines – A Sustainable Meat for the Trailhead?

This summer, I was given the opportunity to try BELA-Olhão sardines. While my first through was…. um, no, I’m vegetarian… two other points quickly came to mind. My first thought was that when I travel for running it is often hard for me to find good sources of protein outside of dairy products or highly [...]

No More Free Gu Energy Gel with Stash Your Trash

6/26/08 Update: iRunFar reader Mr. Gump has informed us that returning 50 empty gel packets to Gu Sports‘ Stash Your Trash program no longer results in the company sending you 5 free gu energy gel packets. Instead, for every 50 empty gel packets you submit to Gu Sports, they will submit $5 to their designated [...]

Caffeine and Endurance Running

It’s a naptastic rainy day here at iRunFar and, therefore, the perfect time to talk about caffeine… just after our coffee mugs get refilled. Ahhh… better. Whether you realize it or not, if you run ultras you are likely taking caffeine. That being the case, it’s wise to consider possible benefits and [...]

Running, Diet, and the Environment

The final installment in iRunFar’s Earth Week series is a simple plea to consider what you eat. There will be no call for you to become a raw food vegan. No preaching that you steak lovers must forsake meat of the hoof forever in favor of tofu and tempeh filled life. Nope, [...]

Sports Drinks for Women

photo credit – Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Today’s New York Times includes an article discussing sports drinks aimed at women. The article also reviews four female-oriented sports drinks, including:

Nuun U
Luna Sport Electrolyte Splash (Clif product)
Crystal Light on the Go Hydration
Propel Fit Water with Calcium (Gatorade product)

It’s my understanding that these products aren’t tailored to [...]