My Roctane Review (and 18 miler Run)

I'm a huge fan of Gu. I've been using the Gu product since day 1 of my first marathon training 5 years ago and it has carried me through many miles. Now, when I received the request to review the new Roctane from the makers of Gu, I was totally down! Honestly, I didn't even know Gu was out with a new product. And before I start my review, let me lay down a few facts. First of all, I only use Gu on the long runs over 8 miles. And secondly, since CIM, I really haven't had a chance to do long runs. That is, not until the past couple of weeks. I've used Gu about 5 or 6 times now and feel comfortable reviewing this product. And this past weekend, I ran 18 miles to *really* put Roctane through the test.

Initially, I was planning on doing 20 miles. Not sure what I was thinking considering I hadn't been very consistent with my running during the holidays and the longest distance I've done is about 12 miles. On Saturday morning, my coach from PacWest suggested I do about 16 miles instead. Being over zealous and really wanting to do more, I compromised and settled on 18.

The starting point: Emeryville Marina

View of San Francisco

It was a beatiful day, maybe in the mid 50 degrees and sunny at 9am. Very mild. It did get a little warm at the end but overall, really great weather to run in. I pre-fueled with my usual toast and peanut butter so I didn't feel the need to take a Roctane before the run. But, I did take the first one at mile 5. I was feeling really good. Like previous times I took Roctane, my body reacted really well. It was like I was kicking into second gear and I felt like my engine was really chugging. Around mile 11, I felt my body getting tired and a little hungry. I knew I had to take another Roctane. Should have taken one earlier! (I'm sure you know this already but they recommend washing down Gu or any other energy gel with water. Have you heard of runners with bad teeth because they didn't wash down the gels with water? No thank you, I want healthy teeth. So I usually swish water in my mouth to get the gels down good.) Anyway, back to the review. A little while after I took the Roctane, I felt like my legs had a bit more power and more spring to the steps. Omg, I love this stuff. That one at mile 12 carried me through to the end. I usually end up slowing down on my long runs and average pace is about 10 min miles, if not more. This past weekend, I ran 18 miles at 9:30 pace. And stopped only once to take off my long sleeve top because it got too warm for me. I might run 9 min pace during marathons but my training runs are much more slow! I honestly believe that it was the Roctane that helped me with the consistent running during the 18 miles!

Now, what's different about Roctane from the original Gu? Besides the cooler design on packaging there's MORE caffeine and other goodies! Yes, according to the wegbsite, there are "new ingredients to boost performance in sustained, high-intensity efforts." So you can find more levels of citrate and a new ingredient: Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (OKG) . You can read more about it here. Oh, and thank goodness, still the same calories and carbohydrates. I was afraid that this stuff might have more calories, which I really don't need! They're currently out with two flavors: Blueberry Pomegrate and Vanilla Orange!

Roctane... sounds like something you put in a car, right? Somebody did their job naming this product because I keep thinking Rocking Octane. Or Rocket Fuel... Of course, this product is billed as "Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel: GU to a Higher Power!" Now, I'm not an ultra runner but I'm definitely gonna be using this during my long runs and definitely during my marathon. ;-)

Thanks Outside PR & SportsMarketing for the opportunity to review this great product!