Back to the Track: A New Workout & A New Sports Drink

By: Matt Frazier

As most of you know, two weeks ago I ran my first 50-mile race.  Recovery took a little longer than planned when I got sick for almost a week afterward.  I hadn’t been sick in years, but given the exertion (and the heat) of that day, I guess it’s not all that surprising that my immune system was weakened.

I eased back into training with a relaxed week, the most difficult workout of which was a new one at the track that I did for the first time.  I also tried out  new product, Gatorade G2 Natural (yep, high-fructose-free Gatorade).

Here’s all you need to know about each.

A Speed Workout Built for Marathoners

I’ve written about track workouts before, and this one isn’t too different from the mile repeats I explained in that post.  But while that focused on speed—only three mile-repeats at a very fast pace—this one feels more appropriate for endurance training.

It’s simple: Run a mile at your 5K pace.  Rest for two laps (jogging recommended, walking okay).  Repeat.

Shoot for four of them at first, and work your way up to six (or eight, which is what a guy who I ran with did.  He was featured in Runner’s World this month!)

It doesn’t sound terribly exciting or fun, but the stuff that works never is.  Two laps of rest seems like a lot, but these miles will wear you down.  After four of these at 6:20 pace, I was finished.  I’ll blame the 50 and the illness and try again next week.

New Gatorade G/G2 Natural

Don’t deny it.  You kind of snicker (like I do) when you see runners drinking Gatorade.

I like Gatorade.  It tastes good.  But until recently, it has been a convenience store treat or a hangover-killer, not a sports drink.

But then Gatorade came out with the G Series.  Designed for optimal performance, not for pairing with beef jerky and Doritos.  Specifically targeted for pre-workout, during-workout, or recovery.  And no more high-fructose corn syrup.

Now Gatorade has gone one step farther (presumably to please the all the whack-jobs like us who really pay attention to ingredient lists!).  The new G Natural and G2 Natural boast all-natural ingredients.

G2 Natural: Water, sucrose, dextrose, citric acid, natural flavor, sea salts (sodium chloride, potassium chloride), sodium citrate, beta carotene.

G2 Natural Low-Calorie: Water, sucrose, erythritol, citric acid, natural flavor, sea salts (sodium chloride, potassium chloride), sodium citrate, vegetable juice, Reb A (PureVia).

Sure, it’s not Vega Sport, but come on, this is pretty good for Gatorade.  Those -oses are just sugars, nothing to be afraid of if you’re working out hard.  The G2 Natural has a few ingredients that might raise red flags: erythiritol, which is a sugar alcohol, and Reb A, a stevia-derived sweetener.  Both are used to replace sugar in the G2, which is the low-calorie version.  (I still don’t really get the idea behind low-calorie sports drinks anyway, unless the sole purpose is to rehydrate and replenish electrolytes.  When I drink a sports drink, I do it for the sugar and calories.)

Gatorade sent me one bottle of each to try out and review.  I really enjoyed the G Natural, which tasted only slightly more medicinal than regular Gatorade.  I drank it during my track workout and it certainly did the job of satisfying the thirst (Gatorade’s still “for that deep down body thirst,” right?)

The G2 Natural tasted sort of like regular Gatorade, but it had that easily-identifiable stevia aftertaste, so I didn’t like it nearly as much.  But I suppose if low-cal is your thing, then this would be a pretty good one.  (If that’s the case though, you might want to consider reading a different blog.)

If you’re interested in trying G/G2 Natural, they’re only available at select Whole Foods stores right now; you can see which ones on Gatorade’s website.

So that’s it!  New workout.  New sports drink.  Not sick anymore.  Registered for the Vermont 50-miler in September and the Marine Corps Marathon in October (more on that in another post).

Life is good.