Finished my first 1/2 Marathon!

 Thanks everyone!  Already trying to figure out when to run my next one! :-)

Congrats!!

 Congrats!    Question...what do you eat before a half marathon? Where do you get the carbs to fuel you for a long run?  Getting back into running and setting a goal of two years to try the Boston Marathon. A little lofty of a goal maybe but we'll see.

Thanks

 Hey Mike, sorry it took so long to get back to you, I was out of town without access... anyway...

Here's what I did for the half: 

1.5 hrs before race:  1 Banana
15 min before race: 1 GU Gel
Each water break I had maybe 1/2 cup of powerade
At mile 9-10ish they were giving out gels and I had a Hammer gel
After the end of the race I had water/powerade and a bottle of muscle milk.


Sooo... of course we're all different.  I had RNY and haven't typically had problems with dumping, unless I'm really stupid.  I did remember when I had the Hammer gel that I tend to like those a ton better than GU, Powerbar Gel, CliffShots, etc.  If I remember correctly the Hammer stuff doesn't have as much sugar as the others.  Speaking of Hammer...

I did a 150 mile charity ride over the weekend and used a bunch of their stuff that really tended to work well for me.  To try to keep me hydrated (though I think I still didn't drink enough) I used their HEED product... it felt a 100 times better on my stomach than gatorade and powerade.. really light flavor and seemed to help with muscle recovery.  I also tried their perpetuem solids.  Holy cow.. the solids were amazing.  I only bought one tube and wished I had more.. I rationed them the entire weekend and only ate them when my quads were about to explode.  For longer stuff I'm going to try them again as they really seemed to help with the lactic acid build-up in my muscles.  Who knows, maybe it was just a mental thing and they didn't do squat execpt I bought into what they wrote on the packaging. :-)

Also consumed on the bike and rest stops:  Clif Shot Bloks, Stinger Waffles, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwhiches, Powerade, Bananas.  

I think as long as I'm expending a fair amount of energy I can eat just about anything within reason.  Just be sure to test out anything during training before the actual event.

Sorry for the long reply! :)
  Anyone else have any thoughts on fueling during a race?

 Thanks John!  I'm also training for a 120 mile cahrity bike ride in July so I'll definitley check out Hammer products. Thanks for the feed back!

 Congrats and thanks for sharing.  Gives me new products to try while training for my 1st marathon.