Suggestions for a Supplement during long runs

I'm running 6 miles now and am going to start training for a 1/2 marathon.

Wondering what gels I can take that won't cause me to dump or get reactive hypoglycemia.

You're just going to have to try them. But most people don't dump or get RH when eating carb-heavy food during exercise. My theory is that it's because the digestive system slows way down and dumping happens from food rapidly entering the intestines.

But you may get GI issues. Even normies do.

 How much extra carbs should you do for a 6+ mile run?  I currently (in losing phase) keep it under 40g and that's fine for my measly 3 miles.  But I hope to quickly be doing 6+ and wondering how much to up carbs on those days.  

It's not about the miles, really. It's how long the run lasts.

Any exercise you do for an hour or less, no matter how intense, can be fueled from the glycogen in your muscles. You only need to add water (as necessarily).

Some people will work up to 90 minutes just on water, btw. It can be done. And there are some advantages to doing that.

Once you are going to work out in the 1-2 hour range, you do want to replace some calories.  You won't be able to eat as many calories as you consume because our digestive systems shut down some when we work out. Most people end up eating around 200-300 calories an hour while running, biking, etc. I think Chrissie Wellington does 325 an hour during an Ironman, but she's an elite athlete. Most people start lower and work their way up.

Those calories can all be from carbs or you can mix in other stuff.

Once you go over 2 hours, you do need some protein and not just carbs and, if you go even longer, you need some fat.

The mistake most people make when they first start "going long" is to be convinced they need to eat massive amounts of calories. This is a problem for two reason:

(1) You can give yourself gastric distress by eating too much. Nothing like getting explosive diarrhea on the run or nausea to really turn yourself off from working out.

(2)  You can easily eat way more calories than you burn.

For example, let's say you go for a run for an hour and you run 6 miles and burn 600 calories extra (100 calories per mile is a good rule of thumb for how many calories running 'earns").

If you have a carby snack about an hour before the run of about 200 calories, drink Gatorade or some other sports drink on the run and maybe pop a gel for 300 calories, then have a 200 calorie recovery snack afterwards, you've consumed 700 calories. For a run that burned 600. And that you could have gotten through with drinking water, having a 100 calorie snack an hour before and a 125 calorie snack afterwards.

And some people then go out and have a big meal after that because "I burned all those calories running and I deserve it."

 Thanks so much for the info.  I know to watch on overeating.  I have a friend who does it constantly and then wonders why she isn't losing.  Drives me nuts.  Right now I burn 300 calories or so a day so and I take none of those in extra.  3 miles at this moment takes me a forever time of 40 min.  (just crazy slow)  But my goal is to be at 6 miles an hour withint the next 6 weeks or so.  

So your saying as long as those 6 miles take under an hour, no need to replace the calories at all and my 40g of carbs is fine?  When I was thinking of adding carbs I was thinking more along the lines of a cup of milk before a run.  

I only drink water, right now nothing with calories but it's good to know what to keep my eye on for the future.

You  might want to drink a cup of milk after the run as a recovery drink but I don't think you need to eat beforehand unless it's been a while and you feel hungry.

Thanks for the info.  I only run a 13 min mile and  have just started getting into the time where I might need something along the way.  OK so far at 90 minutes.  Don't eat much before I run to keep those GI issues away.  That is really what worries me about supplementing during a 1/2 marathon which I am sure will take me 2+ hours as a newbie.

I found my GI issues went away as I got more fit, if that helps.