I really wanted the title to be “Training Time is Trying Time” but that might lead you astray. I am not saying that my training is not trying – trying to push my body to a new level, trying to push my patience as it does not come as easy as I would like – but that is not what this is all about. This is about fueling and those pesky long runs.

During training long runs, I try different fueling methods. Sometimes, this is good and I discover a new fuel for my runs. Sometimes, I end up on the side of the road very unhappy. It is hit and miss but better during a training run than during a race.

A few weeks ago I tried a new pre-run fuel. I had been a firm fan of Gatorade’s pre-workout fuel that was a liquid. Problem is I can’t find it anymore. All I find now are chews. I admit to not looking extremely hard but the local stores where I bought the previous item no longer have it. Consequently, when at Dick’s about a month ago, I picked up a container of something from PowerBar that I thought would work as a substitute.

The Performance Energy Blend is marked as for use before and during workouts. I cannot see carrying it with me to use during a run unless I had more than my fuel belt on as the top is rather big but it was delicious prior to my workout.

First, the taste of this PowerBar item was amazing. It was like a puree of fruits. I am sure there are other items in the blend but all I tasted were apples, mangoes and strawberries. I took it, as I would any pre-run fuel, about 15 minutes before my run started. I managed to get about 50 minutes into my run before my first energy gel and all of those miles felt great.

The PowerBar Blends have a 2:1 glucose to fructose blend which is suppose to help with energy. I do believe it did that. The bigger issue may be that it did not provide a lot of calories. I’m not upset about the fact that one pouch has only 80 calories. And I have put the nutrition information from PowerBar below. There is not much in this blend other than fruit.

I highly recommend this particular blend from PowerBar. There are other flavors that I have not yet tried but I would guess are just as good.

Just a note. I bought this item myself. I am sharing my thoughts on it as I think others may be interested. This is not a sponsored post. What have you tried new lately?