Tailwind Endurance Fuel Starter Packs

Used this product for the last couple of years only thing that doesn’t upset my stomach
Great taste easy to use would highly recommend

I took part in Race Across Dorset a 53mile ultra marathon on June 13th (one of the hottest days of the year so far). i packed my usual variety of flapjacks, salty snacks and chocolate as well as six stick packs of tailwind.
I needn't have bothered with any of the snacks, i used all six of my tailwind sachets, Never touched any of the snacks, legs felt good no cramps and didn't hit the wall. I also won the race! I put this down to the tailwind nutrition, keeping me hydrated and fuelled. I won't be packing a large picnic on my next ultra just tailwind stick packs.

A friend of mine recently recommended Tailwind after I'd confessed to still having trouble taking onboard fuel for my long runs. We're both vegan, and both now training for our first ultra, so I took her advice and looked it up. I liked the blurb and saw there was a trial pack - perfect!
It arrived with a couple of days of ordering and I've now had a chance to try a couple of different strength combinations on different length runs, as well as the recovery sachets. I love them! They taste good, without being overpowering, and have been absolutely fine on my digestive system, something I normally struggle with. They dissolve easily and there's no sticky residue, even in my water bladder. The recovery shakes equally taste pleasant and don't leave those gritty bits at the bottom that some do. I will definitely be buying more of both, and recommending them to others.

I recently used Tailwind to fuel my first marathon. Normally I use gels but the thought of having to consume so many made me feel rather sick! I could not rate Tailwind enough, the flavours are subtle and it really was all I needed throughout the whole run. I've already ordered more for my next challenge.

I love Tailwind. As an ultra runner, it really does help keep me going on those long runs. As for the recovery mixes...the chocolate one is super chocolatey, and really smooth. No powdery texture at all

Well let’s start at the beginning, I was speaking to a friend and fellow runner about what training he had done at the weekend, O, a 30 milers he replied, as he was training for a 100k ultra, next question I asked was, what fuel did you us on that, I always use Tailwind, as it suits me, and gets me through some long training runs, he said. Tailwind!, never heard of it thought I.

So I decided to lookup Tailwind on the Interweb. Firstly I was impressed with their website, clear and concise, with lots of information on Tailwind products. Information included what was in the products, why they were in them, what benefits they would give you, and how to use each product to get the best results. There were also many testimonials and product feedback from users. So I decided to give Tailwind a try.

One of their offerings was a “Tailwind Endurance Fuel plus Recovery Starter pack”, just the job to try Tailwind I decided, as it offered energy and recovery drinks, all in different flavours. Order placed quickly and efficiently online, part of the order process asked if I’d used Tailwind before, and what race I had coming up. Had the obligatory order received and being progressed emails, so just had to await its delivery. Didn’t have to wait long, as well packaged parcel arrived within a few days, it included a hand written note, wishing me good luck on the marathon I have coming up, even included a reference to the course, so someone had taken the trouble to look it up, and add it to the note, nice touch thought I. It was time to make up the Tailwind and give it a test.

Emptied a “stick” of Tailwind Endurance Fuel powder into 500ml of water, as described on the packet, and low and behold, it mixed completely. Now not sure if it’s just me, but when I usually mix energy powers with water, I get clumps of the powder floating on top, and usually about 1/4 inch of undissolved powder at the bottom, not with Tailwind. Took a little sip, nice subtle taste, not too strong, and not too sweet. Also used the same method to mix a Tailwind Rebuild Recovery drink for after my run. Outcome was the same, no lumps, powder was completed dissolved. It was time to hit the road, well forest trails actually, but you know what I mean.

Followed the fuelling instructions, and took my first mouthful of the energy drink at around mile 4. Went down well, taste still great, easy to get down, as obviously it’s water which is less dense than the gels or chews I’ve used in the past. Spookily enough I met another runner on my run, she was training for an ultra, and guess what fuel she uses, yep, she swears by Tailwind. Now, as I’ve just mentioned gels, let’s do a little comparison with them compared to Tailwind while running. Again not sure if it’s just me, but I’d be surprised if others haven’t had the same experience while using gels. You try to get them out of your belt/bag, not the easiest while running, next I have a devil of a job opening them while running, with my sweaty hands the packets are slippery, I can’t open them easily as I can’t tear the little tab opening, so I try to use my teeth. When I do get them open, gel usually squirts out and goes over my face, which I then rub off with my hands, result is very sticky hands and face for the rest of my run. And of course, that’s only if there’s any gel left in the packet after it’s squirted out when I’ve opened it. You then have to decide what to do with the gel packet, and that blasted little tab, throw them away as you need to stick to your training pace, not on your life you do. So you have to stick them back in your running belt/bag, again a bit of a faff, and results in those getting covered in sticky gel as well. Gels for me give me a great “kick”, but it doesn’t last long, then I get a “dip”, so a bit of a “rollercoaster” when it comes to energy delivery. O, and one other drawback I find with sticky gel all over your hands, is at the end of the run, after brushing the sweat up off your brow, your hair gets all gelled up, and you have a hairstyle like Elvis Presley.

Using Tailwind, I’m glad to report none of what I see as drawbacks with gels happen. No trying to get hold of the gel, and keeping hold of it, no faffing trying to open any packets, no gel everywhere, that’s if you can get the blasted packets open, no packets to get rid of after. And as I was taking a mouthful of Tailwind every kilometre from the handheld running bottles I was carrying, I didn’t experience the “rollercoaster” of energy delivery either, just a constant feed of energy for the 24k of my 28k training run. Now, what about the last 4k I hear you ask, well I must admit I struggled, but I did complete it, and never really “died” as such. On reading the Tailwind recommendations for Endurance Fuel, it turns out that I only used enough for 2/3 of my run, basically I should have used 3 sticks, and not just 2. This could have been the reason, or maybe it was because I wasn’t fit enough.

Now within 30 minutes of finishing my run, I tried out the Tailwind Rebuild, how did I find it? The taste was nice, which is a good thing, and I found it easy to drink, something I don’t always find with recovery drinks, it may be because I usually make them with milk, so a little thicker than Tailwind, as it’s made with water. As a “reward” for doing my long runs, and something I use to look forward to while running, is a cooked breakfast. Sausage, bacon, egg, beans, black pudding, hash brown, toast, and a nice cup of sweet tea, lovely. Getting up and walking back to the car after eating, my legs felt fine, very little stiffness at all. Throughout the rest of the day, and the days after, my legs stayed the same, and I didn’t have any cramps, which is something I suffer from, so I’ll put that down to the Tailwind Rebuild recovery drink.

Can I stress, that this review isn’t by a young super fast whipper snapper of a runner, but by a 66 year old ex injured rugby player, who just plods to try and stay fit, don’t think I’ve ever been fit, and not get fat.

So my initial experience of using the Tailwind products have been very favourable, now was that actually physical or psychological, to be honest I don’t care, if it works, it works. I’ll try them again on my 32k training run, and my upcoming marathon, suggest you give them a try too. You’ve not a lot to lose, and plenty of running benefits to gain, go on, you know you want to.

Love tailwind for all my long runs and cycles. All very simple and just keeps my energy levels where they need to be.

Ordered this to try the different flavours.

Defo recommend for anyone looking for multi hour exercise nutrition.

First time user - made a noticeable difference to my energy levels during a marathon I ran recently. Service was even better - original delivery address I entered was wrong but you recalled the DPD delivery and caught the postie in time to get the stick packs to me in time for my run. Thank you!

I usually use another brand of drinks/gels for long bike rides and runs but thought I’d try Tailwind. I’m converted! No sticky mess, or artificially sweet tasing, Tailwind is perfect. I recently ran my first marathon distance and it seemed to be the perfect fuel.

I didn't want to rely entirely on gels for my 100k next month but was struggling to eat a sufficient amount of carbs during my long runs. Tailwind to the rescue! I used it on a 50k yesterday and felt better during the run than I have for ages, and didn't crash at the end like I have been doing. Easy to use, great flavours, not too sweet or overpowering. I'll be using this on my long runs from now on.