Recently, I was selected to be a Bib Rave Pro for Bibrave.com. From this, I had the opportunity to try a product, Generation UCan (https://www.generationucan.com/). In a world of fantastical powders and drink mixes, would this be any different?
In my shipment, I was given a shaker bottle, literature detailing the benefits of the product, all of which can be found on the website as well, and 6 packets, 2 Cocoa Delite, 1 Cran-Raz, 2 Tropical Orange, and 1 Lemonade. The timing perhaps wasn’t the best as I was tapering for a marathon, but I was happy to get to try this stuff out. That Saturday before my 10 mile run, I chose for my first flavor Cocoa Delite.
Hoped this would show up so I could try it for my last long run before the @FARGO_MARATHON! @GenUCAN #bibchat https://t.co/j5rUU4Vyc5—
John (@jlestos) May 14, 2016
Usually, I love chocolate or cocoa flavors. And I was happy to find that this was no different. The directions for use are pretty loose, basically as much water as you want (the recommendation is between 8-12 fluid ounces.) I went with about 12 ounces and shook it up with the aforementioned shaker bottle. The taste was, not that awesome. Not bad, but definitely different. Clearly this would take a bit of getting used to.
But did it work?! Heck yeah it did! It was a 10 mile taper run the week before a marathon, and at no point did I feel any bonk or crash coming on. I felt good the entire run, and had sustained energy throughout. And I didn’t even have a growling stomach after, which is usually a problem for me. I was pretty ecstatic with the results of this first trial.
Tempted though I was to use GenU for my marathon, I didn’t for the sake of not trying something new on race day. So it wasn’t until the next week that I got to give it another go. For my second, I went with lemonade after a 20 mile bike ride. The lemonade did not taste that great to me.
Post ride refueling. So delicious! Use code: BIBRAVE for 15% off! @GenUCAN #bibchat https://t.co/X3VWhEHvXD—
John (@jlestos) May 26, 2016
I’ve never been that impressed with gels or powders that attempt fruit flavors, and the trend continued with the flavors of Generation UCan. They all tasted just a bit off. I only tried mine with water, and I would imagine that if you substituted almond milk or something else, you could definitely find one way or another that worked for you. The Cran-Raz and Tropical Orange were the same for me. Flavor-wise, they didn’t do it for me. But I will say, the stuff works, and works well. I would imagine that given a bit of time, I could get used to the flavors, but for now, Cocoa Delite is my jam.
Disclaimer: I received a Generation UCan to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
jlestos 