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There is more to eating a gel pack that you would expect. If you open a gel and swallow it all at once, it will not be absorbed optimally. Try squeezing a gel into a pint of water - it will sit as a lump in the water. Instead, take a little of the gel into your mouth at a time, mix it with saliva before swallowing. Take time to eat the gel - between a quarter and a mile of running distance. Practice this in training before you do it in racing. Remember that digestion at higher exercise intensity is much harder than at lower intensity. You need to practice eating gels at race pace! Also, some gels are easier to digest than others, and some may require you to drink water soon after taking the gel ([[Comparison of Energy Gels]]).