Hi, my name is Kati and I have a liquid shot problem. I have never been a gel eater. Even at mile 9 of a half marathon, running out of energy with no other nutrition available. I just can’t do it. For the last few years I have used different gummy versions of gels, Luna Moons, Shot Blox and Carbboom chews. They worked just fine, but it’s not all that pleasant to have to chew them up with a dry mouth while you are panting.
When our mama bear told us that using First Endurance products was part of our sponsorship deal I was a bit nervous. Celiac makes my stomach finicky to put it mildly. My first interaction with First Endurance was when I emailed Carole (our mama bear who is responsible for making our team, well, awesome) asking if the First Endurance product was gluten free. I didn’t get a response back from Carole, I got an email directly from Robert Kunz, the co-founder of First Endurance. He assured me all products are gluten free. Simply Awesome!
I decided to give liquid shot a try, assuming my husband would probably be the one to use it. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Liquid shot is not a gel. From the First Endurance website:
It’s called a liquid shot because it doesn’t contain gelling agents that can slow down absorption and digestion. Features include our exclusive 400-calorie supercharged endurance formula that boasts over 1500mg electrolytes, 1000mg amino acids and 100 grams of simple & complex carbohydrates, all in clinically effective doses.
When refrigerated Liquid Shot has the consistency of hot fudge topping. BUT instead of fudge, it’s my favoritest flavor – VANILLA. I love, love, love vanilla. I was a little nervous to use it warm after sitting in my pocket for an hour. Turns out I like it even more then. Warm it has the consistency of Hershey’s syrup. This stuff is like candy to me.
Usage: I use my liquid shot in 1 oz. servings which end up being 100 calories. On a long bike I take 1 oz. per hour, along with drinking a third to one half of my 200 calorie EFS drink. When I hit the run I take a flask and sip on the liquid shot every 15 to 20 min., coming out to about 75 calories per hour. That is, in a nutshell all there is to my half ironman nutrition. It’s so easy, which is of course what makes it work.
Now I must admit to my other uses of liquid shot. When kept cool in the fridge, liquid shot is almost like icing to me, but not as horribly sweet. My husband, who I thought would be the one to use all my liquid shot doesn’t like it. Seems he’s more of a chocolate guy, and prefers the gel consistency. He walked in the kitchen one Sat. afternoon to find me with a serving spoon full of liquid shot half eaten. Busted. Then last night I was baking cookies for my JMU tri club kids that are leaving for Nationals today. Those cookies smelled SOOOOO good, but alas they were filled with gluten so they were off limits for me. With no other sweet and yummy treats I got out my serving spoon . . . I think I might be developing a bit of a liquid shot problem!
I would like to again point out that First Endurance is one of my sponsors. They provide a discount on their products to me. I will also say that if I didn’t like it, and wouldn’t buy it at full price without sponsorship I wouldn’t be reviewing it here.
CoachKati's Blog 
I 100% agree with you on the liquid shot – I was using it long before 1st Endurance sponsored Trakkers – I love the liquid consistency and the flavor! I have a big jar of it, but I also re-use the flasks that the 400-kcal shots come in!! They are the perfect size for hands or bike jerseys!!
thank you for my package of liquid shot!! can’t wait to try it out.
I used to love using gels and gummies, but when half of the gummie is stuck in my teeth, it isn’t doing me any good.
LOVE Liquid Shot.
Truly interesting article you have here. I’d like to read something more concerning this matter. Thanks for posting that info.
[…] Anyhow, along came my team sponsorship. One of our team sponsors is First Endurance. As part of our sponsorship we were asked to use the product for training and racing and review them. I was upfront with the powers that be about my wonky stomach and the fact that I could not endorse or blog about a product that I couldn’t use. They were very understanding and passed on Robert’s, (one of the founders of First Endurance) email address. He was very quick to respond and very helpful. All EFS products are gluten free (yay!) and several pro’s that are sponsored by the company are gluten free. (yay!) So, here’s the low down on EFS drink. It’s yummy. Not in a, hey hon, try these gluten free brownies, they don’t taste as much like cardboard as the ones we usually have. It’s actually palatable, heck, I crave the stuff. I know, I’m weird. As far as my wonky stomach goes I have yet to have a bad stomach day that was due to my EFS. I had one that was due to pretzel bits getting dropped in my drink, I had one that was due to eating dairy before a workout (a huge no-no for me), but my trusty EFS has done me right. My favorite thing is not having to swallow those stupid electrolyte pills. Here is the comparison of electrolytes: I’m much too nice to post the competitor names, but lets just say one was already mentioned in this review . The flavors are Lemon Lime, Fruit Punch, Orange and Grape. My current favorite is Orange, but a few months ago it was grape so I guess I just like them all. I generally use a 2 scoop bottle (200 cal.) for every 1.25 hours I’m out on the bike. On the run I will put 1 scoop in a small flask (100 cal) and sip it by the hour. If I’m going longer I will substitute in some EFS Liquid Shot. […]
[…] For a half distance race I will mix a little PreRace in my flask (concentrated EFS and 1/2 scoop PreRace) to drink as I begin the run. I don’t know if that’s an approved official use but I sure like the caffeine boost and caffeinated gels bother my stomach. Scratch that, gels in general bother my stomach. Read my review of First Endurance Liquid Shot. […]