Gearing up for race day... Race fuel

There are so many different opinions on what works best for fuel race morning.  Here are some of the major ones I hear friends talking about:

• Bagels
• Bananas
• Eggs and toast
• Cereal and milk
• Oatmeal
• Peanut butter 
• Protein bar
• Protein shake
• Granola bar
• Nothing but a glass or water or Gatorade (or some other electrolyte drink)
• Pretzels
• Gel or chews for 10-15 minutes before the start

I've tried many of these over the years in various combinations.  I've opted to skip the eggs & toast attempt though, as well as the nothing option (my body likes fuel in my belly before a race).

When I use gels, which any more, is not very often, I stick with the PowerBar Energy Gel, particularly during cool/cold weather runs.  They aren't anywhere near as thick as the other brands, and therefore don't require "chewing" to get them down.  My collection right now includes Vanilla and Raspberry Cream.

I'm not nearly as picky on what gels I use during warmer weather, but my main alternative is Gu.  My favorite Gu is the Jet Blackberry.  I'll also use the Strawberry Banana, Vanilla Bean, Just Plain, Tri-Berry and Mandarin Orange.  I tend to avoid the Chocolate and Latte flavors - and the Lemon Lime makes me gag.  The Blueberry Pomegranate and Vanilla Orange Roctane gels are pretty good - but I only use these when I get the as free samples, as I don't think they are worth the additional money.  The Island Nectars Roctane gel is decent.  Can't convince myself to try the Pineapple Roctane gel though.

Before both runDisney's Tower of Terror 10-miler and before the Hero Run half marathon (both PRs), I fueled with a bowl of oatmeal & a banana before the race.  For the 10-miler, I didn't require any additional fuel.  For the half, I took one PowerBar Energy Gel around mile 8.

Race morning of Rock N Roll St. Louis, I'll have a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, and a banana before the start.  Will probably be eating this cold while waiting for the race to start, as I don't want to eat it before I leave the house 2 hours prior to race start.  Had this meal about 20-30 minutes before my 20 mile training run and didn't need anything additional until I was 12 miles in, and even then, I survived the remaining 8 miles on one PowerBar Energy Gel and a sample-size Larabar.

My 17 and 18 mile runs were done with no gels at all.  Instead, I started the morning with a Clif Crunch Granola Bar, and fueled every 5-7 miles with either a banana or Clif Kid Fruit Rope.  I'm thinking I'll be carrying the fruit ropes with me in my SparkleSkirt SparkleTech on the Rock N Roll St. Louis course, rather than doing gels... it's just a matter of which skirt.


What's your race fueling ritual?  Is it different when you race at home as opposed to when you travel?