So this could possibly be THE most honest review that you will read about Tailwind Nutrition, and there’s a very good reason for this.
Many, many years ago, (maybe up to 10) on the advice of a running friend, I blindly tried Tailwind Nutrition on one of my long runs. No taste test, no samples, no short test runs. My friend told me confidently that I “wouldn’t need any gels or other forms of energy, because it was all in the Tailwind”.
Admittedly I was taken in by his claims that it reduced what I needed to carry and solved the equation of hydration + carbs + electrolytes, all in one go. It sounded perfect!
However… once running, I hated it.
I don’t mean like it wasn’t quite to my taste and I guzzled it down reluctantly anyway. I’m talking wrenching at the side of the trail, completely unable to finish even one flask of the stuff! In fact, I was so angry at Tailwind that I emptied it all out on the trail and swore I would never, ever, ever try it again! (Ever).
Everyone deserves a second chance
So why are you now reading a product review about said Tailwind Nutrition, from me of all people?
Well firstly, my good friend Kate from RunUltra asked. And secondly, I’m a big believer in giving things a second chance. After all, if I still hated it I could just send it back to Kate and get some other guinea pig to review it.
So I figured I’d give it another run for its money! (pun intended)
The main issue I had with Tailwind Nutrition the first time around was the taste and how much it just tasted like sea water to me. Hence the spitting and angry pouring away that I did initially. However, I’m happy to now say that it doesn’t taste like sea water anymore!
In fact, I’d say it tastes closer to a mild, subtle flavoured coconut water. A taste that I’m happy to guzzle down, even after a few hours of constant drinking and running. (Obviously if you hate coconut water don’t take my word for it, I was just trying to compare it to something I recognised).
What was in the box?
They sent me 3 different products in various flavours.
1: Endurance Fuel Mix
2: Recovery Mix
3: High Carb Fuel 90g
1: Endurance Fuel Mix
This is a simple carb/electrolyte mix. The 54g sachets contain a serving of 200 kcal, ~50 g carbohydrates and ~0.6 g of electrolytes made up from sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.
What I liked about this product was the fact that it didn’t taste like sea water…. ok sorry I’ll stop with that reference now. The taste wasn’t super strong, therefore even after many hours of running, I didn’t get fed up with the taste.
My strategy was to have one sachet in a 500ml soft flask. Then I’d have another sachet in my pack and another 500ml flask with plain water or some generic fruit juice/squash. Then if I did eventually start to get palate fatigue from the taste, I could swap to water or squash and my run would be salvaged.
This didn’t ever happen though. Regardless of the length of run, the temperature/terrain I never got sick of the Tailwind. I was starting to become a believer, even after just a couple of runs using it. The flavour selection was great and I think my favourite was the special edition Dauwaltermelon + Lime flavour. If it’s good enough for Courtney, it’s good enough for me!
Value for money
As far as the value for money goes, 1 sachet is more or less £2:50 for 50g of carbs, which is equivalent to 2 old school gels. Obviously things have moved on and gel brands like Precision offer 30g and SIS do a 40g one, so whichever way you look at it, Tailwind seems to be the cheaper option. £2:49 for 50g of carbs in one source, straight from the flask.
With the added bonus, that you don’t have to open a gel wrapper and get sticky fingers/hands/pockets!
2: Recovery Mix
Initially I was sceptical of this product. Having used protein shakes for many years, I was surprised that it was just water that was needed to make the shake. So rather than being a thick shake made with milk, it stays as a watery consistency. Seeing this, I thought that I would hate it. But actually it tasted exactly like a protein shake made with milk.
The recovery Mix is designed for post-run recovery, combining carbs (for glycogen refilling) + protein (for muscle repair) + electrolytes (for rehydration) so the ratio of carbs:protein is tailored to recovery rather than purely muscle building.
The values listed are (60g approximately per sachet) 34g of carbohydrates and 20g of protein. Again it contains the same electrolytes as the Endurance Fuel, but with the addition of iron at 1mg.
The flavours I had were chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and they tasted just as good as any traditional protein shake I’ve had from any brand. With the added bonus that it doesn’t feel heavy like some traditional protein shakes do.
So another win for Tailwind.
3: High Carb Fuel 90g
Finally we get to my favourite product. I must admit that when I opened the box, the giant packets of the 90g fuel looked intimidating. They looked like they would make up an entire litre bottle of fluids.
So I put them to one side and left them for a week or so.
But, knowing that I needed to test everything I decided to dive in.
In actual fact, the giant sachets were actually intended to be made up as one 500ml bottle, but when you empty the packet into the flask it seemed to fill it way further than I expected it to. I thought to myself “how is this going to mix into a fluid and not just be a thick gelatinous mess?” But again, I was surprised that it simply mixed together and kept its liquid form.
90 grams of carbs crammed into one soft flask seemed like it should be very sweet and no surprises, it is very sweet indeed. But I gave it a go and I was surprised how well I tolerated it, even on my long runs of 20+ miles or 4 hour ultra training long runs.
My advice would be to use it for long training runs or as a major fuel source for an ultramarathon. If you struggle with how sweet it is then I’d advise to just split the packet into 2 flasks straight away.
For testing, I again took another flask of plain water with me in case of palate fatigue.
The only downside I found with the 90g was that when you mix it, some crystals sit on the surface and can block the valve on your flask. To get round this I just filled it to the top then swigged the top part off and left the fluid behind.
Conclusion
Ok I’ll admit it, I’m finally over my bad experience with Tailwind. In fact I’d go so far as to say I’m now a complete believer in the product. It’s clearly been perfected in the years between me sampling the product, so the shining review I’m giving it is well deserved.
During the whole time I tested the products, every run I did felt comfortable. It felt like I had actually fuelled correctly without even trying.
I felt like I could run at my “all day pace” actually all day in fact. This product does work and it works exceptionally.
Traditionally I relied on gels for training and racing and I thought that I was doing a fairly decent job of getting what I needed in my runs. Testing the Tailwind has made me realise that there’s still so much that we don’t know about perfect fuelling, but this seems to be heading in the right direction.
To prove this point, once I’d ran out of all the Tailwind products I’d been gifted to test, I ran my weekly mileage (commuting miles of 7-8 miles a day) on zero fuel. Obviously you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that all of my runs were lacklustre piles of poop!
As I’m writing this, I have my Amazon account open and I’m looking to replace my stash of Tailwind products…..it really is that good!
5 stars all day!
Other comments from the RunUltra Team
I can confirm that the out of date caffeine Tailwind didn’t give me any adverse side effects on the Tor des Geants 😅💩
Anna Buckingham
The only product to work once cramp has set in. Miracle juice.
Siobhan Brennan
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