I am mostly a gel girl when running because of ease of consumption, ease on my stomach, and ease of carrying them. I did carry bloks once or twice, and they seemed fine, I just had to eat them more often.

Bloks, I liked Cran-Razz. Lemon-Lime tasted a lot like gummy gatorade. Easier to control what you take in in finite amounts, but I usually go by the clock and not how I feel anyway (or I'll eat too little and it'll be too late).

Gels... I'm not sure about the caffeinated ones. I'm not sure I really need the caffeine, let alone throughout some of the longer runs. It didn't seem to have any adverse affect when I tried it, but generally I try not to consume it unless I need/want it...

Clif gels: I like Razz which tastes like syrupy raspberries, Vanilla tasted like vanilla icing, strawberry was really good but caffeinated, orange cream tastes JUST like creamsicles (which I hate, but if you love creamsicles you have to try it), and I haven't tried chocolate yet.

Gu gels: I like banana a lot, the texture doesn't make me want to spit it out first thing in the morning (kind of mushy, like a banana!). I tried their tri-berry, which is good but caffeinated, and I think most of the rest are caffeinated as well. So far I haven't spent a lot of time in the chocolate/vanilla/mocha flavors in most brands, I'm just getting to trying them (fruit seemed easier to stomach to start out with).

Hammer gels: I've only tried one or two Hammer flavors, but the raspberry was really good, better than Clif's Razz. Too bad my local REI doesn't carry hammer, I'm going to have to buy them online. I would like to try more flavors.

I have not tried Accelerade's gels yet, but might to get some protein in on my longer runs.

I did not like PowerBar's gels at all, they tasted too much like PowerBar bars.

Sport Beans: good, but I don't like the sugary feeling on my teeth. I guess I have a similar problem with the bloks, while they are both more satisfying to eat than gels, I still get the feeling of stuff on my teeth. That's okay for shorter runs, but the longer the run, the more irritated I get by that feeling on my teeth that just won't wash away with water

As for water, I carry the Camelbak Flashflo, which will also hold gels/beans/bloks along with my cell phone and ID/credit card. I usually carry it for any run longer than an hour (6 miles or more, assuming 10 minute miles), and for shorter runs I consume gel and plenty of water beforehand. I do miss the Camelbak sometimes on those 4-6 mile runs, but it's a lot of effort for less gain than on the long runs where it's really necessary. I tried carrying bottles, and I hated it. Haven't tried backpack style Camelbak yet, or a fuel belt which is another similar option (the Camelbak is a little more easy to access, but some of those fuel belts might carry more, and let you vary water/electrolytes).

I was a skeptic about experimenting with what I eat during training, but it has really helped to try different brands, flavors, and items during some of my runs. I'm going to run the distance anyway, might as well try something new.

Happy running