When I first started my added sugar ban I thought about the difficulties of buying things like sauces, soups and of course, how much I would miss my 4pm chocolate hit. What I hadn’t even considered was my upcoming half-marathon, and what I would use for fuel. I’m used to using Gu’s, in particular Salted Caramel Gu, which I love, however definitely has added sugar. I spoke to some friends about what they use and came up with this great selection of ideas;
Baby Food
This is actually the option I went for during the North London Half. I opted for Ella’s Kitchen ‘The Green One’ an organic mix of apples, pears, bananas and kiwi. It actually tasted great and was exactly the hit I needed. If these came in smaller pouches I would definitely take them more regularly on my runs, and think they would be fab as ‘real food’ in ultra runs. There’s such a huge selection of pureed fruit for kids, just make sure you check that it’s only naturally sweetened with no extras!
Dried Fruit and Nuts
Bringing a little bag of dried raisins, figs, pineapple, or even peanut butter filled dates (thanks for the idea Anne), along with some salted nuts would make a great energy source for a sugar and salt hit! If you’ve got spectators on the way you could get them to hold pre-cut fresh fruit.
Homemade Energy Balls
They may end up a little squished, but making your own energy balls like my Sultana Energy Balls, means you can control exactly what goes in them, and make them with all your favourite ingredients. If I was making these for a run, I would actually miss out the flaxseeds to reduce the fibre a little.
Bars
Whether they’re homemade or bought, (Nakd bars are a great no-added sugar option) bars can be great on long runs when you have time to stop and eat them. Personally I don’t think I could eat this while running during a race, however if you cut them up beforehand to easily stuff in your mouth then this could be a great option!
Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bar from Lean Green Bean
Homemade sports drinks
For shorter runs, often a sports drink is more than enough energy. These homemade sports drink recipes from Daily Burn are great, or you could make up your own recipe, to include water, something sweet like fruit juice, and salt. Salt is key- don’t omit it!! I imagine a Margherita style drink would be amazing in the summer!
What do you use for fuel on your runs?
Great post Charlie! I love the look of those energy balls. I made these (http://fitcetera.co.uk/2013/06/14/sugar-free-energy-bars/) to keep me going through London to Brighton Cycle when I was doing the Sugar Challenge and they kept me going pretty well 🙂
Great ideas! I love the idea of fueling with real food, not all the commercial crap that’s out there.
These are great ideas! I’ll have to try the homemade energy drinks!
Fab post! I think homemade energy balls are the way to go!
I am all about the nakd bars and oranges this year. There’s something so refreshing about having fresh orange segments mid run.
haha i was going to write this exact post, as I was faced with the same predicament on long runs! I tried Ellas Kitchen but agreed the packaging was just too big. Now I have a bag of dried fruit with broken up nakd bars in too. Think today I’ll try filling my medjool dates with nut butter…. yum x
Thanks for including my natural sports drinks story 🙂
No problem! Love all the daily burn stuff!
Love those sultana energy balls!
Thanks Abby!
When you run using a natural sports drink do you also have to take water
I do, yes!