Homemade Energy Gel

I have never liked race nutrition. Mainly because I have never got it right. I have a long list of painful memories of throwing up on the side of races, watching the minutes fly past me and PR fitness built of the back of huge training blocks flowing down the drain of some city I have come to with the hope of running fast.  


A big part of this has been a lack of knowledge (how many carbs can I handle, when to drink) but a bigger part for me has been a lack of practice. When heading out on a long run, I just don’t want to have to grab a handle full of gels which cost a bomb, don’t taste great and are packed full of ingredients I can’t recognise, so I don’t. For those three reasons, cost, taste and a preference for “natural” food, I have recently started the search for a homegrown, DIY solution. 


That search has led me to HBS gels - a simple combination of Honey, Blackstrap Molasses and salt. It's cheap (about X for a marathon), tastes somewhere between honey and salted caramel and is made from a list of ingredients I can pick up from my local shop. 


The recipe is really simple - set the amount you want to make, either by volume or your desired carb amount, and add use the ratios below. I basically added them all into a bowl and mixed them with a good result.

 

Ratios

Ingredient

Ratio

3 Hour Marathon (grams)

Honey

95.6%

162

molasses

4.1%

7

Salt

0.3%

0.5

Total

100.0%

169.5

 

Out on the run, the mix has worked well though I haven’t put it through a really tough run or race just yet. Compared to other gels I have used it is more dense both in texture and in calorie count. Based on the comparison table below, the HBS gel appears to be about twice as dense as over the counter brands and a little less salty when benchmark against Carbs (this will determine how much you need to take on board). To get around the density you can add a little water to the batch to increase the volume or just be sure to wash down with water when you use it. On the salt, you can simply add more salt if you like.

 

Comparison table

HBS Gel

Clif Shots

Maurten Gel

Gu Gel

Energy

2,498.00

1,230.59

1,063.00

1306.25

Carbs

143.50

73.53

62.50

71.875

Sodium (mg)

38.21

26.47

21.25

39.625

Potassium (mg)

1.52

0

10.9375

 

Steps

  1. Determine your desired weights based on the ratio tables
  2. Measure the ingredients using household scales
  3. Combine everything and mix till uniform
  4. Spoon into your gel pouch
  5. Go get it

 

 Jackson - LAST Running