⛰️ Trail Fuelling & Racing Tips

Portable fuel and on-the-move strategy for long days on the trails — gut-training, sodium, caffeine and pacing, all in one place.

Trail Fuel Ideas

Quick-reference fuel to carry and eat on the move — no cooking required. For full recipes, see the Recipes page.

Browse trail fuel recipes →
Before Carb-loading the night before and topping up race morning.
Tomato rice, carb-load edition
savoury
🍝 ~70 g per bowl
A slightly soupy tomato rice the night before. Easy to digest and tops up glycogen without sitting heavy.
Beetroot & feta pre-race rice
savoury
🍝 ~65 g per bowl
Nitrate-rich beetroot stirred through rice the night before — carbs plus a small endurance edge from the beets.
Race-morning overnight oats
sweet
🍝 ~60 g per bowl
Mixed the night before so there's nothing to cook at 4 a.m. Eat 2.5–3 hours before the start to settle the gut.
Honey & salt toast
sweet
🍝 ~40 g per serving
Quick race-morning carbs with a little salt; add banana slices if you can stomach more. Simple and reliable.
During Portable fuel that travels in a vest and stays easy to stomach.
Date & cocoa trail balls
sweet
🍝 ~25 g each
Blended dates, oats and cocoa rolled into bite-size balls. Soft, easy to chew on the move, and a clean source of carbs.
Salted maple rice cakes
sweet
🍝 ~30 g each
Sticky rice pressed with maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Gentle on the gut and a welcome change from gels.
Peanut butter & honey pinwheels
sweet
🍝 ~20 g each
A thin tortilla spread with PB and honey, rolled and sliced. Adds a little fat and protein for slower-burning energy.
Salted banana bread bites
sweet
🍝 ~22 g each
Dense banana bread cut into cubes with extra salt baked in. Real food that still feels like a treat deep into a long run.
Apricot & almond energy bars
sweet
🍝 ~28 g each
No-bake bars of dried apricot, almonds and oats. Hold their shape in a hot vest pocket and pack a lot of carbs per gram.
Salty boiled potato bites
savoury
🍝 ~15 g each
Small boiled potatoes rolled in salt. The classic ultra savoury swap once sweetness fatigue sets in around hour four.
Savoury mini wraps
savoury
🍝 ~25 g each
Small wraps with salted nut butter or a little cheese. Save these for the back half when you can't face another gel.
Homemade sports drink
drink
🍝 ~60 g per bottle
Water, ~60 g sugar, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. One bottle per hour alongside solid food covers fluid, carbs and some sodium in a single flask.
Maple espresso gel
drink
🍝 ~25 g each
Maple syrup with a shot of espresso and a pinch of salt. A homemade caffeinated option — save it for the race's second half and rehearse the dose in training first.
Salted rice balls (onigiri)
savoury
🍝 ~35 g each
Sushi rice pressed around a little miso or umeboshi and rolled in salt. Cook a batch the night before — they hold their shape in a vest and go down easily late in a race.
Maple oat flapjacks
sweet
🍝 ~35 g each
Baked oats bound with maple and butter, cut into bars. Dense, chewy carbs that travel well and don't crumble in a pocket.
Sweet potato & salt mash pouch
savoury
🍝 ~30 g per pouch
Roast and mash sweet potato with salt, then squeeze into a reusable pouch. Real-food carbs you can take on the move without chewing when the effort is high.
Pretzel & nut butter bites
savoury
🍝 ~20 g each
Mini pretzels sandwiched with salted nut butter. Crunchy, salty carbs that cut through sweetness fatigue and add a little protein and fat.
Fig & sea-salt rolls
sweet
🍝 ~24 g each
Blended dried figs and oats rolled in sesame and flaky salt. Naturally sweet, fibre-light and gentle on a tired stomach.
Coconut & cocoa rice squares
sweet
🍝 ~28 g each
Sticky rice pressed with coconut, cocoa and a pinch of salt, cut into squares. A no-bake change of flavour for hour three onwards.
After Recovery fuel to refill glycogen and repair within the hour.
Recovery smoothie
drink
🍝 ~50 g per glass
Roughly a 3:1 carbs-to-protein blend within ~45 minutes of finishing — milk or yoghurt, banana, oats and berries.
Protein rice pudding
sweet
🍝 ~55 g per bowl
A warm recovery dessert that pairs comforting carbs with protein when a cold smoothie doesn't appeal post-race.
Cottage cheese & berry bowl
sweet
🍝 ~25 g per bowl
Slow-digesting casein with berries before bed — supports overnight repair after a long day on the trails.

Trail Fuelling Tips

  • Fueling Train your gut like a muscle — practise 60–90 g of carbs per hour on your long runs for weeks before race day, not once.
  • Strategy Nothing new on race day: every gel, bar and home recipe should be tested on training runs first.
  • Sodium In the heat or on efforts over four hours, aim for roughly 300–600 mg of sodium per hour to stay ahead of cramps.
  • Caffeine Save caffeine for the second half — about 2–3 mg per kg of body weight, and rehearse the dose in training.
  • Mind Eat before you decide: most dark patches after two hours are a calorie deficit talking, not your legs giving up.
  • Fueling Switch to savoury food when sweet fuel turns your stomach — usually somewhere around hour four.
  • Strategy Walk the aid stations with purpose rather than stopping dead; it keeps the legs moving and the gut settled.
  • Gear Soft flasks beat a bladder for trail — you can see what's left and refill them fast at aid stations.
  • Heat Use ice like fuel on hot days: stash it at aid stations to cool your core and reset before the next climb.
  • Fueling Start eating before the big climbs, while your stomach is calm — it's harder to take food in once the effort spikes.
  • Recovery Get a 3:1 carb-to-protein hit in within ~45 minutes of finishing to kick-start glycogen and muscle repair.
  • Recovery Move, don't stretch, after a race — easy walking beats static stretching for quads battered by long descents.
  • Gear Anti-chafe balm is mandatory kit: apply before long runs, not after the hotspots have already started.
  • Pacing Fuel on a timer, not on hunger — set a beep every 30–40 minutes so you keep eating before energy dips, not after.
  • Fueling Alternate liquid and solid carbs through the race; spreading the load across both is easier on the gut than either alone.
  • Strategy Carry one 'bonk backup' — a high-carb item you don't touch unless you crash. Knowing it's there is half the battle.
  • Cold In the cold, keep gels and bars in an inner pocket so they stay soft, and sip warm broth at aid stations to fuel and warm up at once.
  • Gear Pre-open wrappers and repack fuel into easy-tear baggies before the start — fiddly packaging costs you food when your hands are cold or tired.