⛰️ 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
🍝 ~93 g per serving
A slightly soupy tomato rice the night before. Easy to digest and tops up glycogen without sitting heavy.
See the recipe →
Beetroot & feta pre-race rice
savoury
🍝 ~83 g per serving
Nitrate-rich beetroot stirred through rice the night before — carbs plus a small endurance edge from the beets.
See the recipe →
Race-morning overnight oats
sweet
🍝 ~73 g per serving
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.
See the recipe →
Honey, banana & salt toast
sweet
🍝 ~72 g per serving
White toast, banana, honey and a pinch of salt 60–90 minutes before the start. Low fibre on purpose, so it's simple and reliable.
See the recipe →
Pre-run rice cake stack
sweet
🍝 ~68 g per serving
Rice cakes, banana, honey and a pinch of salt: all carbs, almost no fibre or fat, so it's gone from your stomach by the start. Eat it 60–90 minutes before a morning race.
See the recipe →
During Portable fuel that travels in a vest and stays easy to stomach.
Date & cocoa trail balls
sweet
🍝 ~18 g per ball
Blended dates, oats and cocoa rolled into bite-size balls. Soft, easy to chew on the move, and a clean source of carbs.
See the recipe →
Salted maple rice cakes
sweet
🍝 ~24 g per square
Sticky rice pressed with maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Gentle on the gut and a welcome change from gels.
See the recipe →
Peanut butter & honey pinwheels
sweet
🍝 ~52 g per roll
A thin tortilla spread with PB and honey, rolled and sliced. Adds a little fat and protein for slower-burning energy.
See the recipe →
Salted banana bread bites
sweet
🍝 ~20 g per cube
Dense banana bread cut into cubes with extra salt baked in. Real food that still feels like a treat deep into a long run.
See the recipe →
Apricot & almond energy bars
sweet
🍝 ~19 g per bar
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.
See the recipe →
Salty boiled potato bites
savoury
🍝 ~21 g per bag
Small boiled potatoes rolled in salt. The classic ultra savoury swap once sweetness fatigue sets in around hour four.
See the recipe →
Savoury mini wraps
savoury
🍝 ~33 g per wrap
Small wraps with salted nut butter or a little cheese. Save these for the back half when you can't face another gel.
See the recipe →
Homemade sports drink
drink
🍝 ~41 g per 750 ml bottle
Juice, sugar, salt and water: ~40 g carbs and ~575 mg sodium per 750 ml. One bottle per hour alongside solid food covers fluid, carbs and sodium in a single flask.
See the recipe →
Maple espresso gel
drink
🍝 ~27 g per gel
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.
See the recipe →
Salted rice balls (onigiri)
savoury
🍝 ~20 g per rice ball
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.
See the recipe →
Maple oat flapjacks
sweet
🍝 ~24 g per flapjack
Baked oats bound with maple and butter, cut into bars. Dense, chewy carbs that travel well and don't crumble in a pocket.
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Sweet potato & salt mash pouch
savoury
🍝 ~49 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.
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Pretzel & nut butter bites
savoury
🍝 ~24 g per 5 bites
Mini pretzels sandwiched with salted nut butter. Crunchy, salty carbs that cut through sweetness fatigue and add a little protein and fat.
See the recipe →
Fig & sea-salt rolls
sweet
🍝 ~15 g per round
Blended dried figs and oats rolled in sesame and flaky salt. Naturally sweet; figs carry some fibre, so use them early in a race or on easy long runs.
See the recipe →
Coconut sticky rice bites
sweet
🍝 ~24 g per ball
Glutinous rice soaked in sweet, salty coconut milk and rolled in toasted coconut. A chewy change of flavour for hour three onwards.
See the recipe →
Miso noodle broth
drink
🍝 ~47 g per flask
Hot, salty miso broth with soft rice vermicelli in a flask for crew stops, night sections and cold backyard corrals. Often the one thing a turned stomach will accept.
See the recipe →
Date paste gel
drink
🍝 ~30 g per gel
Blended dates, lemon and salt in a reusable flask. It gives you the carbs of a gel from real food. Wash it down with water, as dates carry a little fibre.
See the recipe →
Honey, lemon & ginger gel
drink
🍝 ~26 g per gel
Honey's glucose–fructose mix absorbs quickly, and ginger helps when your stomach starts to complain late in the race.
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Mango fruit leather
sweet
🍝 ~13 g per strip
Nothing to melt, crumble or squash, so it's ideal for summer. Two strips give you about the carbs of one gel.
See the recipe →
Applesauce squeeze pouch
sweet
🍝 ~21 g per pouch
Apple purée with maple and a pinch of salt in a reusable pouch. Nothing to chew when your mouth is dry or you're breathing hard.
See the recipe →
Orange juice gummies
sweet
🍝 ~19 g per 6 gummies
Homemade chews: orange juice, honey and gelatine. Chew one at a time on the flats and the carbs add up without a sugar crash.
See the recipe →
Jam sandwich quarters
sweet
🍝 ~15 g per quarter
The classic aid-station food. Soft white bread goes down easily at hour five, and quarters are small enough to eat while walking.
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Pizza pinwheels
savoury
🍝 ~17 g per 3 pinwheels
Salty and cheesy, for when you can't face another sweet thing. Bake a batch at the weekend and freeze them for long runs.
See the recipe →
Cheese & chive mini scones
savoury
🍝 ~15 g per scone
Small savoury scones that hold together in a pocket. The cheese and salt add sodium to what you're already getting from fluids.
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Bean & rice mini burritos
savoury
🍝 ~40 g per burrito
Real food for ultras and long days in the hills. Eat half at a time on a hike section, after the first few hours.
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Watermelon salt slush
drink
🍝 ~43 g per flask
Freeze it overnight in a soft flask. It thaws into an ice slush that cools your core and brings carbs and sodium on hot days.
See the recipe →
Chia fresca
drink
🍝 ~34 g per flask
A light lime and maple drink thickened with chia. Best on steady long runs; try it in training before racing with it.
See the recipe →
Banana pancake roll-ups
sweet
🍝 ~22 g per roll-up
Thin banana pancakes rolled around jam. Soft, sweet, and easy to eat with one hand while holding poles.
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Ginger & apricot settler mix
sweet
🍝 ~36 g per bag
Crystallised ginger, dried apricots and salted banana chips. Try a piece at the first hint of nausea, before you stop eating.
See the recipe →
Umeboshi rice balls
savoury
🍝 ~30 g per ball
Sushi rice pressed around a salted plum. Soft, salty real food for when sweet fuel stops going down.
See the recipe →
Salted roasted chestnuts
savoury
🍝 ~19 g per bag
Starchy and almost fat-free, so they digest more like potato than like a nut. They won't melt in a pocket or crumble in the cold.
See the recipe →
Egg & rice squares
savoury
🍝 ~30 g per square
Sticky rice pressed with scrambled egg and spring onion. A little protein and salt for the second half of a long day.
See the recipe →
Dried banana coins
sweet
🍝 ~28 g per bag
A banana dried slowly until chewy, with no added sugar. Easy to get down without much water.
See the recipe →
After Recovery fuel to refill glycogen and repair within the hour.
Recovery smoothie
drink
🍝 ~86 g per serving
A 3:1 carbs-to-protein blend within ~45 minutes of finishing: milk, yoghurt, banana, oats and berries (~85 g carbs, 28 g protein).
See the recipe →
Protein rice pudding
sweet
🍝 ~74 g per serving
A warm recovery dessert that pairs comforting carbs with protein when a cold smoothie doesn't appeal post-race.
See the recipe →
Cottage cheese & fruit bowl
sweet
🍝 ~33 g per serving
Slow-digesting casein with fruit before bed — supports overnight repair after a long day on the trails.
See the recipe →
Kefir berry recovery smoothie
drink
🍝 ~80 g per serving
Kefir, yogurt, banana and berries give you roughly 3:1 carbs to protein, plus live cultures for a gut that's had a hard day.
See the recipe →

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.
  • Fueling Match the dose to the day: 30–60 g of carbs per hour for runs up to about 2.5 hours, and 60–90 g beyond that from mixed sugars (maple, honey, fruit, dates).
  • Strategy Pack each hour's fuel in its own labelled bag the night before. At hour three you'll eat what's in the bag instead of doing sums.
  • Fueling Cut real food into bite-sized pieces. A quarter sandwich goes down while walking a climb; a whole one usually doesn't.
  • Sodium Salty real food counts: potatoes, broth, scones and pretzels all add sodium, so count them before reaching for another electrolyte tab.
  • Heat Chocolate and nut butter melt in a summer vest. On hot days, switch to fruit leather, gummies, jam sandwiches or dates.
  • Hydration Weigh yourself before and after a long run. Losing more than 2% of your body weight means you under-drank, so plan a bit more next time.
  • Stomach If your stomach turns, walk easy for 10 minutes and sip water or flat cola. Your gut shuts down when the effort runs too high.
  • Strategy Keep fibre, fat and protein low in the day before a race and in the first hours of it. They slow how quickly food leaves your stomach.
  • Night Set fuel alarms for night sections. Tiredness hides hunger, and many runners stop eating after midnight without noticing.
  • Recovery In the first hour after a long run, aim for about 1–1.2 g of carbs per kg of body weight and 20–30 g of protein, then eat a normal meal within two hours.
  • Strategy Treat your weekly long run as a fuelling rehearsal: the same breakfast, fuel and timings you plan to use on race day.