The Best Homemade Running Gels
Making your own is cheaper and better for the planet
Let’s say you’re out for a long run. Along the way you slam down five energy gel packages. You stick the wrappers in your pack and toss them in the trash on your way in the door. Pretty standard, right? Have you every thought about where these packets end up? Most likely, the landfill and then, possibly the ocean.
Not only do homemade energy gels help you tread a little lighter on the planet, they also give you the flexibility to create recipes that fuel your body the way you need, with ingredients that you recognize.
Here are the best homemade running gel recipes from around the internet
What you’ll need: Reusable and recyclable baby food pouches, GU’s reusable pouch, or small Stasher bags*, a blender (buy a high quality blender that will last you decades), and fresh ingredient, local or homegrown when possible.
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Homemade Energy Gels
Superfood Sports Gel Recipe with Cordyceps and Beets - this recipe from Four Sigmatic’s founder posted on Mountain Rose Herbs features the power of beets and mushrooms.
Raw Lemon-Lime Sport Gel Recipe from Thrive - try this citrusy sport gel from pro-athlete Brendan Brazier.
Cherry Pie Energy Gel - Michigan Runner Girl shares a super simple energy gel recipe that tastes like cherry pie. Yum!
Fruit Endurance Gel Blocks - try these quick carb bites in seven fruity flavors from Camilla Saulsbury’s Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook as shared by Trail Runner Magazine.
Origin Nutrition’s Energy Gel Recipe - this simple recipe features malt sugar, coconut oil and peanut butter, leaving us asking is this dessert or energy gel?
Pocket Food
Salty Sweet Potato - not everyone loves sweet energy gels. If you’re more of a savory athlete, try this recipe from No Meat Athlete (there are also some great sweet recipes in this post).
Portable Rice Waffles - sometimes you want to power up with real food, not blended goo-slime and for those times there’s pocket waffles. Emilie Moberg adapted this recipe from the Feed Zone Portables for Cycling Tips.
No-Bake Runner’s Energy Balls - these balls from Marathon Handbook are super simple and taste like oatmeal chocolate cookies.
The bottom line is that single use plastics are bad news at every point in their cycle. Plastic production emits greenhouse gases and their disposal pollutes waterways, marine life, and your food supply. Is your personal energy gel packet use singlehandedly contributing to immense plastic pollution? No. If all of the athletes in the world started moving away from single use plastic, would it make a difference? Yes (for a point of reference Strava reported 71 million users in 2020).
If you’re not ready to make the switch to homemade running gels, no judgment just make sure to recycle your single use running gel packets through Terra Cycle®’s Performance Nutrition Recycling Program.
