How to Transition From Gels to Real Food During Races

Let's be honest: eating 20 gels during a marathon or century ride is miserable.

Your jaw hurts. Your stomach rebels. Everything tastes like artificial sweetener.

Here's the good news: you don't have to live on gels. Real food works — and many athletes perform better when they add it to their race nutrition.

Real food offers advantages gels can't match:

• Variety prevents palate fatigue
• Satisfaction signals can reduce perceived effort
• Often better sodium and potassium balance
• Cheaper than gels for long races
• More environmentally friendly

Research shows that for efforts over 4 hours, athletes who use real food report higher satisfaction and similar performance to gel-only strategies.

Not all real food works during exercise. Here's what does:

You can't suddenly eat a potato at mile 20 if you've never eaten anything but gels. Your gut needs training:

• Week 1–2: Add one piece of real food to one long training session per week
• Week 3–4: Add real food to two sessions, eat at the same time you'd take a gel
• Week 5–6: Replace one gel with real food in each long session
• Week 7+: Mix sources freely — drink, gel, and solid — at race targets

Pro tip: The best time to try real food is during long training sessions when you're fatigued. That's when GI issues show up.

Rice cakes have become a staple for endurance athletes. Here's a simple recipe:

• 1 cup cooked rice (cooled slightly)
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: peanut butter, nut butter, or jam
• Mix, press into a flat cake, wrap in foil

Each rice cake provides about 25 grams of carbs and is easy to digest. Practice eating them while moving.

Many aid stations now offer boiled potatoes with salt. They're a perfect real-food option:

• High carbohydrate content
• Excellent potassium source
• Simple to digest when cooled
• Salty = familiar taste for most athletes

How to eat: grab 2–3 small potatoes, pinch the skin, and eat quickly while walking through the aid station.

Most athletes do best mixing gels and real food:

This hybrid approach keeps carbs coming while preventing gel fatigue.

Real food isn't for everyone. Consider sticking with gels if:

• You have a sensitive stomach that rebels at solids during exercise
• Your race has unreliable aid stations
• You're racing at high intensity where digestion slows
• You simply prefer gels and they work for you

There's no rule that says you must eat real food. Gels work — but real food can work better for many athletes.

If your race has aid stations:

• Know what's offered before race day
• Practice eating those specific foods in training
• Walk through aid stations — eating while running is hard
• Fill your pockets before leaving the station
• Have a backup plan if your preferred food is gone