I’ve been experimenting with food that has not been “designed” for athletes. For many years, I took only Clif Bars with me on walks longer than 90 minutes. Two years ago I discovered Clif Blok Shots and switched to those as I found the energy boost happened faster than with the Clif Bar and with less heaviness in my stomach. This makes sense considering the Bloks likely have a higher glycemic index than the bar.

Then, this past fall for some reason nothing that resembled a “designed” sports supplement was appealing to my taste buds. So, I have been experimenting with substitutes.

Knowing that I need to ingest electrolytes, I have been taking orange juice cut with some water and a touch of salt added. I like it.

Three weeks ago, I researched figs (since I love Barbara’s fig with blueberry bars) and discovered that dried figs are high in potassium. So, for my most recent two long training walks of 18k and 20k I have taken two fig bars. I like these too.

If anyone has suggestions, it’s always interesting, educational, and fun to know what works for others. Let’s spread the experimentation around!