All About Honey for Fuel

Honey has been used by humans for food and fuel for well over 8,000 years.  Well, Wikipedia says 8,000 years.  I suspect it's MUCH longer than that.  The stuff is great for both energy and flavoring, so let's talk about how to do it and what to expect.

Honey is mostly sugars, basically a superior fuel for fast-acting energy.  If you already know something about sports nutrition, you want a variety of carbohydrates so that all of the "channels" for uptake by your body can be used.  This gives your body the ability to absorb more energy for when you need it.  And fast-acting means fast-disappearing, too.  But if you "drip" it slowly, it works great without spiking your blood sugar or leaving you flat.

It varies by region, but honey is usually a mix of fructose (about 38.5%) and glucose (about 31.0%) Honey's remaining carbohydrates include maltose and sucrose.  That's a lot of different "ose's"!  All that variety is good news for your belly.

A note before you start eating it - Honey from countries where people practice toxic methods of agriculture (specifically China) can be LOADED with nasty stuff like pesticides and lead.  If it's not local, doesn't give a place of origin, or says China, don't buy it.  

In practice, put a lot of honey in a fuel flask.  Then, add a few tablespoons of hot water and shake it up.  This dilutes the honey so it both comes out of the flask easier and is a little more gentle on the stomach.  Start exercising, then take a small sip when you feel like you'd like an energy boost.  After every sip, wash it down with a mouthful of water.  If you don't, the concentration of sugar is too much in your belly and it will make you hurt.  That's actually a good practice no matter what you eat.

You'll feel your energy and mood go up and down as you sip it and as it wears off.  A sip every 10 minutes or so provides a nice balance and doesn't seem to bee (bee!  ha!) too much work.  After a while, you get the hang of how much you need at various levels of effort and then it seems to be the most natural process in the world.  I don't recommend eating honey by so many calories or tablespoons per hour.  You shouldn't do any fuel, food, or drink that way.  Instead, learn to use it by feel, and you'll feed your body what it needs as it needs it, improving your training and racing far more than using numbers created by other people under other conditions.

I've also noticed that you use less and less honey each time you train.  Only taking what you need gives your body the chance to use stored fat as fuel.  Honey eventually becomes more of a security blanket for an energy boost if you go too hard and feel a little flat.  Otherwise, just a taste here and there is all you end up eating.  I ran two hours this morning on not much more than about four tablespoons myself.  I have to admit, I was a little surprised! 

Speaking of natural, that's another great side-effect of using honey for fuel.  If you buy local and organic, using honey makes you feel really connected with nature and part of something bigger than yourself.  It's pretty cool.  Enjoy!

Video Interview with Pete Jacobs

The 2012 Ironman World Champion chats for nearly an hour about training techniques, nutrition, rest days, racing strategies, and even listening to podcasts to get smarter.

This interview is a real treat, so check it out!

ZenTri 509 - T to the Max

Click here to download or play the show.

(Short arms = better aero position.  Who knew?)

On this episode, I explain how to do T-Max intervals while taking you along with me for a week's worth of Ironman training.  Full of great training tips, you're sure to enjoy!

Show notes - 

Have you checked out Vinnie Tortorich's show?

Listen to IM talk for some great tips.

More people lose money at being a pro than make money.

How to find time to train.

What are MCT oils?

Doing the poor man's bike fit on a trainer.

PR-ing your easy runs via speed work.

T-Max intervals really work!

Brett's typical green smoothie recipe.

Sipping fuel as needed for better hill climbing.

Make a plan instead of a todo list.

We cook dinner for Emily.

Emily reveals her triathlon plans and how she's uncoachable.

How to make honey more usable for workouts.

Intervals on the trainer is not the time to have an argument.

Driving part of the old Rangar Texas course.

Making power curve functions for your trainer.

Nutrition for the Hills

The fastest way between point A and B under human power is not to push at a constant effort. Actually, you want to push just a little harder going uphill and ease off some when going downhill.  This is because you are going so slow uphill that the extra effort makes a huge difference in the percentage of speed.  In contrast, you're already going so fast downhill, that even increasing your effort a lot only creates a tiny increase in speed.  It's just not worth the effort, so save your calories for the uphills instead.

So now you have an energy expenditure plan.  It's not exactly smooth, is it?  This has you going a little bit in overdrive up hills, and taking it easy downhill, so let's tailor your fueling to it as well.  First, you do want an even drip of energy for your baseline.  In my case, I eat 1/4th of a Lara Bar every 15 minutes.  Then, you want to take a little extra quick-acting fuel before you climb the hill, so it's available for when you need it.  It depends on the individual, but let's guesstimate that would be about a teaspoon of honey for a few minutes of elevated, hill-climbing effort.  

You will burn through the extra carbs by the time you clear the top, but you won't be tired.  Then, you catch your breath as you roll downhill.  Piece of cake!

This not only works on the bike, but on the run as well.  Give it a try and let us know how it goes in the comments below.

What should you do with your brain while training?

Feeling bad about going out for another hour on the bike?  You've got so much work to do back at the homestead or office, right?

Luckily, there is something incredibly useful you can do with your melon while you're busy balancing it upon your shoulders.  It turns out that time spent thinking about your tasks is even more productive than creating a task list and trying to get them done.

It works like this -  There is almost no correlation between writing down items on a "to-do list" and what you actually do.  Go ahead and make a great list of what needs to be done.  Tomorrow, check that list and see what got finished.  If you made another list of what you actually did, you'd see that the two lists are very different.

On the other hand, if you take some time and think about what you need to do at critical times in the day, what I'll call "events", there is a huge correlation between that planning and what gets done.  Taking the time to think out your actions and responses when you show up to work, eat dinner, or take your lunch break makes you much more likely to act out the plan in real life.  Sound good?  It is!

Now, if there was only time during the day where you could think about upcoming events and plan your actions?  Gosh, when would that be?  Oh, you're a triathlete?  Then you're so lucky to have this all set up for you!

Here's how I do it - I turn off any music I might be playing while I bike, run, or even swim, and just let my mind wander on purpose.  Soon, my brain fills up with upcoming "events", usually several for the next half-a-day or longer.  Then, I think about the best way to execute those events, visualizing me doing them efficiently and productively.  For example, "After I finish my run, I'll make a green smoothie while I drink a cold recovery drink.  After I put everything away, then I'll take a shower, then check my calendars to see what meetings I might have this afternoon or tomorrow."

The simple act of thinking this out makes a huge difference in it actually happening or not.  Once you think it through, your body goes on autopilot to execute the plan.  As far as your brain is concerned, the plan is fact, and deviating from the plan would be confusing and flat-out wrong.

Give it a try!