May 08, 2026 | MICHAEL BASUINI
Hi, I’m Mike. I’m an endurance athlete, coach and official crew-chief to my wife Lea Mullian, 2024 Leadville podium finisher. I’ve been in the sport for 18+ years, first as a cross-country and Track and Field athlete and coach, and now as an ultra runner. My philosophy is simple: move efficiently through time and space and feel as a part of the natural world.
The sport of running and ultra running has faced tremendous changes since I started running. The old paradigm has shifted and now athletes are consuming 60-120 grams of carbohydrates per hour during races, significantly exceeding the traditional 30-60g recommendations that dominated sports nutrition for decades. But what's the science behind it? “For years, scientists believed that the human body could only oxidize about 60g of carbohydrates per hour during exercise, limited by glucose transporter capacity in the intestinal wall. Recent research has changed this assumption.
Studies now show that by consuming multiple transportable carbohydrates, combining glucose sources with fructose at approximately a 2:1 ratio, athletes can achieve oxidation rates of 90g per hour or higher.” For running geeks like myself, more carbs mean more sustained output on longer efforts, for everyone else, it means a brand new realm of possibilities for the modern athlete, where the limits to what’s humanly possible are being pushed beyond what most people can comprehend. No more bonking. Better runs.
And yes, I know, you have heard of the nutrition revolution in endurance sports, and the proposed benefits of doubling down on intra-activity carbs. The best part about this new trend is all of the new products! If there wasn’t a gel or sports nutrition product that worked for you before…there is now! Sports Nutrition has really upped its game, making it reasonable to actually intake a lot of carbs.
I have seen a lot of talk about High Carb Fueling, a lot of products marketed as “High Carb” but not a lot of guides on how to put it all together into a strategy that works for you. Here is the breakdown.
High Carb Fueling Numbers:
- Intake between 90g-120g of carbohydrate per hour during exercise
- The average gel or chews pack ~20 grams of carbs each
- The average High Carb gel ~40 grams of carbs each
- The average drink mix ~ 30 grams of carbs per serving (w/ about 3 servings able to be mixed into 1L of water)
The way I see it, that essentially leaves you 3 main strategies, each of which self-proclaims to be the best, most simple, and easiest on the GI system. However, why not try them all? I believe that each has their own benefits in different race conditions and scenarios.
STRATEGY 1
Precision Fuel and Hydration often recommends a strategy of keeping Fuel and Hydration intake separate, therefore simplifying the calculations and leaving less margin for error. With this strategy one would have only water and electrolytes in bottles, and intake all carbs through gels and chews.
Example 1:
Two 500ml Bottles filled with water and/or Electrolytes (but no carbs) + a gel with 25g at 20’, a gel with 40g at 40’, and a gel with 25g at 60’ = 90g carbs per hour
Example 2:
A gel with 45g at 30’, a gel with45g at 60’ = 90g carbs per hour
Example 3:
A gel with 45g at 20’, a gel with 20g at 40’, and a gel w/ 45g at 60’= 110g carbs per hour
*(20’= 20 Minutes etc.)
Benefits
- Easy to follow scheduling for nutrition intake- cut and dry- just do it
- You don’t have to fool around with drink mixes, especially helpful if you don't have a crew!
- You are not relying on an aid station drink mixes, of which you would have to estimate the carb content.
- Allows fluid intake to be more intuitive, i.e if conditions are cold you don’t have to try and force fluids down just to get the carbs in
- Anecdotes of feeling more hydrated and refreshed from fluids when they are not loaded up with mixes
Downsides
- That’s a lot of gels to eat! 2 or 3 per hour—and a lot of trash
- Potentially more weight to carry since you would be carrying water anyway
- More things to do since you would be drinking fluid anyway
- More things to do since you might have to add salt tabs or electrolyte mixes to your bottles anyway
On average, more drink mixes seem to be more affordable in CPD (carbs per dollar). Carbs Fuel drink mix gives you a lot of bang for your buck!
Who might this be good for?
- Athletes who do not sweat a lot, or are low-sodium sweaters
- Athletes who are racing or training in cold conditions
- Athletes who are training in remote locations planning to rely on filtered water
- Athletes who are racing without crew and do not have someone to mix bottles for them
- Athletes who like to wear a vest or pack with a large amount of storage capacity.
STRATEGY 2
Hyperlite Liquid Performance is a drink mix that has 50 grams of carbs per scoop, and plenty of sodium. This means you could get 100 grams of carbs mixed into 1 liter of fluids and have everything you need, therefore simplifying the calculations and not having to worry about counting gels!
Example 1:
Two 500ml bottles filled with 45-50 grams of carbs each= 90-100g of carbs per hour
Example 2:
One 650ml bottle in a raid belt with 60 grams of carbs and one 500ml handheld with 50g= 110g of carbs per hour
*(20’= 20 Minutes etc.)
Benefits
- Free flow scheduling, just make sure you drink it all each hour!
- Potential slower drip of carbs if you sip, which might be easier on the stomach
- Very few things to carry
- Can be very cost efficient, taking care of carbs and hydration all in one big bulk bag
- No trash out on the trail!
- Motivation to hydrate
- No time wasted trying to open gels and eat them
Downsides
- Some gray area for measurements: What if it is cold out and you don’t drink a full bottle per hour? What if it is hot out and you drink way too much?
- Potential large dump of carbs if you chug, which might be hard on the stomach
- You either have to carry extra mix with you, or have great crew support! You probably can’t rely on aid station drink mixes to be strong enough…
- If it is a long race, what happens if you get tired of the drink mix? You better have a back up plan!
- You have to find a drink mix that matches your sodium needs— or get creative and add salt.
Who might this be good for?
- Athletes who sweat a lot and are going to be drinking a lot of fluid regardless
- Athletes who are doing shorter runs or races and want to keep things streamlined
- Athletes doing races with great crew support or training runs with easy restock access
- Athletes who like to run with belts!
- Athletes on a budget– you could go a long way with just drink mix and a hand-held bottle!
STRATEGY 3
Realistically, most people are going to be somewhere in the middle. Strategy 1 and 2 represent the extremes but there is a whole lot of space between to make yourself a custom fit plan. The most efficient way to get a lot of carbs in is to take some through fluid and some through gels/chews.
Where you fall on that sliding scale depends on preferences, the demands of your adventure, and the lessons learned from the first two strategies.
Example 1:
Two 500ml Bottles; one Filled with 30g of carbs, one with plain water, and one 40g gel at 30’ and 60’ = 110g of carbs per hour
Example 2:
650ml Bottle Filled with 50g of carbs, one 30g gel at 30’ and 60’ = 110g of cars per hour
*(20’= 20 Minutes etc.)
Benefits & Downsides
Taking the lessons from the extreme strategies:
Heavy/Salty Sweaters or Hot Conditions— lean towards getting more out of your drink mix, you need the sodium and you will need a lot of fluid anyway, might as well make the most of it!
Light Sweaters or Cold Conditions—lean towards reliance on gels/chews for your carbs. You may not end up drinking a whole lot of fluid per hour anyway and you want to give yourself the freedom to drink as needed. Think of your drink mix just as some “bonus” carbs on top of what you will be getting from gels/chews.
Well Supported/Crewed Adventures or Races— You have the freedom to rely on more drink mix, aid stations will or your crew will have it ready for you! Or you might have it ready for yourself when you loop back to your car.
Unsupported/Remote Adventures— Tedious to carry and pour drink mixes in your bottles out in the field– especially if you need your bottle for water filtration! A lot easier to get by with minimal drink mix (good application for drink tabs) (also good application for gels that have sodium in them).
There are surely a lot of factors to consider! That is what makes endurance sports so fun– and in 2026 there are 100% enough pieces on the market to complete your personal puzzle.
My final tip! If you are trying to plan around a race, a good starting point is to find out what drink mix will be at the aid stations of the race. You can work backwards from there. Keep in mind though that aid station carb/electrolyte drink is often not mixed at full strength... probably more like 0.5-0.75 strength.
I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to reach out with questions. You can email me at basuini28@gmail.com
We also have Race Planning/Nutrition Consults available on our website woodlandcreaturesendurance.com
— Michael Basuini
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Sources:
The Carbohydrate Revolution in Ultramarathon Nutrition: What Recent Research Reveals
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