Huma Gel
I struggled for a long time to find a gel that tasted good when hot and a gel I could stomach 100 miles into a bike ride. After a long bike ride one summer afternoon I could still taste the gels in my mouth, my mouth tasted like fruit punch throw up, and I was feeling sick from all the hot gels leading me to Amazon shopping and browsing their gel section. I am not sure why I settled on Huma Gels maybe it was because the reviews said they were made from real fruit, they tasted like fruit, and they were plant based, either way I bought a sampler package that included all flavors of their normal gels and their Huma Plus gels.
The gels past the initial test of tasting good when hot! Winning! Then I realized that the Huma Plus gels have 200 mg of sodium each which is double the normal gel. My husband is an extremely salty sweater so I gave him all the chocolate Huma Plus gels. Huma is now the gel my husband and I use for races due to taste, consistency, salt content, and caffeine. No the chia seeds do not upset my stomach. I have actually found that my stomach feels better in a full distance Ironman after I switched over to Huma. For an Ironman bike I take 2-3 Huma Plus gels and salted watermelon Clif Bloks. This combination plus salting my water bottles gives me enough sodium so I can avoid taking salt pills. For the run I use Hammer Gel flasks, they can fit five gels, and I put two Huma gels in each flask then fill it the rest of the way with water. Unless it is a really hot race, like Kona, I use two regular Huma gels and I make positive one has caffeine in it. I will fill up three flasks, six gels total, and take a pull from a flask before every aid station equating to 1/2 to 2/3rds of a gel each time I take a sip.
Huma also has post workout Recovery smoothies that come in a squeeze pouch and offer 14 grams of plant based protein. I always pack one of these smoothies along after a long workout to insure I get calories in right after a workout. Sometimes I have the smoothie and sometimes I do not depending on if I packed any other food and how close I am to a grocery story, gas station, or my house. I have tried their strawberry and mango/banana smoothies. Huma is a small company based in Nashville, Tennessee. The next time I am in the area, my mom only lives two hours from Nashville, I might have to stop by the headquarters!!