Salty baked, or boiled potatoes do the trick for me on long runs/rides

This is hilarious to me, because I read a post here recently about an athlete that had mashed potatoes taped to her top tube during a race and it got me thinking about exactly this. I've been wondering how hard it would be to make power bars of salty flavors.

Here were some of my thoughts:
Mashed Potatoes
Potato Chips (Especially BBQ and Pringles Flavors)
Chicken Soup
Beef Broth

It could be a whole meal that way. Start with an appetizer of tomato bisque gel, follow that up with an energy bar of chicken and mashed potatoes and finish off with a nice sweet fruit gel.
3 course meal for a 3 event sport. Makes sense to me.

All we need now is to pair these foods with the appropriate vintage energy drink. Perhaps Gatorade could come up with a nice Chateau Latour flavored electrolyte beverage.

You'd feel right at home on an Ironman run course. At IM NA events they have warm chicken broth in big orange igloo coolers and they pour it in those little cone cups and hand it up to you. I think I heard somewhere it is for the sodium (and fat?). I eat anything given to me (beer in Texas, gumbo in Lousiana), and I didn't think broth would do much for me, but damn it was good. Later on I was mixing it with the flat coke and it wasn't bad. So no, you aren't too wierd.

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I think this is a new company waiting to happen.
I'll design the graphics and creative if someone wants to do the business end :)

How many corn dogs can you fit an aero-bottle?

I will work on the R&D, as long as we can steal a chemist from Powerbar, Clif and Gu. I think it could work.

I think the packs may need to expand into breakfast as well. I could go for some granola flavored, corn bread pancake, green tea, PB and maple frosted mini-spooners...mmm.

Hey didn't the founders of the Ironman race say that they ate chili on the race course when they first started doing this? Let's just call this a "return to one's roots"...
"Ironman Chili - for that extra boost of gas to the finish line"

But seriously - I bet there are some good ways to pack some performance nutrition for endurance sports that feature salt. Probably something low in fat, low in protein, high in carbs, with a ton of electrolytes...

I once ordered a medium pizza in the middle of a 4hr run, and jets was kind enough to deliver it to me at an intersection. I now always make sure i carry my phone and some money for long workouts for just such occasions.

Winter biking i keep hot chocolate in one of my water bottles. Im also known to stop at nearly every coffee shop i see when im out riding, drives the girlfriend crazy.

These gel ideas sound amazing. We've got the people to do the art and such, and im a cook. We just need a chemist and a big bag of money.

-Alan

I think the foremost factors to consider iare:
1. The food promotes and aids performance through rapid absorption of metabolic compounds (carbs, sugars, electrolytes, caffeine) and with the minimal negative effects on the digestive system.
2. The food tastes great
3. The food is easy to consume quickly

I'm imagining a calorie rich food packed with carbs - starting off with a maltodextrin base (complex carb), water, salt, and natural flavors, pasteurized and sealed like a gel. The flavors would be from reductions like chicken broth or beef broth or from sauces like teriyaki, tomato, or bbq - somewhat standard flavors that chips and other snack foods have been using successfully. Do without the MSG and minimize additives. Preferably stick with natural sources of flavoring.

As textures go, I would like to see a gel product that is less sticky than Gu or honey but softer than Clif Bloks - something in between. Almost like a slightly denser jell-o. It's easier to swallow and you don't have to really chew. I think an Agar Agar base would be really successful to achieve that texture. It would also permit a "vegetarian"-friendly line of flavors too. It would be a unique texture that isn't currenly in the market. I've had some asian novelty desserts that utilized agar agar and I found that they slide down your throat easily without a mess and without having to chew through the stuff too much. I believe it dissolves very quickly too once it's in your GI tract. It holds a bit of moisture too which doesn't hurt.

I think a savory flavor combo can be successfully achieved this way for a palatable product. I've read in the latest issue of Esquire magazine about inventive bartenders who have been putting together alcoholic concoctions that mimic existing foods - one particular shot is called "the hamburger" and apparently it tastes like one when you drink it.

Consuming a savory treat on a long hot sweaty training day or race is something I would welcome and I think there's a market for it. I don't think our performance foods need to be constrained to the candy flavored range of gustatory experiences - I think that in places like Xterra offroad races and long tris, a bit of salty food might carry not just the nutritional boost but a psychological satisfaction too.

Amazing what people can come up with now-n-days....just utterly amazing. =)