Making my own sports drink

Around mile 10 of my second half marathon, I threw up in my mouth.

That's not meant as a figure of speech. I really did.

I blame Gatorade.

More specifically, I blame myself. See, I knew not to deviate from my pre-half marathon routine. What worked for me in training was what I should have stuck with during the actual race.

And yet. And yet I didn't. So that's my fault. But see, I had a nasty fever three days before the race and I was worried about dehyrdration and energy levels so I chugged Gatorade instead of water at each stop along the course. And that of course didn't sit well in my stomach, since my body wasn't accustomed to those calories. Hence, the bile rising up my esophagus.

So even though I really have only myself to blame, I embarked on a mission post-race to find a better sports drink.

And that's when I remembered the Tarahumara. These are the elite runners in Central America that are the primary focus in the book "Born to Run." These are the runners known to run mostly barefoot (a topic for another day perhaps) for hours and hours at a time. For fun.

The Tarahumara have a sports drink of their own. It consists of water, honey, lime juice and chia seeds. And hey, if it works for them, surely it's good enough for me.

So Friday I set out on my eight mile run with my Camelback filled with the above mixture, sans chia seeds, which I didn't have on hand.

And let me tell you, the results were marvelous. Granted, the temperatures weren't in the 90s, but I found myself returning home with a pack still a third of the way full. Typically, I empty my pack and have to refill it around mile six or seven.

The carbs and sugar in the honey and lemon kept me energized, but my belly light and my thirst quenched.

Plus, I don't have to worry about those pesky high fructose corn syrups, which I'm trying to cut out of my diet as much as possible.

The only problem I foresee is having to carry my Camelback with me during my next race, but I might just leave it behind and remind myself to stick to water.