To fuel during long workouts, start taking in carbohydrates once a session runs past about an hour, aiming for roughly 30 to 60 grams per hour for sessions of one to two and a half hours, and up to 90 grams per hour for anything longer. Pair that with fluids and sodium matched to how much you sweat. For sessions under 45 minutes, you do not need to eat at all. Water is enough. The mistake most hybrid athletes make is not fueling badly. It is not fueling at all.
Most lifters think in-session fueling is a runner’s problem. Most runners think it only matters on race day. Hybrid athletes sit right in the gap between those two camps, and it shows. A 90-minute session that mixes intervals, sled pushes, and wall balls burns through carbohydrate faster than either a steady run or a strength session on its own, yet plenty of people walk into one with nothing but a water bottle.
Why Hybrid Sessions Drain You Faster
Strength work and hard running both lean heavily on stored carbohydrate, called glycogen, which lives in your muscles and liver. A traditional lifting session has long rest periods that keep the overall demand manageable. A steady easy run burns a higher share of fat. Hybrid sessions strip away both of those buffers: short rests, high heart rate, and repeated bursts of effort, often for well over an hour.
That is why the last third of a long hybrid session so often falls apart. Your lifts get sloppy, your run splits drift, and your motivation disappears. That is not a toughness problem. It is often a fuel problem.
How Much Carbohydrate You Actually Need
The clearest guidance comes from the joint position statement on nutrition and athletic performance from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada. It breaks carbohydrate needs down by session length.
For sessions of 45 minutes or less, no fuel is needed. Between 45 and 75 minutes, small amounts can help, and even rinsing a sports drink around your mouth has been shown to give a small boost. From one to two and a half hours, the target is 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Beyond two and a half to three hours, it rises to as much as 90 grams per hour, which usually requires a mix of sugar types and a gut that has been trained to handle it.
For most hybrid athletes, the middle band is the one that matters. Your long weekend brick session or full race simulation almost certainly falls somewhere in that one to two and a half hour window.
Don’t Forget Sodium and Fluids
Carbohydrate gets the attention, but sweat losses are the other half of the picture. The recommendation is drinking enough during exercise to prevent excessive dehydration, generally defined as losing more than 2 percent of your body weight from water deficit. It also stresses that sweat rates and sodium losses vary widely from person to person.
The practical takeaway is to learn your own numbers. Weigh yourself before and after a long session, account for what you drank, and you will have a rough idea of how much fluid you lose per hour. If you finish sessions with salt streaks on your clothes or a pounding headache, you likely need more sodium, not just more water.
Choosing What to Fuel With
You can hit these targets with real food, gels, chews, or drink mixes. Bananas and energy chews work well on longer runs. For mixed sessions, though, I lean toward a drink mix, simply because it is easier to sip between stations than to chew something while your heart rate is sky high.
One option I like for this is Tailwind Nutrition, a small endurance fuel company based in Durango, Colorado, and a long-time favorite in the ultrarunning world. Its Endurance Fuel combines carbohydrate and electrolytes in a single powder, so one bottle covers calories, fluid, and sodium at once. Each scoop provides 100 calories and 310 milligrams of sodium, made from dextrose and sucrose, and there are caffeinated flavors for sessions where you want an extra lift late on. Tailwind suggests starting with two to three scoops per hour of training, mixed with 18 to 24 ounces of water, then adjusting based on intensity and how you feel.
Whatever you choose, the principle is the same: pick something simple, easy to carry, and easy on your stomach.
Will Eating Mid-Session Upset My Stomach?
This is the question I hear most, and the honest answer is that it can, at first. Your gut adapts to fueling during exercise the same way your muscles adapt to training. If you have never taken in carbohydrate mid-session, start small, maybe 20 to 30 grams per hour, and build up over several weeks.
Never test a new fuel strategy on race day. Practice it during your long training sessions, so by the time it matters, your stomach already knows what to expect.
A Simple Fueling Plan for Your Next Long Session
Before the session, eat a normal carbohydrate-rich meal two to three hours ahead, or a light snack if you are training early. Once you pass the 45-minute mark, start sipping your fuel, aiming for small, regular amounts every 15 to 20 minutes rather than one big gulp. Keep sipping fluids throughout, adjusting for heat and how much you sweat. Afterward, refuel with a proper meal that includes both carbohydrate and protein to kick off recovery.
The Bottom Line
Fueling during long workouts is not only for marathoners. If your hybrid sessions regularly push past an hour, what you take in during the session has a direct effect on how well you finish it, and how quickly you recover for the next one. Start with 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour, add sodium and fluids to match your sweat, practice it in training, and watch that last third of your sessions stop falling apart.
