Homemade Gatorade

My training runs are starting to get longer (I have to do nine miles tomorrow... yikes...), and I've started to determine the best ways to keep my energy consistent and stay hydrated during these longer runs.

At first I figured I would just drink water when I'm out running, but that gets a little boring and sometimes your body needs a little more than plain water. I figured this out pretty early on this summer. I was just back from a longer run on a pretty hot day. Our street is under construction and things have been pretty dusty and dirty for the last few months. When I got home, I figured that all of the grit on my face was from the construction. But no, it was dried sweat and saltiness. (Sorry, TMI?) I realized that I needed to replenish my vitamins and minerals a bit more during and after runs. But not wanting to drink lots of artificial flavors, colors, and something with rosin, I hunted for a homemade recipe which you'll see below!

Homemade Citrus Gatorade
Based on WellnessMama.com
Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 Quart Liquid (warm water, brewed tea, coconut water)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed calcium magnesium tablets
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon lime juice
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1-2 Tablespoons honey

Directions
Add salt and crushed tablets to base liquid and stir until dissolved.

Add juices and honey, stir until completely mixed together. 

Cool and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Note #1: A warm base liquid will help salt/tablets and honey to better dissolve. Just try stirring honey into cold iced tea sometime. Its a mess.
Note #2: You can use any juice to play around with the flavoring. Just make sure it adds up to 1/4 cup juice to replace the lemon, lime, and orange juices in this recipe. I don't think, however, that you will find a natural substitute for "Cool Blue"...