Alameda Runners – Get After It!

A couple of months ago, I was talking nutrition with my buddies from Clif.  They told me I could get my calories from my drinks and sent me a couple of containers of Clif Shot Electrolyte drink to prove their point.  My first taste left with the impression of “Just another sports drink”.

Upon drinking the whole bottle, I realized there was no fake sweetener taste.   As most of you know, I like to consume natural products as much as possible so a drinkable product with no sweeteners is great for me.

I took the Lemonade flavor Clif Shot to work where it worked well after my lunch time runs.  I rarely crashed in the afternoon and I always recovered enough for my next workout.  It does not taste like Kool-Aide but it is drinkable enough to sip after a workout.

I take the Cranberry Razz flavor out on bike rides and drink it 50% stronger than the label recommends.  It helps to give me enough calories to keep me fueled for a longer bike ride.  I suffer from no ill effects from drinking it concentrated and I stay fueled.

I took 3 weeks off from endurance training because of injury.  I went out for a 60-mile bike ride with my brother my first day back from injury.

I did not realize that I ran out of Clif Shot so I tried Hammer Nutrition Heed.  After our ride, I crashed hard and could not eat for about four hours after the ride.  He had no problems with the Hammer fluid and ate Mexican food as soon as we finished.

(Mike’s Note:  This is one of the reasons you should be careful experimenting with new products during longer training sessions.  It’s disappointing to miss tasty post-exercise dinner because your stomach feels iffy from the workout.)

Physiology has a lot to do with what products work for which individuals.  He has trouble keeping his weight down while I have trouble keeping my weight up. 

Clif has knocked the mighty Cytomax sports drink off the top of my list of preferred drinks.  That is saying a lot since I have been buying Cytomax for more than 10 years.  I like the drinkable taste of Clif.  Kool-Aide is good but not for a recovery drink.  I also like using the different flavors for different routines.  I am not a scientist or nutritionist.  I just know what I can drink and how painful life can be when I crash.

This is a guest post from Yoon (my editor @ TrailsEdge ) about a new book focusing on ultramarathons that has received good reviews.

As a non-marathon runner, Relentless Forward Progress opened my eyes to a whole new level of strategy, planning, and race preparation. From the start, I knew I didn’t meet the qualifications to run an ultra because I’ve never even come close to attempting a regular marathon, but dove into this book as recommended by a friend. I may have just added an item to the bucket list. Running marathons demand respect. Running ultra marathons makes you a superhero, and if there’s anything I’ve wanted in my life since I was a kid, it is to be a super human.

As mentioned by Byron Powell, the author and Editor of iRunFar.com, the book is about as evergreen as a book gets; the content will never go out of date. Relentless Forward Progress is a confident authority that covers every aspect of ultra’s from prepare your quadricepts for down-hill running, to solving race day logistics like support crews and drop bags, and selecting the right runner’s pack to avoid chaffing.

If you’re able to glaze over fine details (schedules, plans, etc.), it’s a fairly quick read. I had it done in about 6 hours and was inspired to hit the trail for a short run (let’s just say the book’s impact on my running habits is long term). It’s an encyclopedia on ultra’s that if read in its entirety, will have you chock full of information that can be applied immediately, even on short runs.
The advice comes from many seasoned experts who have run hundreds and maybe even thousands of ultra’s and have different opinions on how to train. For instance, some of the commentators swear that speed work is important, while others say it’ll slow you down. That’s the beauty of this book; it’s the foundations of an ultra, but the fine tuning has to be done by you.

You’ll realize that ultra’s are on a whole ‘nother level from marathons. Because anyone can run a marathon, given enough time and resources; but an ultra requires that you plan out every minute of every detail; otherwise, you might not finish before the sun goes down.

We haven’t explored guest posts too much on Alameda Runners, but the feature is a definite possibility in the future. Since it’s obviously impossible for us to review, test, interview, and interact with all companies involved in endurance sports, we hope these guest posts help share even more knowledge with all of you.

I love to review products aimed more towards sports nutrition, because it opens up the door for us to try so many unique products. Today we’re going to keep it rather simple, and chat about an emerging flavor of GU Chomps: watermelon.

I’m a big fan of electrolyte blocks that I can chew on, and it’s always a great time to test these products out. I’ve reviewed the GU Blueberry Pomegranate Chomps in the past, so I’m relatively familiar.

My 2011 Oakland Running Festival (ORF) goodie bag included a sample size of the GU Watermelon Chomps energy chews for athletes. I saved the sample blocks to try during a light bike ride around Alameda on an unusually warm day (above 70F in late March/early April).

As expected from sports nutrition, GU Chomps have a nice combination of both simple and complex carbs to fuel us. The Watermelon flavor (four pieces) has 90 calories, 50mg sodium, 40mg potassium, 23g total carbs, and 11g of sugar.

The taste of the GU Watermelon electrolyte blocks have a juicy watermelon flavor that should help athletes with a sweet tooth. The taste is good and it’s less sweet than some type of watermelon flavor candy, and should be easy to get down with a bit of water.

I normally just drink water on shorter bike rides, but the Chomps about 45 minutes into the ride properly fueled me for the rest of the 90 minutes spent out and about. They taste good and are effective — give them a try if you see them at your local running or cycling store.

Welcome to the ‘Zone of Endless Motion’!

This is a short blog introducing you to ZEMgear, a minimalist shoe company specializing in helping customers move closer to barefoot. The Miami-based company was kind enough to send along a pair of ZEMgear Original Split Toe minimal footwear — my first attempt at testing something other than regular running shoes.

The ZEMgear shoes are a very minimal product that can be used for a wide variety of uses. I’m going to focus mostly on running and cross training — but the footwear can be used for other activities, including the following: gym, cross training, yoga, submission grappling, and other basic athletic activities.

The company currently has seven different minimalist products; each has a specific use, and are relatively low-priced when compared to other minimalist products.

I typically wear socks and sandals to get through airport security, but a pair ZEMgear footwear can be worn while passing through the metal detector. I’ll offer additional thoughts about casual comfort in regards to grocery shopping, driving, and lounging around.

The company’s blog is available here.

As reviewed earlier the Athlete’s HoneyMilk is a favorite among the Alameda Runners, even though it’s still a lesser known product. We recently received a test case of the AHM Strawberry Banana flavor (light) that we’re enjoying after training runs.

I tasted the Strawberry Banana AHM and it’s the sweetest HoneyMilk flavor, and was more like a sugary milkshake than protein drink. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the often unexciting taste of post-exercise protein and supplement drinks.

If you don’t like drinking or eating sweets, I’d recommend trying this flavor with care. For the rest of you, feel free to give it a try the next time you’re looking for a post-run option.

After a hard workout, I’m willing to give the Strawberry Banana another try (but the Chocolate flavor is still my favorite). The sweetness is something that will take getting used to, but is effective in aiding muscle recovery after hard workouts.

Here is the nutritional information from the Strawberry Banana AHM:

Calories 150; calories from fat: 30
Total fat: 3.5g
Cholesterol: 15mg
Sodium: 120mg
Potassium: 450mg
Total Carbohydrates: 11g
Sugars: 11g
Protein: 20g

A case of 12 bottles of Strawberry Banana costs $34.99 (free shipping courtesy of AHM), and can be found on the company’s website. It may seem like a steep price to pay, but these drinks are excellent post-race recovery drinks, because they are pre-mixed and tasty.

Alameda Runners previously interviewed Athletes HoneyMilk last year, so feel free to give it a read. If you have any questions for AHM, please feel free to comment, e-mail or Tweet us … and we’ll see what we can do!

Santa stopped at Finis on the way to my house this year and brought me a pair of competitive briefs, two pair of long SwimAmerica shorts and a pair of shockwave goggles.  Finis has quietly taken over my swim collection.  I don’t have much brand loyalty for anything.  If a company takes over on any of my high use items, it because they have a product I like at a price I am willing to pay.  People who do not shop at swim shops don’t usually know about Finis.  The big sporting chains usually carry Speedo, Nike and little else.  Nike is the king of sports and swim suits are called Speedos for a reason.

The Finis competitive briefs are great swim suits because they are durable and double lined.  When you swim in a pool a lot, the single lining gets very thin and become transparent when wet.  You usually go around mooning people for a while before someone tells you about your clear shorts.  The double lining gives you time to notice the wear before the inner lining wears out.  I like to wear briefs when lap swimming because there are less things to move around and wear out.

The Finis Swim America long swim suit was on sale so Santa brought me two pairs.  The long shorts do not last nearly as long as the briefs because there is a lot more material to stretch out and move around.  The long shorts are a good change of pace every now and then.  I really like the long shorts when I am going to do a swim bike combo.  Riding with the long suit is like wearing cycle shorts without padding.  I see a lot of guys at the pool wearing the long suits.  Give them a try, long shorts may be for you.

Shockwave goggles – My first pair of Finis goggles were review goggles and I have been wearing them since.  Goggles are very personal as everyone has a different facial structure.  The Finis goggles have a good seal that is pretty durable.  The anti fog coating lasts about as long as the seal so it is a good match.  I get between 200 and 300 swim hours out of a pair of goggles before they start fogging up and leaking.

I like my Finis swim equipment.  All of my stuff is for training.  I do not wear race swimwear as most of my races are in cold water where I am wearing a wetsuit.  I have a warm water triathlon scheduled this July in Napa California.  I will not wear a wetsuit in 75 degree water but I am not sure about wearing a $200 swimsuit on a 56 mile bike ride.

Right around the time that I got injured Detour sent us a couple of bars for review.   The bars are huge (3 oz) and covered in chocolate.  I broke one in half and stuck in my cycle shirt for a long ride and ate it around mile 40.  The chocolate coating did not hold up very well for the ride but it stayed together well enough to eat.  My low sugar chocolate chip caramel bar tasted pretty good and went down easily.  I ate the whole bar and had no issues with it after I started riding again.  I don’t think the bars are intended to be energy bars but I felt fine for the rest of my ride and the rest of the day.

The lower sugar bar has 30 grams of protein and 34 grams of carbs.  The list of ingredients is obscene but the thing tastes good.  I will try them a few more times to see how they work out.  I am not going to carry the bar on a run because I am sure it will not hold up to the temperature of a run.

The huge list of ingredients through chemistry are a big turn off for me but the bar goes down easily and I recover well when I eat the bar.  The Detour bar is on my neutral list.  If you do not mind all of the chemicals, the bar is a definite buy.

Now that I am back to running, I am drinking my 4 liters of water per day again.  I usually keep two or three liters of water on my desk.  I get a lot of running and cycling bottles from all of the events that I do.  The plastic running bottles do not hold up very well when they are used for a long time so I don’t use them at my desk.  After a couple of months of constant use, the plastic bottles start to leach chemicals into the water.  I don’t like the plastic taste and it makes me wonder about what I am drinking when I can taste it.

I picked up a Klean Kanteen a few weeks ago.  (Mike gave it to me) It came with the poly sports cap.  It is the cap that really sets the Kanteen apart from my other steel bottles.  One bottle has a small mouth for drinking with fine threads that cut my lip.  The other has a big mouth that causes spills on my shirt.  The cap also has an ergonomic handle that makes it easy to carry the bottle with one finger.

I like steel because I know it is easy to recycle.  I am not too sure about how much you can recycle plastic that has been leaching for a year.  Just remember, drink your water.  If your bottle starts to taste like plastic or metal, replace it.

A Klean Kanteen with cap will cost around $25 at Amazon but it is worth it if you drink your water all day long.

We have two flavors of Athletes Honey Milk, honey (original) and chocolate (light).  The chocolate is a bit chalky but tastes good.  The honey is really smooth with no chalky taste.  Both flavors are loaded with 26 grams of protein, 120mg of sodium and 330mg of potassium in the 11.5 ounce bottle.

Honey Milk is mostly natural.  Milk, honey then  lactase enzyme are the first three ingredients, they are all natural.  All of the regular readers know how much I like natural ingredients.

Back in April, we did an interview with Athletes Honey Milk.  The name and idea put me off at first.  Here is one of my initial thoughts of the product: “He may have to open the box and force it down my throat.”

Between then and the time to review Honey Milk, we tested a lot of bad things so I figured things could not get much worse and I could take one for the team.  I went out for a good one hour run on a warm day.  After the run, I held my breath and tried the honey milk.  It tasted good!  It passed the first test.  It is drinkable with no chalky aftertaste.

I really like the taste of Athletes Honey milk.  It is so good, I can’t believe it works.  I have been drinking it for about a month now and it seems to be working for recovery.  I tend to drink another drink like Cytomax after long days because it I want the additional water.

Athletes Honey Milk is in the bought category for me.  It has moved into the top three sports drinks for me and the top tasting recovery drink.

Mike’s Note:  To see all things AHM on Alameda Runners, feel free to click here.

Muscle Milk is a protein shake that contains no milk but that does not matter because the stuff just tastes good.  I had plain flavor and chocolate and they both taste good.  Each 14-ounce container has 25 grams of protein, 220 calories, and 80 calories from fat.  After a really hard workout, I will drink two containers.  During long, slow training days I can drink a bottle in the middle of the workout.

Muscle Milk does not have all of the vitamins and other additives like a lot of other drinks, but it does the trick and tastes good.  When you break your muscles down, it is good to add protein after your workout.  I went out to buy some more muscle milk but the store had so much stuff, I was over whelmed by choices and left.

Muscle Milk is another product in the buy category from Alameda Runners.  After the tough string of bad products we went through, I was ready to give up and drink nothing but chocolate milk and sugar water until we hit the latest string of good products.