Thursday, September 18, 2014

We're Moving!


We’re Moving to Kenmore………



Speedy Reedy will be moving to Kenmore Village as of October 31, 2014. 

Please check our website or follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on this move. 

Our new space will be a scene of transition and maybe a little chaos through the end of the year, but we hope you'll make the trip to come visit us. 


While we will be a little further out for some of you, our new space will ultimately offer the following features:

  • ·         Only 3 blocks off the Burke-Gilman trail. 
  • ·         30+ parking spots  (this is fantastic!)
  • ·         A spin/workout room
  • ·         Better layout for both bike service and retail.


Thank you Fremont for 14 great years!  We hope to see all of you in Kenmore.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Shoe sale! 50% off closeout models of Saucony and more.

We're trying to burn through some of our leftover shoe inventory.  Below is a list of the Sauconys we have in stock.  These shoes and some models of Hoka and Newton are 50% off.

Saucony Kinvara 4s:  $50, were $100
Women's sizes:  6.5,  7.0,  8.5,  9.0
Men's sizes:  9.0,  9.5,  10.0,  11.5,  12.5

Saucony Kinvara 3s:  $50,  were $100
Women's sizes:  7.5,  8.5
Men's sizes:  9.5,  10.0

Saucony Virratas:  $45,  were $90
Women's sizes:  6.5,  7.0,  7.5,  8.0,  8.5,  9.0
Men's sizes:  9.0,  9.5,  11.5,  12.0,  12.5

Running Shoe Review: Hoka Huaka

Hoka has come out with several new road running shoes since our last shoe review.  At the time, I was trying out the Stinson Tarmac.  They have updated that shoe with a new upper, and it is now called the Stinson Lite.  The Hoka Conquest introduced a new look and a lower shoe platform.  Most recently, Hoka has come out with the Huaka and the Clifton.  The Clifton has been advertised most, since it is the lightest of Hoka's shoes, but the subject of this post is the Hoka Huaka.

A lot of shoe companies seem to be playing with denser foam materials to use in sole construction, marketed as well-cushioned, responsive shoes, or cushioned, light-weight shoes.  The Huakas are marketed as a responsive, light, cushioned shoe.  Sounds ideal!  But what are they like, really?



The change from running in the Stinson Tarmac was big.  The Huakas have 2mm of heel-to-toe drop, instead of the Stinson's 6mm or the 4mm of the Saucony Kinvara (my short-distance running shoe). A 2-4mm is noticeable.  The last for the Huaka is a little narrower than the last for the Stinson; the sole itself is much narrower, very likely because the sole is thinner.  With a thinner sole, you don't have to buttress the sides as much to keep the shoe stable.  The heel, consequently, looks much lower than the heels of the Bondi or Stinson.  

The spongy feeling that I know from the Stinson is missing in the Huaka.  I have an immediate sense of when and where I've touched the ground, and my foot squishes into the shoe less.  As promised, it's a more responsive shoe.  The Huaka may have less cushion than other Hokas, but it has more cushion than any non-Hoka shoe I've used.

For comparison:
The men's Huakas have a 27mm/25mm (heel/toe) thick sole;  the Stinson, 32mm/26mm;  the Bondi 3, 33mm/29mm; and the Clifton, 29mm/24mm.  The Saucony Kinvaras that I run in are 22mm/18mm.
 
If you look at the soles of most light running shoes, you'll see they don't have the old-style, tough-rubber-all-over kind of sole.  Modern light road soles have small touches of tough rubber, but mostly just textured foam.  Having denser foam, such as the RMAT used in the Hoka Huaka and Conquest, or the ZVA used in Zoot's Solana, means the sole resists abrasion better and lasts longer, but the shoe stays on the lighter side.  Denser foam also gives a stronger tactile sense of the road, as I mentioned, perhaps at the expense of a little bit of cushion.  For my purposes, the Huaka still has plenty of cushion.  I'll be using it for most of my middle-to-long runs.  For anyone taking their first steps into the world of highly-cushioned shoes, Huakas will probably feel more familiar than Hoka's other models, as long as you're used to a low-drop shoe.

I did not use the speed laces that are pre-installed on the Huakas (and most other Hoka models).  I have used the speed laces before, and they work fine, but in the shoe size I wear (US 13.0), they don't let the shoes open very wide.  If you haven't seen the speed laces, they are a thin, non-stretch cord with a flat lace lock.  Since the speed laces are sewn together at the end, you do have to cut them off if you don't want to use them.  Hokas come with a set of regular laces in the box, so I used those.

The upper does feel quite secure across my arches and into my heel, which has always been my main concern.  My toes feel a little cramped - the Huakas probably fit a narrow-to-medium foot best.  There's a little bit of pocketing above the toe that happens when I run, but the material of the upper is more supple than the material from the Stinson Tarmac.  I have even run comfortably barefoot in the Huaka, which is not something I often do on training runs, in any shoe.

Main points on the Huaka:
  • Lower to the ground than other Hokas
  • Thicker sole than most standard shoes
  • Narrow-to-medium fit
  • 2mm heel-to-toe drop
  • Good feel for the ground, and good grip

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration Mix - Drink with care!

Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration Mix
Skratch Labs released its Hyper Hydration Mix in mango flavor a little while back. 

This is NOT something to drink during exercise.  This is ONLY for people who sweat TONS of salt, and who are about to do some long, arduous event.  The science is super-interesting, so read all about it, and read all the warnings and find out why it's mango-flavored on the Skratch blog!

In short, Skratch designed the mix to be as easy on the stomach as they could make it, given that they needed to include enough sodium to match the sodium concentration of your blood.  The idea is to quickly push some extra water and sodium into a usable space (your cardiovascular system), from which your body can draw both water and sodium for sweat. 

If you don't sweat bunches, and you aren't about to engage in activities of awesome length and difficulty, this drink is a bad idea.  Again, read all the warning labels and instructions, then carefully experiment before race day.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

The Fat Salmon Recap




The Fat Salmon Open Water Swim took place this past Saturday.  The first time I ever swam an open water event, it was the Fat Salmon, so I always think of it fondly.

Speedy Reedy has its own connection with the race; we've been providing the swim caps for the Fat Salmon for years, now.  The last two years, we've partnered with Blue Seventy, so you'll see our two logos on one side, and The Salmon on the other.  This year, we also donated a Safe Swimmer Float for the raffle - it seemed like an appropriate prize.

Anyway, here follows a recap of the swim, provided by our Fat Salmon inside contact, Carol Peterman.




2014 Fat Salmon Open Water Swim


The cloudy skies and threat of rain on race day didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Fat Salmon Open Water Swim participants in the least. Lining up to jump into Lake Washington at the Day Street Boat Launch, it was all smiles as they marched toward the start of the 3.2 mile swim to Madison Park.

A cheer from the spectators sailed out to greet the first swimmers spotted from the shore; four determined competitors battling it out to the finish. Zach Walters was the first to emerge from the water and cross the finish line, setting a new course record for the men's wetsuit division with a time of 1 hour and 42 seconds.  Steve Sholdra was right behind him, finishing in 1 hour and 46 seconds, also setting a new course record for the men's non-wetsuit division.

For the first time in the 15 year history of the Fat Salmon race there was a tie!  Madeline Klobuchar and Shannon Woods tied for first place in the women's non-wetsuit division with a finish time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 36 seconds.  Christine Avelar locked up first in the women's wetsuit division, finishing in 1 hour, 10 minutes and 17 seconds.

The transition from water to land can be a wobbly one. Volunteers were at the ready to help swimmers quickly find their land-legs and hustle down the finish chute to cross the finish line.

The 2014 Fat Salmon Swim goes down in the history books as a great success, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors.

What does it take to put on a fun and SAFE open water swim?
  • 30 Kayakers shepherding swimmers along the course
  • 23 Lifeguards watching from paddle boards, 2 in boats and 1 at the finish
  • 8 Motorboats -- each with a swimmer spotter and a Ham Radio operator
  • Ham Radio operators at the finish area relaying course status updates
  • 2 Harbor Patrol boats monitoring lake traffic
  • 1 Jetski for quick course exit/rescue
  • 2 Paramedics and an ambulance stationed at the finish
  • 1 MD roving the park post-race, looking for any ill or injured swimmers
  • and MANY other volunteers

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The New Newtons

Newton did a nice redesign of their main road shoes.  The Gravity and Distance have been around for a while.  With the 2014 updates, they add a fifth lug to the sole, fill in the space under the arches, and cut off some rubber from the heel of the Gravity.

The reactions we've had from present Newton runners have been positive.  Having five lugs on the sole instead of four puts one lug at each edge of the forefoot, which gives a more stable feeling side-to-side.  The Gravity and Distance keep their low drop from heel to toe.

The Energy, which is a shoe Newton added to their lineup last year, has a larger drop than the Gravity or Distance (6mm versus 3mm for the Gravity, 2mm for the Distance), more cushion and more rubber on the sole.  It's surprisingly light, though.  The Energy is meant to be an introductory shoe for people who want to move to a forefoot strike from a heel strike.  The sole will hold up to heel striking, which tends to afflict us as we fatigue and our form deteriorates, and the larger heel-toe drop is closer to the drops of traditional running shoes to help ease you through the transition to forefoot running.

The new 5-lug Newton soles.
In the shop, we're carrying the new Gravity, which still runs $175, and the Energy, which costs $119.




Thursday, May 22, 2014

Aero helmets have lost their tails. Why?

The last couple years have seen some new kinds of aero helmets show up on the market.  These helmets don't have a long, tapered tail like a traditional aero helmet.  Some, which I would assign the description of "Aero Road Helmet", have no tail at all, and look like regular road helmets with fewer vents.  Others retain a vestigial tail and look a little more like the old aero helmets.

If we're talking about aerodynamics for triathletes, the main advantage of a tailless aero helmet over a tailed-style is that you don't incur an aero penalty when you change your head position while riding.  In particular, if you lower your head (to look at a computer, to grab a water bottle, to rest your neck), the tailless helmet won't increase your drag.  If you're using a tailed helmet, the gap between the tail and your back will open, causing extra turbulence, extra drag.  When we're talking about some of the distances that triathletes routinely race, most people I've spoken to, including myself (yeah, I talk to myself.  It's not creepy) agree that we don't keep perfect head position all the time on the bike. 

Speaking more subjectively, I believe many people prefer the look of the tailless helmets, especially the aero road helmets, because they look less like "serious" race equipment.  They feel less self-conscious doing a training ride with a tailless helmet like the Giro Air Attack than they would with a tailed helmet like the Giro Selector. 

Below are two examples of aero road helmets.  Giro makes the Air Attack Shield, which has a removable/flippable visor (this also increases the aero effect).  Catlike makes a closed-vent version of their Mixino road helmet, called the Mixino VD 2.0.  Both mimic the size and shape of regular road helmets, but have fewer vents.
Giro Air Attack Shield

Catlike Mixino VD 2.0


And here we have two examples of the snub-tailed aero helmet.  Notice the vestigial tail, more suited, as Rudy Project says, to multiple head positions.


Kask Bambino

Rudy Project Wing57



Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Ultra-Running Panel at Speedy Reedy, coming up on May 14th

Ultra-Running Panel and Q&A
6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14th
Here at Speedy Reedy

We invite you to join us on the evening of May 14th for a conversation with ultra-distance athletes Randy Perkins, Jess Mullen, Andre Kajlich and Kyle McCoy.

Come, listen, ask questions.  The specific races our speakers will focus on are:

Jess Mullen: Badwater Ultramarathon
Randy Perkins: Marathon des Sables
Kyle McCoy: Atacama Crossing
Andre Kajlich: Brazil 135

Jess Mullen at the Badwater Ultramarathon
Kyle McCoy running Atacama Crossing
Randy Perkins after finishing MdS
We will begin with a panel discussion and have each speaker relate some of their racing and training experiences, insights and stories.  Afterward, we'll open the floor for audience questions.

On a personal note, I've met Randy and Andre.  Both are down-to-earth, kind, very real people.  I'm sure Kyle and Jess are of the same sort.  I think you'll like them, and I think you'll be impressed and inspired by what they've done.


If you're curious about the races mentioned above, here are some brief summaries:

Badwater Ultramarathon
135 miles, previously run through Death Valley; now run to the west (because of permit issues), finishing on Mt. Whitney.  Total ascent: 19,000 feet.  Total descent: 14,600 feet.  48-hour cutoff.
Badwater website

Atacama Crossing
Dry.  Very dry.  6 stages over 7 days, through the Atacama Desert in Chile; total run distance of 250km (155 miles).  Racers must carry everything they need except for water, which is given out by ration at checkpoints over the course of each stage.
Atacama Crossing website

Marathon des Sables
Morocco. Also very dry.  And hot.  6 stages, covering 150 to 155 miles total, with a longer, 55-mile stage thrown in somewhere.  Like Atacama Crossing, runners carry all their equipment except water, which is rationed out at checkpoints over the course of each stage.
MdS website

Brazil 135
135 miles (naturally).  60 hour cutoff.  I don't know much about this race aside from what Andre has told me, and the website is kind of unclear on some things...but I gather it's a lot of climbing around in the forest on trails, passing through a few towns on the way.
Brazil 135 website

Saturday, April 26, 2014

New Hoka shoes are a bit more subtle

Some of the latest color options from Hoka (maker of super-cushioned running shoes, if you haven't cast your eyes through a running magazine lately) look much sleeker.  The thick sole stays, of course, but the branding on the sides mostly goes away, which makes the shoes look a lot cleaner.
We have the colors below in stock now.
Women's Bondi 3
Men's Bondi 3
Also the Men's Bondi 3

For Hokas we carry now, click here.

For other color and model options, the Hoka page is here for men's shoes, and here for women's.


Saturday, April 19, 2014

Book Launch Party & Reading by Charles Kastner @ U Book Store

On May 5th, at the University Book Store, author Charles Kastner will be reading from and taking questions about his new book,  The 1929 Bunion Derby.  If you're an endurance nut, check it out.

The Bunion Derbies (or Trans-American Footraces, as I believe they were officially named) were races (by foot, yes) from L.A. to New York City.  Still awesome, 85 years later.  Charles Kastner has previously written a book covering the first Bunion Derby; his latest completes the set.

The book launch party will begin at 7 p.m. and run about an hour.

More details and info about the author and his books available on his website.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Nutrition Groups, Part Four: Energy Bars


In the fourth part of our nutrition series, we're looking at energy bars.  Some people use energy bars as a big part of their calorie intake.  As a solid food, the calorie to volume ratio is relatively high.  Other people use energy bars primarily as a break from the sugary taste and feel of gels or drinks.  Excluded from this post are recovery or muscle-building bars, since those have a primary purpose other than fueling during activity.

I tend to classify energy bars by texture, since that generally determines how easy the bar will be to eat during exercise.  I don't recommend any particular type - I've eaten them all, and they all did the job at the time.  Looking at the calorie/carb/fat/protein profile, you can see that they don't differ all that much.  More than protein-per-bar or calories-per-bar, people are usually looking for something that has good taste and texture, or ingredients that conform to their diet or lifestyle.  For my own self, I'll eat Grainy bars if I'm not breathing hard.  If I'm gasping, I'll go for the Butter-style or Extruded (if it's not cold).  Read on!

Butter:   Easy to chew and swallow, even when it's cold. Made with almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, etc. Dates also feature prominently.  Haven't found a dairy butter bar, yet.
Butter-type bars will include a bit of protein and fat from whatever butter they use, whether it's derived from a tree nut, peanut or sunflower seed.  If the bar doesn't also include a lot of unground grains, you won't spend time picking bits out of your teeth after eating.

Example: Hammer Bar, Picky Bars
Profile of Hammer Bar, Almond Raisin flavor:
Calories:  220  Carbs: 25g  Fat: 9g  Protein: 10g


Grainy:  These feel more like real food, or granola, which can be pleasant.
These bars probably have some form of sugar, like brown rice syrup or cane syrup, and some form of protein, like soy protein isolate;  but the main thing is, they have some solid grain, like whole oats, which gives the bar its distinctive (and, ideally, appealing) texture.

Examples: Clif Bar, ProBar, some PowerBar
Profile of Clif Bar, Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch flavor:
Calories: 240  Carbs: 40g  Fat: 7g  Protein: 10g

As a subset of the Grainy: the Brownie:  Grains are involved, but mostly finely-ground.  These are pretty easy to eat during activity, and also feel like real food...but there's less tooth-picking.

Example: Bonk Breaker
Profile of Bonk Breaker Bar, Espresso Chip flavor:
Calories: 220  Carbs:37g  Fat: 5.5g  Protein: 6g


Extruded:  Classic bars from the 80s, 90s and today.
You know the ones I mean.  Impossible to eat when cold, gooey when hot....you almost don't need to chew (that's why it works when you're breathing hard).  Tastes a little bit like nostalgia.  In content, they're actually pretty similar to the Grainy bars when you look closely; they have a form of sugar (or four or five), soy protein isolate, oil, salt, sugar...all the things that make food good.

Examples:  PowerBar Performance Energy Bar
Profile for PowerBar, Vanilla Crisp flavor:
Calories: 240  Carbs: 45g  Fat: 3.5g  Protein: 8g

Choices for the restricted among us
There are energy bars that cater to a variety of dietary restrictions and allergies.  Among them are Bonk Breaker bars, which are gluten and dairy free, and some are soy free; and Picky Bars, which are also gluten and dairy free.

If you're looking for nut-free bars, you'll look harder, but there are a few companies, like Avalanche, making bars on dedicated peanut/tree nut-free equipment.



Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Power meters and where they go

Some of you may have read the recent Slowtwitch article about the redesigned Pioneer Electronics power meter crank.  Cranksets are the most popular spot for power meter placement.  With a crank-based meter, you're not locked into using one rear wheel all the time, as you are with hub-based meters.

Here's a list of crank-based power meters:

Pioneer:  Dura-Ace and Ultegra 11-speed crank options.
Quarq:  These are the cranks we see most often.  Two main options, the Elsa and the Riken.  Owned by SRAM, and compatible with Shimano 10-speed drivetrains.
Rotor:  Left and right leg power measurement; just 3 crank length options.
SRM:  Lots of options, based around Shimano, SRAM, Campy, and other brands of cranks.
Stages Power:  Measures from the non-driveside crankarm only.  One of the cheapest options.
Verve Cycling:  InfoCrank, 50/34 tooth chainrings, (taking preorders).

Pedal-based meters are a recent addition to the market.  The Garmin Vector and  Polar/Look Keo Power pedals work with most cranks.  Of course, they do require you to use said pedals, so you have to use the matching cleats, too.

Hub-based meters, available from PowerTap, can be less expensive, depending on which hub you choose and which rim you build it into.

And finally, there's the under-cleat Zone power meter from Brim Brothers (available for pre-order).  It sits between your shoe sole and your cleat; I suppose that means you should be able to use any shoe, any pedal, crank and wheel.  Hopefully we'll hear more about it in August, when units are supposed to ship to folks who pre-order.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Nutrition Groups, Part Three: Recovery Things

On this, the third leg of our sport food journey, we come to the Recovery section.  In whatever form you find it, recovery food has one primary purpose: to prepare you, after you have exercised, to exercise again.  You may be training for an event; you might have just finished a race.  In any case, you have burned calories, damaged muscle fibers, drawn forth and consumed resources from the reserves of your body.  By eating or drinking recovery food (the research and, certainly, the marketing sector will tell us), you make yourself ready to do it all over again later in the day or later in the week.

The Recovery Bar
Recovery food will come in two main forms.  First is the Recovery Bar.  Recovery bars look like any other energy bar from a distance, but the ingredients are a little different.  There will be a lot more protein in a recovery bar, and the amount is usually printed prominently on the front of the package.  Protein might be added as whey or soy protein, or as protein derived from nuts or vegetables (like peas).  Usually, there will also be a lot of carbohydrates in the bar.  Sometimes the carbs are added with the protein ingredients (nut butters contain a fair amount of both carbs and protein), and sometimes the carbs are added separately.  Quite often, some of the carbohydrate will be sugar added to make the bar more palatable.

The Recovery Drink
Recovery Drinks and Mixes share a lot of similarities with recovery bars.  They, too, include protein and carbohydrate.  In the drinks, there is often some emphasis on electrolyte replacement, as well.  The nutrition label may show not just sodium, but potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc.  In my experience, the drinks are very likely to include an amino acid profile (which is all the glutamine, carnosine, leucine, tyrosine, etc. that shows up at the bottom of the nutrition label).

Protein included
If you read the last blog post, you'll note that protein shows up in recovery food for the same reason that it sometimes appears in endurance sports drinks.  By providing your body with a source of protein (or, in some cases, with ready amino acids), you are supposed to prevent your muscles from being cannibalized for energy replacement, and you are supposed to speed up the repair of damaged muscle fibers.  For devoted endurance athletes or casual fitness folks, the reasoning goes, you'll have more energy and feel less sore each time you exercise if you have used one of these recovery products soon after the last time you exercised.

The Time Limit
When you read the directions for the drink mix or recovery bar of your choice, there is almost always some mention of The Time Limit.  The limit might be half an hour, or forty-five minutes, or the directions may simply specify, "consume immediately".  Most companies and quoted research will agree that, after exercising, the sooner you drink or eat something, the better.  After the time limit, your body won't do the whole digest-and-repair thing as efficiently.


Some recognizable names in the Recovery Food section:
  • Chocolate milk, in all its glory
  • Endurox R4 drink mix and Accel Recover Bar by Pacific Health Labs
  • First Endurance Ultragen drink mix
  • Gu Recovery Brew
  • Hammer Recoverite drink mix and recovery bars (including vegan bars)
  • Osmo Nutrition Recovery drink mixes
  • PowerBar Recover drink mix and protein bars

 Thank you for reading. As always, if you have questions or comments, feel free to email them to info@speedyreedy.com, or leave them in the comments section below!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Nutrition Groups, Part Two: The Endurance Drink Mix

For the purposes of this post, endurance drink mixes are those products that are marketed to people who are doing exercise, typically sustained aerobic activity, that lasts over an hour.  It could, of course, be activity that lasts a lot more than an hour, but the hour is a pretty commonly used minimum benchmark when you're talking about endurance sports nutrition.

To clarify again: nothing in this post should be taken as advice about what to eat (or drink, in this case).  This is just a wee roadmap to the sports nutrition aisle.

In comparison with the Mostly-Hydration drink mixes (covered in part one of this post), endurance drink mixes are often built around a "drink your calories" (or at least, "drink many of your calories") approach to nutrition.  In general, that means there are more calories per serving of Endurance drink than of Mostly-Hydration drink.  On top of that, some of the drinks will give instructions for mixing up a multiple-serving bottle, in order to condense a large number of calories into something conveniently portable.

Endurance drink mixes will be sold in bulk canisters or bags, and in single-serving packets.

There are sometimes many more ingredients in these mixes than there are in the mostly-hydration mixes; they might include protein, fat, or amino acids.  Some drinks (notably Carbo Pro) have fewer ingredients. Some drinks look a lot like Mostly-Hydration mixes, with a bit of sugar and bit of sodium.  We'll map them out after these messages...

Some recognizable names in the Endurance Drink department:
  • Accelerade
  • Carbo Pro 
  • Cytomax
  • EFS
  • Gatorade Endurance Formula
  • Gu Roctane
  • Hammer Perpetuem
  • PowerBar Perform


1) Meal in a bottle

Perpetuem, by Hammer, is one example of a meal-in-a-bottle. There are carbs; there is protein and fat; there are amino acids and electrolytes. Each serving of a meal-in-a-bottle will be quite a dose of calories, and there are often instructions for mixing up a multi-hour (that is, a multi-serving) bottle.  The intention behind meal-in-a-bottle mixes is to provide everything, or most everything, that you need for an endurance event or training session.  You can supplement with food or gels if you want variety or need extra calories, but the meal-in-a-bottle is meant to be the main structure of your nutritional intake, and not just your main carbohydrate source.  These drinks are not, however, meant to be your hydration; the directions will usually tell you to drink water from a separate source.

2) Just calories

Carbo Pro is a good example of a calories-only mix. There is one ingredient. It provides no electrolytes, no protein, not even any flavor. What it does provide is a source of energy, and it's meant to be mixed up as thickly as you need.  Like the meal-in-a-bottle style of drink, the calorie-only drinks can often be mixed quite thickly.  For that reason, you'll probably be directed to drink water from a separate source.  For other nutritional things, like electrolytes, sometimes it works to mix everything together in the same bottle with the calorie drink; sometimes it works better to take separate pills or chews or whatnot.

3) Looks like the Mostly-Hydration mix to me....

Yeesss...Yes, some of the "Endurance" labeled mixes look remarkably similar to the lighter hydration mixes once you look at their ingredients and serving content.  Well, there are no laws governing the use of the term, but if the label says "endurance" and the calorie content isn't very high, look for two things.
First, look at the serving size.  The PowerBar Perform serving size is 8 fluid ounces. Most people don't drink out of bottles that small unless they're using a hydration belt.
If serving size isn't the culprit, look at the bottom section of nutrition label.  The electrolyte content might be greater, or the mix might include amino acids (which I'll address below).
If, after all, everything still looks like a light energy drink mix, it could very well be just that - if you ask Skratch or Nuun, you should be using their drink mix for your endurance events anyway, and many people do.  You'll just be getting more calories from somewhere else.

This kind of drink mix usually won't work well if it's mixed too thickly - the taste is would likely be obnoxious, since it was designed to taste good (or acceptable) at a certain concentration.  Beyond that concentration, the drink can turn syrupy and oversweet.

 *****************


Protein and Amino Acids

Protein doesn't commonly show up in hydration drink mixes or your typical deli-fridge sports drinks.  You'll see protein in recovery drinks, in muscle-building products, and in some endurance drink mixes.  You'll especially see protein in the meal-in-a-bottle endurance mixes.

Amino acids might appear alongside or instead of protein.  Sometimes they are called out explicitly as amino acids; sometimes you'll just see a list of names below the electrolytes in the nutrition section of the product label - Glutamine, Leucine, Histidine.

The protein and/or amino acids that appear in endurance drinks are supposed to cut down on lean muscle tissue cannibalization during exercise and recovery.  The protein will also provide calories in addition to whatever the included carbohydrates contribute.


A quick content comparison



Drink
 
Cal./16oz
 
Carbs
(g)
Protein
 
Sodium
(mg)
Potassium
(mg)
Other?
 
Multi-Hour
 
Carbo Pro35088NoNoNoNoYes
Gatorade Endurance10727No387187NoNo
Gu Roctane36590Amino48676Taurine
Beta Alanine
No
Hammer Perpetuem203415g
+Amino
16556Electrolytes Yes
PowerBar Perform14034No38020NoNo

The Gatorade Endurance, Gu Roctane and PowerBar Perform numbers above reflect a 16oz bottle at the minimum recommended serving density.
Hammer Perpetuem and Carbo Pro amounts are based on the instructions for a one-hour bottle for a 175lb athlete.



Hope this was helpful and informative. I've run out of time for this post, so please email info@speedyreedy.com if you have additional questions, or leave your comments below!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Nutrition Groups, Part One: The Mostly-Hydration


Let's cover some ground in nutrition.  There are lots of products out there, lots of ideas floating around about what works best(backed by lots of research, sometimes dubious, often contradictory). So this will be another multi-part post.

TO BEGIN WITH....
Nothing in this post or those following is intended to advise you regarding what to eat or drink.  This is only a kind of road map to the sport nutrition aisle.

The Mostly-Hydration

Our first subject is relatively new to the mass consciousness of sport.  In the category of Mostly-Hydration, we'll include products that are (pretty much) electrolyte-only, as well as products that are relatively low-calorie that include a significant electrolyte profile.  In the marketing material for these products, you'll typically read something about water/sweat replacement, something about electrolyte/salt replacement and some mention of the low-calorie nature of the product, or perhaps its non-syrupy consistency.  It's pretty common to hear, unofficially, that some such product is an anti-Gatorade, contrasting the high sugar content and syrupy texture of traditional Gatorade/Powerade/(name your knockoff) with the lower sugar content and lighter flavor of the new product in question. 

At the store, Mostly-Hydrations will be sold as drink mixes in bulk cans or bags and single-serve packets, or as dissolving tablets, typically in plastic canisters that resemble long film canisters.  Everything we're addressing here becomes a drink.  One or two scoops of mix in a bottle of water, one tablet in a bottle of water - that kind of thing.

Some recognizable names in the Mostly-Hydration category:
  • Clif Shot Electrolyte Drink - bulk bags and single-serve packets
  • Gatorade Low-Calorie G2 - premixed bottle and single-serve packets
  • GU Brew Electrolyte Drink - bulk cans and single-serve packets
  • GU Brew Tabs - film canister
  • Hammer HEED - bulk cans and single-serve packets
  • Hammer Endurolytes Fizz - film-canister
  • Nuun - film canister
  • Osmo Nutrition - bulk cans and single-serve packets
  • Skratch Labs - bulk bags and single-serve packets

Why use it?

There are two stated purposes of the MH (and yes, I'm going to call them MHs from now on).  One purpose is to speed up your body's absorption of water during exercise.  The other is to replace electrolytes that are used and lost during exercise, either through sweat or through muscle contraction. Conveniently and unsurprisingly, both water absorption and electrolyte replacement are affected by the content of your drink, so one product can do double duty.  Depending on the product and the research or beliefs behind its design, you might find one or both of these purposes mentioned when you're reading the packaging.

A quote from the Skratch Labs FAQ page: "...a little bit of real sugar paired with sodium significantly enhances the rate of water absorption through the small intestine."
For the endurance athlete, the MH product is a way to separate hydration from calorie intake.  That means you can tailor your nutrition to your own body's needs and to different conditions (hot/cold, humid/dry - Sir Sweats-a-lot/Monsieur No-Sweat) without switching products entirely.  You can drink more on hot days without drastically increasing the amount of sugar in your stomach.  You can drink less on cold days, but keep your calorie intake the same (by eating supplemental calories from a different source).

The taste and texture is as important as anything else when you're picking your drink. MH products tend to have a much lighter flavor and lower viscosity than old-style sports drinks. That makes them a lot easier and more pleasant to drink, especially during the second half of a long race, ride or run.


So, some differences to look for:  Drink mix powders vs. Tablets

 


Skratch Labs: a spoonful of sugar, a spoonful of salt.
Hammer Heed: light calories, light electrolyte profile.


MH products in the form of drink mix powders (Skratch, Osmo, HEED, etc.) will typically include sugar and will therefore provide some calories.  It won't be a heck of a lot, so most people will use these mixes for hydration, and eat or drink something else for bulk calories during long training sessions and races.  For short-to-moderate distances, many people find the MH drink mix provides sufficient energy, so they use it alone.

Nuun: the most well-known electrolyte tab, sold in a film canister.
MH products in the form of tablets (Nuun, Endurolytes Fizz, GU Brew Tabs) do not provide calories - so, energy from a different source if you want any, at any distance.

Otherwise, between each mix and tablet, you're looking at differing levels of electrolytes: sodium and potassium, in many cases magnesium and calcium, sometimes various vitamins.

The list below compares the calorie and sodium count for several MH products, just for the curious.  In the list below, the calorie and sodium count is based on 16oz of drink at the minimum recommended serving density.

Product  Cal/16oz  Sodium (mg)
HEED - Lemon-Lime 100 40
Skratch Exercise - Lemons and Limes 80 240
Osmo Active Hydration - Men's 70 320
Osmo Active Hydration - Women's 70 360
Gatorade Low-Calorie G2 38 200
Nuun - Citrus Fruit 8 360


You'll notice a bit of variation. Sometimes the numbers change slightly between flavors of the same product, though it won't be by much - remember that each product will be built around some particular research or purpose or philosophy that determines the ideal drink content.


Websites for the drinks mentioned:

Clif Shot Electrolyte Hydration Mix
Gatorade Low-Calorie G2
GU Energy
Hammer HEED and Endurolytes Fizz
Nuun Active Hydration FAQ (with nutrition information)
Osmo Nutrition Active Hydration for Men and for Women
Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix and Hydration FAQ

I do recommend reading through the Skratch Labs FAQ page. It explains hydration in a pretty clear and believable way, whichever product you end up using.