During this process of training and researching, I've come across some great people and great companies that are willing to help out when I contact them and see what they can offer. I've contacted a bunch of companies for, not just myself, but all the guys here at NFD. There are multiple people who do multisport within the department, so any deal that I can swing, I'm always including all of them. I want to give a quick shout out to those who have been gracious enough to give us some great deals on their products.
- Kurt Kinetic and Cyclops both have given us great deals on trainers
- TorHans has extended a nice deal on their aerohydration systems (ordering a system when the tax money comes in, review to follow)
- XLab has offered us a deal on their entire product line
- Zoot has given us the opportunity to get gear from them
- Inviscid Design has also extended a nice deal on their hydration systems
- ISM/Adamo saddles has extended a discounts on their saddles
- Tri Town, our local tri shop that helped me get squared away on my bike has extended a local discount for us for anything in the shop, except bikes of course.
We do also have access to a website called Promotive.com that is a network of companies that offer deals to people in certain industries, with the fire department being one of them. Some of the companies that we can order from include: Honey Stinger, GU, Craft, CW-X, CEP, the Rudy Project, Pacific Health Labs (makers of accelerade) and Brooks. There are others on the site, but those are the one's whose names jump into my mind right now.
Back to what I was starting to say, and that is the nutrition and hydration thing. Like I just told you, I've pretty much have decided that I will be getting the TorHans aero hydration system. I will get a review of the product once it comes in, and then again once it's warm enough to be out on the road and I've had a chance to use it in the real world. I am excited about it though, as it's gotten great reviews and has been given the "Best in Class" with a 5 star rating from Trisports.com. My buddy Todd, who is waiting for his Quintana Roo to be delivered and built is going with the Inviscid Design speedfil A2, so we will have some side by side comparisons and reviews for you in the coming month.
The TorHans will take care of the hydration needs, but what about the nutrition? What should I fill the TorHans with, or even my spare bottle that will ride down low? Water? Poweraide? Accelerade? GU Roctaine, or Carbopro? Those are the questions that have yet to be answered. I can't even really say what I will choose right now. I know only a little about some of those products. Accelerade and Carbopro have been around for a while. Accelerade has a 4:1 carb:protein ratio that no one else has (that I know of). Carbopro is a pure carb replacement drink, but the carbs are complex carbs causing a slower release rate and won't spike your insulin levels. This gives you a constant energy instead of a burst followed by a crash. The Carbopro has no flavor, and can be mixed with other sports drinks including Accelerade; which could be an interesting combination. Then there is the new comer, the GU Roctane, which has the carbs, but then it also It also contains "caffeine, taurine, and beta-alanine to help increase performance, by decreasing perceived effort, helping to prevent heart and muscle fatigue, and increasing muscle buffering capacity" per their website info. Those are the 3 that I will be looking at and thinking about in the near future. It will also probably just come down to trial and error. Luckily, I get a good deal on the Accelerade and GU products, and then a little break from the Carbopro when I buy it at Tri Town. Those are going to be the 3 drinks of choice for the cycling portion. For the run though, I'm thinking that a couple of gel packs will be sufficient. That and the water from the aid stations as I pass by too.
For the gel packs, there are other choices to look at. The Honey Stinger, which is recommended by CFE, then Gu also makes the Roctane in a gel form, Pacific Health (makers of Accelerade) also make a couple of different gels as well. With so much info out there, I sometimes wish that someone would just tell me what to take and ease my mind. But with this stuff, which is important if you want to finish and finish well, it seems that you have to figure it out for yourself. What works for some, might not work at all for me. I think that I might try to go with one manufacturer and use them for the entire race. The theory behind this is that company's tend to make their products to work together, so I should probably try to take advantage of that and not mix and match so to speak. So the trial and error starts in the next week or so. After all, I have only 18 more weeks.
Yesterday I went to the rec center after work to get my long swim in. I knew that the swim was going to be posted for Sunday's workout, but I am working Sunday. So I thought that I'd get the swim workout done on Sat and then Sat's workout on Sunday. Yeah that didn't work out to well for me. The rec center was having an indoor triathlon yesterday and the pool was essentially closed. So no workout for me. I seriously contemplated taking 2 hours off from work to do the swim today, but decided that I would just be a day behind the CFE site and get my swimming done tomorrow morning. Today, I did a 20k/5k bike/run. My quads are still sore while on the bike, and I'm thinking it's from the horrible bike last Sunday. There may just be something about a fluid trainer Vs the magnetic one though too. The bike was hard, harder than it should of been, and again I struggled to keep my cadence in the high 80's. But at least this time my speed was faster. It might be a little mental too after last week's episode on the bike. I also didn't get a chance to stretch much before hand. I needed to get on the trainer and be done. I was trying out Kelly's new Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll fluid trainer and he was going to be swinging back by the station to pick it up. With the workout done, it's time to shower and watch the super bowl. I'm predicting the Patriots will win, so lets see if I'm right.
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