Here is some correspondence I have been having with a journalist writing an article about the pros/cons of supplementing with glutamine:

After several months of being out-of-stock, Energ-Ease is BACK (and we’re having trouble KEEPING it in stock - a good problem to have, I guess)...

Energ-Ease is our dietary supplement for “improving energy, stamina, and endurance” - it helps your body to use oxygen more efficiently (so you have that “extra gear” when your workouts and competition demand it) and it helps you to avoid overtraining by naturally maintaining the balance between anabolic/catabolic hormones (so you can train harder to get faster, without getting sick or hurt).

We launched Energ-Ease in 2006 at Ironman Arizona because there was no endurance/stamina supplement on the market that did what I wanted it to do. There were - and still are - plenty of low-potency cordyceps and rhodiola products out there (selling for $50-$75 per month), but none of these delivered the right levels and combination of ACTIVE compounds to truly have a benefit for improving oxygen utilization and endurance performance. We’re the ONLY endurance nutrition company that standardizes all of our products to specific levels of specific active compounds - so you (and we) get the most potent and most balanced benefits. If you care to “do the math” you’ll see that the total content of active endurance compounds in Energ-Ease is much higher than competing products (Adenosine, Rosavin, Eleutheroside, Glycosaponin, Eurypeptide, Reseveratrol, and Withanolide) - but it’s not so much a “more is better” thing - it’s really a matter of “more of certain compounds in combination with the right levels of other compounds” that will help you reach your true potential as an endurance athlete.

One of the reasons that we had trouble getting Energ-Ease back in stock was because we use only the very highest-purity and highest-potency herbal extracts - and these extracts are simply not widely available (and they’re expensive). This is why you won’t see the Energ-Ease formula being “copied” anywhere else - because it’s too expensive for the mainstream companies and too limited in availability to sell to the mass market. That’s fine with us - we’ve always been about serving the niche of competitive endurance athletes (which is where we live as triathletes, cyclists, trail runners, etc) - with the best products possible. We could have been back selling “something” called Energ-Ease within a couple of days if we wanted to use the low-potency Cordyceps and Rhodiola powders that are so widespread in the industry (and so widely contaminated with banned substances), but that’s not our gig - and while it might increase our sales and certainly our profit margins to use the low-potency stuff, it would go against everything that Wicked Fast stands for...

Here’s a short note from a new Wicked Fast COACH who had a breakthrough performance in a recent International UCI Pro-1-2 stage race:

Subject: Energ-Ease ROCKS!

Thanks Julie, you are a star!

The Wicked Fast combo took me to 7th place!

Thanks for everything!!!

I want to order wholesale if possible... 

Please let me know re: wholesale process

Thanks

Dave

Here’s the back-story with Dave (and with so many others who TRY Wicked Fast products). Dave is an up-and-coming cyclist. He’s been buying and using Recover-Ease for some time to help him recover faster and more completely after training. He’s a devoted “fan” of Recover-Ease, so we sent him a free bottle of Energ-Ease to try - and the combination of Energ-Ease before workouts and Recover-Ease after workouts helped him to have that breakthrough performance. Is Dave psyched? You bet - so psyched that he is now ordering Wicked Fast products on our wholesale Coaches Program and helping his coached athletes to reach their full endurance potential as he is doing. We benefit - Dave benefits - his athletes benefit - and the competition suffers. Very cool.

Give Energ-Ease a try - you’ll find that “extra gear” in your workouts because your body will be using oxygen more efficiently - and you’ll be able to dial up your workout intensity/duration without succumbing to the tiredness and dead legs that come with overtraining. Maybe you’ll like it so much, you’ll want to share it with others in your club, your training mates, or your athletes (if you’re a coach) - or maybe, you’ll just want to keep Energ-Ease “secret” and let your mates wonder why you’re flying...

Thanks for reading...

Shawn

=================================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D., FACSM, CNS, LDN

CEO (Chief Endurance Officer)

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com

Shawn@WickedFastSN.com

801-576-0788

Good Karma - that’s all I can say.

Here at Wicked Fast, we don’t “do” sponsorships (in the traditional sense anyway) and we don’t “do” advertising (again, not as you might traditionally think of “advertising” - more on that in a future blog) - BUT, we DO SUPPORT a wide range of endurance athletes and endurance events around the country and around the world. We often send product samples (to use as podium and raffle prizes) and swag (like our great clothing, water bottles, and gear bags) to events (triathlons, ultra runs, etc) because we feel this is a great way to give something back to the sports that we’ve been doing for so many years.

We also have a limited number of athletes that we “support” in various ways. We don’t do this as “sponsorships” per se, but do it more because we just LIKE these particular athletes and they like US and our products. Typically, these have been long-time users of Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease (www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com). We sometimes will send “extra” (free) bottles of product with their orders - and sometimes we’ll send “extra” (free) product when they’re attempting a “big” event (like back to back to back ultras or huge speed attempts or other such craziness)...

We feel like helping out a few of these great folks ends up helping us in the end anyway (that’s the part about “good karma”) because these athletes have amazing performances and they talk about our amazing products to their training buddies. We could not ask for more than to be associated with “good karma” folks - that’s a big part of why we started Wicked Fast in the first place.

Here is a recent note from one of our “Friends of Wicked Fast’ - and amazing ultrarunner (and person), Michel Barton. Last year, Michelle won just about every ultra in California - setting course records in most of them - and chatting up her buds about how Recover-Eae was helping her to bounce back faster from her nutso training and racing schedule. We met Michelle thru a mutual friend and fell in love with her contagious enthusiasm for life (one of those “good karma” folks). Here is one of her recent notes:

Dear Julie and Shawn,

Thank you soooo much for the restocking of Recover-EASE!!

I have good news, I won the Leona Divide 50 miler and broke the course record!!!

I was 1st woman and 4th overall in 7:19:04.

I seriously could not do this without your support and your amazing incredible product!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

You are so wonderful, I appreciate all that you have done for me!!

I will send you some photos from the race!!!

Have a great day!!

Best always, Michelle

That’s all for now - you (and we) need to get out there for our morning workouts - thanks for reading...

Shawn

=================================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D., FACSM, CNS, LDN

CEO (Chief Endurance Officer)

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com

801-576-0788

July 17 & 18 were the dates of the 2010 Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run in Windsor Vermont (near Woodstock).

I went into the 2010 event with high hopes - I DNF’d last year (2009) at mile 77 (the Spirit of ’76” aid station). In 2009, I reached the end of my mental endurance - I just could not imagine going any further (I ran the first 50 miles in a little over 10 hours - very fast for me - and that was clearly the wrong plan). Body was great - but my mind had me going too hard too soon and I paid for it in the later miles (and crumbled mentally from 70 to 77).

For 2010, I was much better prepared mentally - having finished Rocky Raccoon 100 in Texas in February (a smidge over 23hours) and Ironman St. George in May - but my physical preparation was hampered by a torn/strained left hip flexor. A few weeks of physical therapy and low-mileage running had it feeling OK, but I was not sure how it would feel as the miles started to pile up.

The day began beautifully with a 4AM start - but you could tell that it was going to be a HOT day. The official high temp was 90 - but there were open sections of the course that reached 96 degrees. The problem in the mid-part of the day was not so much the heat, but it was very humid and body core temps were very hard to keep under control.

Feeling pretty good at 2:30AM at the Bed & Breakfast in Woodstock (20min away from the race start). Ate some apple cake, Clif bar, and an ice coffee to start the fueling for the day. Also took my Xango juice (to control inflammation), Eleviv (for mental focus), and Energ-Ease (for endurance) to get me going.

Throughout the race, I planned to use the same supplements that I typically use every day in training:

Xango Juice (inflammatory balance) = www.xango.com

Eleviv (stress hormone balance and mental focus) = www.eleviv.com

Energ-Ease (endurance) = www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com

Wicked Lean (fat burning) = www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com (coming in August)

Recover-Ease (post-exercise recovery) = www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com

The tattoo below (of my left calf) is the Chinese symbol for “Qi” (pronounced “chee”), which means “life force” and is roughly what we refer to as Vigor in modern psychology research (www.VigorBook.com)

Vigor is defined as a “3-tiered sustained mood state, characterized by physical energy, mental acuity, and emotional well-being” (you might recognize the opposite of Vigor, which is called “Burnout”) - and I was hoping that my Vigor would stay high and allow me to see the “Welcome 100 Milers” sign within 24-30 hours later...

Here is a quick article that I wrote for Competitor Magazine. It's about "breaking" a very common "rule" of nutrient timing (eating immediately after exercise) as an approach to helping you hit your race weight.

Here is the text of the article (below)- and the link to the original at Competitor (http://running.competitor.com/2010/05/features/now-or-later_10020)

Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for reading...

Shawn Talbott, PhD

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

shawn@WickedFastSN.com

How disobeying a common rule of nutrient timing can help you reach your race weight.

Written by: Shawn Talbott, PhD

If you’re having trouble losing fat and getting down to your optimal “race weight” this season, then you’re not alone. Among the endurance athletes that I work with (recreational age-groupers and elite-level alike) one of the most difficult balancing acts is to solve the conflict between consuming more calories (to completely fuel your muscles and improve/maintain performance) and eating “less” (to induce an energy deficit and encourage fat/weight loss). Go too far toward “fueling” and you don’t lose weight and go too far toward “cutting” and your performance suffers. So, how do you find the right balance point between fueling enough and not enough (or too much)?

Much has been made over the past few years about the importance of nutrient timing – which most of the time is interpreted as fueling immediately (or at least as soon as possible) following a bout of training. The general idea here is that your body is better able to replenish muscle and liver glycogen stores if you consume a blend of carbs/protein as soon as possible following exercise (for a variety of metabolic reasons including blood flow, enzyme activity, etc). True enough – but do you really need to be doing that? If your main objective is to fully restore glycogen levels for another high-intensity workout later in the day or the following day, then maybe you do need to fuel right away. If, however, you’re like most non-professional endurance athletes, and your main objective it to maximize weight/fat loss (to enhance performance later in the season), then the answer might be that you should not be fueling immediately after exercise.

This recommendation goes against a great deal of what many age-groupers hold as common knowledge. You’ve been taught to slurp a carb gel before, sip a carb beverage during, and chug a carb/protein shake after your workouts. In doing so, you’re certainly enhancing your replenishment of glycogen – but you’re also reducing your body’s ability to burn fat and your ability to achieve your optimal race weight. In metabolism research, there is a saying that “fat burns in the flame of carbohydrate” – meaning that optimal fat metabolism occurs when some carbs are being metabolized (certain breakdown products of carbohydrate metabolism are needed as cofactors for cellular fat metabolism). The problem is that the constant supply of carbs before/during and especially after training reduces insulin sensitivity and reduces our ability to use fat for fuel and thus our ability to lose body fat. When your glycogen stores are stuffed full, as they are when you’re constantly fueling before/during/after training, there is nowhere left to store more glucose, so we burn it in preference to fat. If you can’t burn fat, you can’t lose fat.

A useful approach for many endurance athletes who are trying to lose those last few pounds to get them to their race weight is to simply stop eating after their workouts, because doing so will improve insulin sensitivity and enhance fat-burning and weight loss (Black et al. Improved insulin action following short-term exercise training: role of energy and carbohydrate balance. J Appl Physiol 99: 2285–2293, 2005). If you’re a bodybuilder, or a Tour de France rider, or have aspirations of finishing on the podium at Kona, then you’re probably training hard enough and often enough (at least twice daily) that you’re already at your optimal body fat level and you can (and should) eat (and eat a lot) immediately after every workout. But, even very good and highly competitive endurance athletes probably do not need to fuel immediately after their workouts – unless they’re already at your optimal race weight and have no need to shed any body fat. Instead, save the immediate post-workout fueling for after your most epic workouts (when you really need to maximize your glycogen replenishment) and instead allow your body to use that post-exercise period to benefit from enhanced fat metabolism. Eating later (2 or 3 hours later at your next meal) will still result in replenished glycogen stores – at least to a level that is enough to adequately support the typical training regimens for most recreational endurance athletes – and you’ll notice a gradual and progressive drop in body fat (with the same training regimen) that may have been eluding you previously.

***

About the author: Dr. Shawn Talbott is an avid iron-distance triathlete and ultrarunner. He holds a MS in exercise science (Massachusetts) and a PhD in nutritional biochemistry (Rutgers) and develops products and programs for endurance athletes in a variety of sports.

Read more: http://running.competitor.com/2010/05/features/now-or-later_10020#ixzz0rJPUNI4E

The Hardest Ironman?

This past weekend I tackled the inaugural St. George Ironman in Southern Utah. The course was beautiful with stunning red rock vistas throughout the swim, bike, and run – and the volunteers were off-the-charts amazing (as St. George residents always are for the many endurance events held in their city throughout the year). 

What really struck me about the event, was how many people – participants and organizers alike – who were crowing all weekend about St. George being the “hardest” of the Ironman events. I’ll grant that it is certainly a hard course – COLD water and a HILLY & WINDY course for both the bike and run – but while it might be the hardest course in the “M-dot” series, it is certainly not nearly as hard as some other iron-distance events (the Silverman in nearby Henderson, NV – just outside of Las Vegas, is undoubtedly a more grueling course in terms of climbing on the bike).

One important difference between the events is that IMSG is on May 1 – early season for most of us, so total miles and overall fitness are hard to have at peak levels – and Silverman comes later in the year – November – allowing competitors to have a full Summer of training under their belts. I was chatting about these differences to a fellow multi-Ironman finisher (Julie from Maryland – IMSG was her 15^th and my 13^th) and she agreed with my assessment of the challenge of “hard early-season IMSG” versus “even harder late-season Silverman” (both of us having now finished both events).

One of her comments (which I agreed with) was the “value” difference between the 2 events. At IMSG (like all other events in the M-dot series), you pay about $500 and get a very well-run event (good organization, well-marked and policed course, great volunteers, and a cheap plate of pre-race pasta) – and if you finish, you get a decent hat and t-shirt (and some cold pizza). At Silverman, you pay about HALF the entry fee to get the same level of well-run event, but then you also get a PILE of SWAG that in various years has included embroidered back packs, blankets, towels, hats, shirts, Recover-Ease, water bottles, etc. At Silverman, you pay less, but it seems like every time you turn around you are getting more more more!

Not to take anything away from the folks who run the Ironman series of events – they have done a brilliant job of marketing their brand and providing a consistently solid event in many locations around the world. I fully intend to compete in every single one of them at least once. That said, the M-dot folks could perhaps learn a thing or two from the organizers of the “other” Iron-distance events in terms of customer satisfaction – I am MUCH more likely to talk to other triathletes about my amazing experiences at Silverman or Great Floridian (my 2 favorites of my 13). Lots of people will only do one Ironman in their entire lives – cross it off their “bucket list” and be done with it – don’t you think those folks should have an AMAZING experience instead of just a so-so one?

Thanks for reading…

Shawn

====================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

Shawn@WickedFastSN.com

www.WickedFastSportsNutrition.com

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I very rarely do any event more than once. I find that the "adventure" of a new event is more enjoyable than trying to "beat my time" on the same course from one year to the next.

That said - there are a handful of events that I have done or would consider doing more than once because they are so unique or memorable or just outright cool - here are a few for your consideration:

Silverman Triathlon (http://www.silvermannv.com/) - in Henderson Nevada (just outside of las Vegas) - hands down the hardest Iron-distance event out there. The swim is magnificent in crystal-clear Lake Mead, the bike is hilly and brutal and hot (even in November) and the run is also hilly but there are lots of enthusiastic volunteers. Frank Lowery runs a stellar event and the swag-bag puts the "official" Ironman-series events to shame.

Squaw Peak 50 (http://www.squawpeak50.com/sqw_mstr.htm) - in Provo Utah. One of the hardest and hilliest and rockiest 50-mile trail runs around - but also one of the most beautiful, which is what keeps me coming back (this years will be #3) to John Bozung's masterpiece event.

Vermont 100 (http://www.vermont100.com/) - truth be told, the only reason I'm giving this one another try is because I DNFed in 2009. I am hoping for a "smarter" run in 2010 - now that I have a proper respect for the distance...

Mid-Mountain Marathon (http://www.mountaintrails.org/) in Park City, UT. I have done this one 3 times and have loved every one of them. The course follows the Mid-Mountain Trail at about 8,000 feet from Deer Valley Resort to Park City Mountain Resort and finishing at The Canyons Resort. You find yourself running past ski slopes, pine forest, aspen groves - and stunning scenery at every turn. Not a lot of oxygen though.

Desert RATS Trail Run (http://geminiadventures.com/DesertRATSfestival.html) in Fruita, CO. Held by the good folks at Gemini Adventures, this 25 (or 50) mile run thru the red rocks of Fruita has some of the most stunning desert vistas.

Nantucket Rock Run (http://www.therockrun.com/) - is 50 miles of running in the sand/surf around Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts. Not a lot in the way of support - but most of the runners are doing a 10-mile leg as part of a relay team - so we solo runners have to fend for ourselves - which is part of the fun. Ocean on your left, mansions on your right, and miles of beautiful sand and oceanscape ahead - a great day to spend a day and Hector will make sure you find a cold beer at the finish line!

Let me know if you decide to do any of these events - you will not regret any of them!

Until next time...

Shawn