Results

Wicked Fast - and Wicked Fun...

Here are some of our athletes out there enjoying the thrill of competition and the benefits of more energy and faster recovery.

September 24, 2007 - Race Reports from Team Wicked Fast

Team Wicked Fast Triathlete, David Shaw, had a great race at the Emerald Coast Sprint Triathlon – Here is his race report:

Dear Wicked Fast,
It was great talking to you last week, it is a huge difference talking to someone who is excited about your training and racing instead of just putting up big results. But Saturday was awesome! I actually did a small taper for the race and was feeling pretty good Saturday morning. I took my Energ-Ease and did a 1-mile warm up run and some swimming to loosen up. When the race started I kept looking up to sight on the first buoy and thinking to myself where is everyone (I'm just a mediocre swimmer), well when I turn to shore after the final buoy I still only had a handful of people in front of me? When I came out of the water I felt GREAT and sprinted up the beach passing 3 people on the way to transition, I got on the bike and started hammering. Since there was a Duathlon going on at the same time I never really knew where I sat so I just kept my head down and hammered. At the run around I was in 4th place (I would later find out I was in third for the Tri) and we hit the headwind. I kept up the hard tempo and was closing in on 2nd. When I got to the transition I felt better then I ever had at this stage of this race. I was feeling the pressure from the runner behind me but decided I was just going to run as hard as I could. I hung on until the last half mile when I was passed by the eventual 3rd place finisher. At the finish line Jeff (3rd place) said he was not going to be beat by a Clydesdale and was determined to beat me. We did a short 3.5-mile cool down run and then I took my Recover-Ease. Every one that I see only on race weekends was asking me what I was taking. After the awards ceremony we decided to ride the Ironman course on Sunday. Sunday was hot and windy, and I put up a great training time averaging over 20 MPH, there is no way I could have done this the day after a effort like that without my Recover-Ease. The closer Ironman Florida gets the more confident I am that with my Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease I will have a great race.

 

Team Wicked Fast Endurance Mountain Biker, Jeff Kerkove, took 7th in the grueling Vapor Trail 125 on Sept. 9, 2007 in Salida, Colorado. You can read about his outstanding performance here.

 

Team Wicked Fast Triathlete, Ben Greenfield, sends us this race report from the Black Diamond Half-Ironman Triathlon in Seattle:

The Black Diamond Half attracted a field of pretty fast guys that I've been clashing with all season, so it was the final chance to see who comes out on top. I needed at least a 3rd place finish to be in the points running for the #1 Overall Triathlon Northwest ranking.

15 minutes before the race started, I stood freezing in the cold morning temperatures and contemplated my transition area. Something was missing...I couldn't figure it out, then realized - my Blue Seventy wetsuit was back in the car, 2 miles up the road! For those of you unfamiliar with wetsuits, not having my Blue Seventy is basically the equivalent of losing a good 1-2 minutes easily in the swim. So I hopped on my bike and sped to the car. After arriving back at transition, breathless and well warmed-up, I joined my friend Roger Thompson )also a member of Team Wicked Fast) to be literally the last 2 people down to the swim start, with just a couple minutes to spare.

At the last hour before the race began, I had joined the men's "elite" wave. Since there were only a few elites racing, I decided it would be fun to join them. We started 60 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, so the swim start was a bit less jostling.

I came out of the water in what appeared to be 3rd or 4th and had a smooth transition onto the bike, although I headed out of transition area the wrong direction and had to be re-directed.

My plan for this race was to ride my Specialized Transition Elite somewhat conservatively with a steady RPM and fuel very well so that I had good sugar reserves for the run. The bike actually ended up even better than planned. Wheelsport East recently hooked me up with some new tires on the shop Zipps, and they felt fantastic.

I fueled with Hammer Gel Perpetuum (I use the Cee Gees hydration system) and Nuun electrolytes. I managed to hold off most of the field for 3rd place coming into transition - where the volunteers directed me the WRONG WAY! I lost 30 seconds pedaling my bike in the complete opposite direction until realizing I had been mistakenly pointed the wrong way. 1st and 2nd place were already out on the run at this point, so my heart sank as I realized I probably couldn't win this thing and would actually have to hold off the speedy guys behind me - and there were some fast people back there!

After my mistake at the Troika Half-Ironman in Spokane, in which I started the run *way* too hard, I decided to run the first 7 miles of this race again somewhat conservatively - even though I had to make up time for my mistake on the bike to have any chances of winning. 1st and 2nd place managed to stay well ahead of me during this time, and according to my splits, actually gained 30-40 seconds on me until the 7 mile turnaround point.

Feeling my energy reserves were strong and noting that 4th place appeared to be getting dangerously close to me, I "opened up" at this point and settled into a steady 6 minute mile. At this pace, I quickly reeled in the 2nd place guy and settled into a steady pace just 50 yards off the heels of the leader - and I was feeling GREAT! Leading up to the race, after every workout had been taking Wicked Fast Recover-Ease - the stuff works!

Then the WORST thing happened - myself and the leader were directed the wrong way AGAIN and this time ran hard nearly a quarter mile off course. By the time we figured it out and turned around, there was a new race leader. At this point, there were 3 miles to go.

Sometimes you have to go to "the bank". This is when you dig deep and tell yourself that the next 20 minutes will be some of the most painful, teeth-gritting, lung-tearing times you'll have to endure. I was mad about being directed the wrong way so many times, I still had fire in my legs, and I was hungry for a win.

I literally began sprinting and didn't look back. I quickly caught the new leader and the old leader was still breathing down my neck, so I amped it up even faster. By this time, I was nearly seeing stars.

The next 10 minutes were pretty blurry and fast. In the last mile, I put nearly 2 minutes on the rest of the field and won the race handily with a time of 4:21. If not for all the wrong directions, this would have been a big PR. But I'll take first place regardless!

Great way to finish the local Northwest season and set myself up for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii on October 12 and the Half Ironman World Championships in Clearwater, Florida on November 10!

September 16, 2007 – Race Results from Team Wicked Fast Members

From our Team Wicked Fast triathletes in beautiful Puerto Rico, Solymar Rivera, Nati Torres, and Miguel Rivera, come some nice results from around the country, including:

Pittsburgh Triathlon
• Solymar Rivera 8th place at Youth Elite Category (13-15)
• Natividad "Nati" Torres - 2nd place @ W45-49
• Miguel Rivera -4th place @ M55-59

Great Colorado Triathlon
• Solymar Rivera 10th place @ Youth Elite Championship (13-15)
• Natividad "Nati" Torres - 2nd place @ W45-49
• Miguel Rivera - 1st place @ M55-59

Chavin 2k Open Water Swim
• Natividad "Nati" Torres - 1st place @ W45-49
• Miguel Rivera - 1st place @ M55-59

Pan American Masters Swimming Championship
• Natividad "Nati" Torres (W45-49) - 5 Individual medals (2 gold; 1 silver; 2 bronze) & 4 Relay Medals (all 4 Gold!!!!)
• Miguel Rivera (M55-59) - 4 individual medals (1 gold; 1 silver; 2 bronze) & 1 relay medal (bronze)

Along with the results came a nice note; “Thank You guys - No way these results would be without Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease.”

Keep up the good work!

From Team Wicked Fast Ultra-Endurance triathlete, Leslie Holton, comes the following race report from the 24 Hours of Triathlon event:

My three big lessons learned:
1) Do not stop until the clock runs out (learned the hard way)
2) Do not waste time in transitions, but a 20 minute nap can do wonders
3) I still have that certain something skill that makes for a good ultraracer... my girl cojones are intact

The race started at 8am Sat morning and was heavily swim weighted this year. .5 mile swim, 8.9 mile bike, 3 mile run. Repeat as many times as possible in 24 hours. Most tris wins. Got there, got our transition area set-up. Guarav was our first shift crew, with a few hours of fun from Claudio and his wife. Explained the gameplan to him, and then it was time to go.

At the bell we ran down to the water for a 2 lap swim course. The temps were nice, around 76. Perfect for a wetsuit but tolerable without. Pretty clear water, but lots of waves from boats and wind. They were still placing the buoys which made for some confusion on the first lap as I was sighting a buoy that was moving around, but got through the swim and ran up to my bike. 9 miles of FUN biking, really sweet course with one real hill and plenty of texture hills. Back in and on to the run. 1.5 miles up a gentle hill then back down. Took the whole first tri comfy but at a good pace.

Back to transition and with a little help got back into my wetsuit. Plan is to do 6 swims. Ran down to the water, a bit of a shock getting in but soon settled in. 2 laps and run back up to transition. Sip of Gatorade, and back down for another swim. WHACK. Just after I got into the water I slammed a rock with my left foot. Pulled the rock out and threw it onshore off the course. That hurt. Swim swim. Foot aches but the cold water helps. Back up to transition with a slight limp, look down and it looks alright. Some pretzels and another sip of G-ade and back down again. Repeat. By the 6th time I was noticeably limping going back up to transition.

Sat down to put on the runners for 2 laps of the run. We all looked at my foot and it looked fine. Not really even red. Okay, maybe it's in my head. Limp off to the hill with a sandwich. Walk up and eat, run down. Darned my foot hurts. Repeat the run. Looks like storm clouds are coming in so skip the planned bike and decide to go back for 6 more
swims instead (the swim course is closed from 6:30p to 6:30a, and in storms so we were really worried about getting in enough swims).

Took off my socks and looked at my foot and two of my toes are blue, purple, and BIG. Well, at least it makes sense they hurt but drats! I cannot seem to make it through this race uninjured (last year I crashed hard on the bike in lap 1 and was not allowed back in the water due to roadrash, so only completed 1 tri). No worries, lets get into that wetsuit and back to the water.

Foot ached during the first lap, so after that I took some Excedrin migraine (my drug of choice... 2 types of painkillers and some bonus caffeine). Heading back to the second lap I brushed my toes on the sand funny, tears in my eyes. I had to stand there a few minutes and regroup. Okay, focus on swimming. Man behind me whacks my foot, DAMN! Time for defensive swimming. Finally the Excedrin kicks in and I work through the 6 swims.

Back up to do some more runs. My friend Rip comes for second shift on crew and looks kinda appalled/shocked/weirded out by us crazies, but takes it in stride. 2 runs, then a bike. Decide not to swim again today (it's around 6pm) and instead plan to do a few more in the morning. Start in on a cycle of run when the painkillers are fresh (there's a 2 hour window where they really work), bike when they are not (foot hurts just a little on the bike as long as I don't stand but the bike to run transition is a killer).

There's 4 gals in the race, and I chat with the 2 I know on the run as they glide by me. Try not to let it get me down that I'm getting smoked by both of them. Run when I can, walk when I need to, hobble along when the pain gets bad. Around 4am I get drowsy. Big time sleepy. I'm walking and shut my eyes and weave across the path. Eyes pop open, but soon I do it again. That lap took me forever, and I really thought about laying down in the grass. Too sleepy to bike, that would be scary! Decide when I hit transition to crawl into the car and sleep for 20 minutes. Rip wakes me up after 20 and I feel great! Totally awake. I drink a double-shot, take some more Excedrin, and haul ass on the next run lap. I'm back on!!!

Now I've got 13 swims, 13 runs, and 10 bikes so the plan is to get in 3 bikes and see where that puts me. Work through them and then check results. It's 7:20am, and the latest results are from 6:30am, but it looks like I'm pretty solidly in 2nd. 1st place has 14 tris. Sue only has 11 swims, but 12 bikes and 13 runs. Hmm. It's pretty cold and I'm tired and sore and really don't want to get in the water. Rip thinks I'm insane and encourages stopping and going to the med tent to finally get my foot looked at. I agree.

DUMB dumb dumb! Sue finished her 13th bike at 8:35, for a total of 14, 13, 13. If I would have swam once more I would have matched her 14, 13, 13 at 7:55 (easily placing 2nd), and even been allowed to go back for the 14th bike. Not racing to the bell cost me 2nd place. Big lesson learned! 1st place finished with 15, something, something. My totals were 6.5 miles swim, 127 miles bike, 39 miles hobble.

I absolutely love this race (even though it does not love me). I cannot wait until next year when I'm going to bring it! No ironman the week before, no injuries during the race, and I'm racing to win. The format suits my strengths, the non-travel is awesome... I want this win!

Doctor at the med tent thinks that my 2nd toe (next to the big toe) is fractured, but straight so no need to set it. My 4th toe (next to the pinkie) is badly bruised but not broken. My 3rd toe, surprisingly, is fine. So, I'm buddy taping the 2nd toe and icing and although not recommended (but he understood and thinks it will be fine, just heal slower) will start running on it again Thursday.

Drew raced as well... Mid-day Saturday he looked at the board and saw that the top 2 guys were going for 20 swims so he pushed out 21 swims Saturday (that's 10.5 miles!). He biked solidly, and did okay at the run but just didn't have "it" to match up his tris after that tough day in Ky last weekend. Finished with 21, 15,15. He did do what I should have done though, he headed out on that last run at 7:55 and did not stop until the bell.

Sunday/Monday was a lovely haze of sleeping and eating and watching TV. We did get some stuff done Monday, but it was all in slow-mo.

Next up for me is the double Ironman in October... last race of the season and I hope to do well. Next up for Drew is back to his duathlon roots... Powerman Ohio at the end of the month. Next year I'm bringing it to this race!!!

Team Wicked Fast triathlete, Britta English, dropped us this line about her FIRST IRONMAN!!! (congratulations Britta – way to go!!!)

Dear Wicked Fast: On August 26, 2007 I successfully completed my first Ironman in Louisville in a time, surprising even myself, of 11:02:33 (13th overall female). Although the temps were hot, it was a great day for racing. The city of Louisville embraced all the athletes and their support crews and made the event very exciting. As an inaugural race it was well organized and the volunteers were amazing. I saw a couple of "Team Wicked Fast" race shirts on the course. I hope that all team members had a great race!!

From Team Wicked Fast triathlete, Kirk Wood-Gaines, comes this recent race update:

Kirk is having having a terrific season (9 races already this season and 3 more to go), and he tells us that, “I love competing but I'm really enjoying representing Team Wicked Fast at the events.” Kirk also gets tons of comments on how well Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease are working – especially that once people TRY Wicked Fast products, they ask him stuff like, “I've burned through both my Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease at an alarming rate (can you OD on this stuff???).”

From Wicked Fast triathlete, Ben Greenfield, we received this race report of him SMOKING the course at the annual Palouse Sprint Triathlon, held in Moscow, Idaho.

As a university town triathlon, this event attracts the WSU and UI Triathlon Clubs, as well as many individuals wanting to have a final fast last race of the season, so I knew there'd be some young blood as well as some desperate competitors out on the course. This race *is* USAT sanctioned, which means it's good for the national rankings.

A unique aspect of the event is that because the Palouse is void of any large body of water, the swim takes place in an outdoor pool. As it is a short sprint triathlon, this isn't a problem. The entire field is split into 5 separate heats running from 8:00 up to 9:45 am, with swimmers separated 4 to a lane with those of similar speed. The actual swim is 500 meters, followed by a 10 mile bike and 3.2 mile run.

Now the problem with a race like this is that whereas in an Ironman you stand at the start line thinking "This is going to be a long day", at a sprint triathlon you stand at the start line thinking "This is really going to hurt". It is the long and slow vs. the hard and painfully fast.

I was in the final heat of the day.

When the starting whistle sounded, I pushed off the pool edge and swam until I saw stars. At 10 laps, I came out of the water with 2 other competitors, a previous year's winner from the University of Idaho triathlon team and another previous year's winner from Moscow, Idaho.

My transition was literally about 8 seconds long, and I rode like a bat out of hell, running a bit less pressure in the Zipp's due to chip seal laid down on portions of the course. By the time I got to the turnaround on the bike and got a good look at my competitors, I realized I had ridden WAY too hard. They were specks in the distance. I figured "What the hell" and decided to go for a course record, so I rode just as hard coming back in.

The run was fast and painful, since I knew I was now racing against the clock, and not against my competitors, who at this point were not even a remote issue.

I crossed the finish line and shattered the course record by 40 seconds!

Special thanks to Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition. I'm using their Recover-Ease product after my difficult workouts and especially after this race to speed up muscle repair significantly. I will be introducing their other compound Energ-Ease next week.

Team Wicked Fast endurance mountain biker, Namrita O’Dea, rocks with two wins in two weeks! Here is her recent race update:

Last week, I took 1st overall Women’s Solo at the 13 hours of Santos in Florida. Yesterday at the 6 hours of Conyers, I took 1st in the Women’s Singlespeed Solo and also came in ahead of all the Women’s Solo (geared) riders... (NICE!!! – Ed.) …plus I did the same number of laps as the winning female team! (EXTRA NICE!!! – Ed.) So far, it has been a great year (understatement?! – Ed.) Check out Namrita’s Pictures & Reports

From Team Wicked Fast triathlete, Kim Ellis, we heard this terrific race report:

Thanks to Wicked Fast Nutrition I have had a great race season! I am definitely not the fastest athlete on the circuit, butI have made great improvements in my racing thanks to your amazing products.

I competed in three sprint distance races this year - 2 were repeats from '06 and one was a new race for me. In the races that I repeated this year I was able to shave 10-15 minutes off of my time - my best time this year was 1:31:48 (which as I stated above may not be fast) and it was definitely an improvement for me (hey Kim – way to go, that’s what we like to see at Wicked Fast – continuous personal improvement – Ed.)

I love your products and would not even attempt a recovery without Recover-Ease. I have definitely shared Wicked Fast products with other athletes around me and most people in my triathlon club are now taking them. My only regret is that they’re getting faster now too! Ha, Ha.

I wear my Wicked Fast tee before every event and one of the volunteers made a comment about it. He said "oh - wicked fast Huh?" and I told him that I wear to psych out my competition...

August 29, 2007 – Race Reports From Team Wicked Fast

Team Wicked Fast triathlete, Daniel Arnett from Atlanta, is having his best season yet – thanks in part to Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease. Daniels tells us that “I know that using Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease has helped my training and racing immensely. The time between my races this years is very short, yet I’m setting PRs at almost every one – which tells you how well I am recovering this year compared to last year.”

Daniel has qualified for both the World 70.3 Championships and Team USA at Long Course Duathlon. Way to go Daniel! Here are some of Dan’s recent results:

8/12 Steelman International Tri - 2nd Overall (2:12:05) 6 min PR
8/4 Steelhead 70.3 - 62nd Overall 11th A/G (4:38:03) 3 min PR
7/29 Virginia State Age Graded Time Trial Championships - 3rd Overall
7/23 Indian Springs Sprint Triathlon - 12th Overall, 1st A/G (1:05:55)
5/20 Ironman Florida 70.3 - 91st Overall, 17th A/G (4:40:59) 28 min PR and a World 70.3 Championship Slot
4/29 Bassman Springs Tri - 8th Overall, 3rd A/G (1:53:05)
4/7 3 Sports Long Course Duathlon - 20th Overall, 2nd A/G (2:58:17) Team USA slot
3/24 Smithfield Sprint Tri - 7th Overall, 1st A/G (49:07) 1st non-elite, Age Group course record

Team Wicked Fast mountain biker, Abe Wrobleski, tells us that “Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease are my favorites!” This past weekend, Abe raced the first 24-hour mountain bike race of the season, doing 14 laps. Each lap is 9 miles and climbs 1,300 vertical feet so he ended up doing 126 miles and climbing 18,200 vertical feet on a RIGID SINGLESPEED (talk about hardcore) – while taking Energ-Ease about every 4 hours. On Monday, Abe tells us that his legs were sore (no kidding!?!?), but he took Recover-Ease after the race Sunday and again on Monday – and “by Tuesday I felt like I hadn't ridden at all and the legs felt great! Thanks for the great product!” No Abe – thank YOU for killing it out there…

Team Wicked Fast adventure racer, Dr. Rick Sederberg, had what he calls a “nice surprise” in winning the Off-Road Assault on Mt Mitchell in North Carolina. In July, Rick resumed the final touches of hardcore training for his second entry in the Leadville 100 (mountain bike event), always a tough race, 100 miles at altitudes ranging from 10,000' to a high point of 12,600'. Rick tells us that, “In spite of a stubborn stomach bug the day before the race I managed to finish an hour and forty minutes faster (10:15 ) than in 2002, and at five years OLDER and earning a second sub-12 hour handmade silver and gold belt buckle!” Right on, Rick!

We especially like the rest of Rick’s race report, where he notes that “The best part of the whole event was having wife DeDee and daughter Hayley as my crew, it was truly a team effort, they not only helped with food, sport drinks, and clothing changes, but just as importantly INSPIRATION! Even though I knew early on I wouldn't be setting any records because of the illness associated weakness, their encouragement kept me going when I might have otherwise dropped.” Hey Rick – been there many times ourselves – and we applaud your acknowledgement of why we all do what we do – as well as those who support us in our efforts. Keep up the good work! (Rick is off next to the Four days of La Ruta De Los Conquistadores in Costa Rica in November, the first day alone promising 10+ hrs and 15,000' of climbing. Ouch!!!

Team Wicked Fast triathlete, Dave Shaw, sent us this funny report from his recent conversation with some riding buddies who were at first skeptical of the benefits of Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease. Writing from Georgia and Alabama – here is what Dave told us:

“The long hot dog days of summer are here (in the deep South, no kidding! – Ed.), and while training has continued the racing is pretty sparse. That being said our training group decided to go on a road trip. We found a Century ride in Dothan, Alabama on Saturday and an Olympic distance race on Sunday in La Grange, Georgia. We all decided to ride easy on Saturday so we wouldn't be spent on Sunday. Well it didn't quite go that way (it never does, does it? – Ed.). It was extremely hot (105 at the finish) and the pace and the hills took their toll. After the ride I had some training partners ask me about my “Secret Squirrel” stuff that helped me compete on multiple days. While I handed out my last remaining samples of Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease I had to laugh, because these people thought I was trying to keep something from them (and also because these are the same people I gave samples to at the beginning of the season but were skeptical of the products). Well, Sunday morning came early and everyone of our group was AMAZED at how good they felt. I heard comments ranging from ‘no caffeine feel’ to ‘I have never felt this good after a long workout’. The West Point Triathlon went well with 6 of our group finishing, 4 who had done the 100 and 2 that had done the metric century. I had a great weekend finishing first in the Clydesdale class (which I may be dropping out of soon, having lost 17lbs in the last 2 months and weighing in at a slim 202lbs). I now have multiple requests for Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease…” Great weekend, Dave – and thanks for helping to spread the word about Wicked Fast products – we’re making more “believers” everyday!

Team Wicked Fast mountain biker, Cam Kirkpatrick, sends us the following race report:

“I’d like to start off by thanking you again for your support this season! Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease are two products that I use regularly and are two products that I TRULY believe in. I started the season with a couple of goals in mind. The first was to repeat as the pro / semi pro / expert state champion for the Iowa Mountain Biking Championship Series. The series consists of 7 races with a participant’s best five scores counting towards their series overall points. With five races down, I’ve managed to win two of them while placing 2nd in the others. Barring any major mishaps, the state title is once again mine for the taking!” (Wahoo! – Ed.)

“My second goal was to repeat as the pro / semi pro / expert state champion for the Nebraska state mountain bike racing series, known as the Psycowpath Series. Their series consists of 5 races and all races count towards a participants overall series score. I placed 2nd in the first three races and won the last two races, with the last race also doubling as the state of Nebraska USA Cycling State Mountain Biking Championships. With the above results I was able to attain my goal of repeating as the series champion!” (Holy Guacamole! – Ed.)

“So far, my season has been a huge success (talk about an understatement! – Ed.) and I can attribute a large part of my success to nutrition, which includes the use of Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease. I’ve come to rely heavily upon Energ-Ease for training and on Recover-Ease as part of my recovery process and feel that Wicked Fast products are a very important part of my training, especially at this point in the season where recovery is extremely important in the peaking process.”

What can we say? Mountain Bike Series Champ and State Champ in not one, but TWO states!?!? Way to go, Cam!

August 6, 2007 - Fedofsky and Waterstraat Hammer at Steelhead 70.3

Team Wicked Fast triathletes Elizabeth Fedofsky Waterstratt and husband Chris Waterstraat had great days at the Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Elizabeth placed 1st amatuer female, while Chris placed 5th overall. Awesome!

August 5, 2007 - AJ Johnson Posts Strong Performance at the Law Enforcement Memorial Relay

Team Wicked Fast runner, AJ Johnson sends us this report from the Law Enforcement Memorial Relay from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

"I had set a goal for myself to cover at least three marathons worth distance wise into the three days of running. I had to run more in the first two days due to only having 12 total miles miles left to do on Sunday. As I explained in an earlier email, I knew I could run a long training day in the 30 -40 mile range but I didn’t know what I would feel like the next day when I had to do the same. I began using the Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease about 2-3 weeks prior to the event. I used the Energ-Ease daily and Recover-Ease only after long or hard speed work outs. I seemed to be able to breath easier and had more focus from the Energ-Ease. I believe I recovered a little better while using the Recover-Ease, but I wasn’t trying to kill myself during this time either. The real test for that was the event itself. For the LEMR, I ran 37 miles on Friday, 32 on Saturday and the 12 on Sunday. I used the products as instructed and truly believe that they enabled me to complete the mileage I wanted to do without the discomfort that I would normally have expected. I got up on Saturday after having run 37 miles on Friday and felt almost fresh. No limping, cramping or any pain what so ever. I ran the 32 miles on Saturday easier than the 37 on Friday. I then ran the remaining 12 on Sunday. I was a little stiff but ten minutes into the run I was remarkably fresh again. Some of the people I was running with were asking me if there was something wrong with me and if I was going to take a break. I also served as the camera man for my team so I was constantly running back and forth and sprinting up hills to get ahead of the pack to take pictures. I did explain to a lot of people what I was using and gave them the information on it. Some listened, and some just had that look of 'I think your nuts for running so much.' There was a couple of odometer issues so my mileage was actually higher. My team leader said he believed I ran 95-100 miles just by the amount of time I was out there and after figuring in the speed of the pace car, or lead car. We had to follow a car the entire distance that was going just over 7 miles an hour. Again, thanks for your support! I have spread the word to those I run with and I will be ordering in the future."

You can check out AJ's check blog where you can read about him doing this run as a benefit for a local church - and he raised just over $2000. Way to go AJ!

August 2, 2007 - Sorella Cycling Continue Their Winning Ways

Team Wicked Fast cycling team, Sorella Cycling, has been tearing up the circuit with outstanding finishes thoughout their home state of Georgia and across the country. Check out their July 2007 Newsletter for the scoop...

Keep up the great season Sorella's!

July 31, 2007 - Eddie O'Dea Takes 4th at USA Cycling National 24 Hour Championships

Two years in a row now! Team Wicked Fast Endurance Mountain Biker, Eddie O'Dea, had a great weekend, taking 4th place in the elite category at the USA Cycling National 24 Hour Championships. The race was nearly a disaster for Eddie when he found himself sitting in 17th place at 1:00 AM and over a lap out from the podium. Then it all turned around and he was finally able to deliver the goods.

You can read the long version here and see a pic of Eddie on the podium here

Way to go - Eddie O!

July 31, 2007 - Matt Hart Race Report

Team Wicked Fast Ultra Runner Extraordinaire, Matt Hart is having an absolutley steller year of endurance success. In his own words, "I love Recover-Ease and I take it daily." Just back from an ultra in Oregon, the Mount Hood PCT 50 miler, which he won in 7:13!

Here are Matt's 2007 results so far:

1st Place - Mt Hood PCT 50 Miler
2nd Place - TRIOBA 12hr Adv Race
1st Place - Big Horn 50k Ultra
1st Place - Blanchard Mtn 33 miler
1st Place - TRIOBA Sprint Adv Race
2nd Place - HURT 100k (considered the hardest 100k on the planet - i ran the second fastest time ever run)
1st Place - Ron Herzog 50k

Matt also reports that he's "hooked" on Recover-Ease, as are a couple of his endurance-training clients (Matt runs Coaching Endurance and would be a good guy to seek out if you need a hand with your plan)...

Way to go Matt - keep up the outstanding performances!

July 31, 2007 - Publisher of Tri Hive Magazine Blown Away by Energ-Ease

I've been training consistently for a while (Late winter-ish). I ride on my trainer once a week with a power meter, and do a power test on the recovery weeks (every fourth week).

My power improvements have been right around 5 points per test. I've taken Energ-Ease every throughout this last cycle (two pills a day). My training hasn't changed a ton. If anything, I've put more emphasis on running throughout the last cycle, and maintained my cycling. I have not been doing anything out of the ordinary. In fact, I've racked my brain trying to find something different. Enger-Ease is the only added factor.

I'm 99 percent sure my meter is reading properly. It gave me no reason to think otherwise, and it's never been weird before.

Had a bike power test on Saturday and improved by 13 points/watts. For me, this is a huge amount. Maybe I was inspired by Levi's TT performance.

Anywho, I thought I share the experience with you.

Alex McKinley - Editor of TriHive Magazine

July 31, 2007 - Steve Attle Swims the Sound to Raise Money for Cancer Charity

Team Wicked Fast Triathlete, Steve Attle, plans Swim Across the Sound to raise funds for cancer research. Here is Steve's report:

As many of you know... I have found a new passion in Triathlons. I just completed my first Ironman Triatlon in Lake Placid NY on July 22nd and I am hooked more than ever! I am hoping to turn that energy and passion to help with fundraising and causes in our local area...

This coming Saturday, I will be swimming to help raise money for a very important cause called Swim Across the Sound and I'm asking you for your support in making a contribution.

I will be part of a 6 person relay team that is swimming just over 25 km from Port Jefferson, NY to Captains Cove in Bridgeport, CT to raise money for cancer research and patient programs.

The Swim Across the Sound is one of the most successful athletic fundraising events of its kind in the USA. In 2006, the year long series of fundtaising events under the Swim umbrella successfully raised over $2.5 million to help cancer patients in need. Today, the 35 programs touch the lives of some 20,000 children and adults throughout Southern Connecticut.

Please use the link in this e-mail to donate on-line easily and securely. You will recieve and e-mail confirmation of your donation and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation as well. I thank you in advance for your tremendous support, and truly appreciate your generosity!
http://www.active.com/donate/sas2007/stephenAttle

Thank you!
Stephen

July 31, 2007 - Season Update from Team Wicked Fast Triathlete Roger Thompson

March:
Oceanside 70.3
I have done this race a few times and it’s always humbling for a Pacific Northwesterner to go down to the warm climate of Oceanside and pull off
a good result. But I always come away with a new found knowledge of where I am, and where I need to go. The swim down at Oceanside is a bit
confusing with so many age group waves and the general course layout.  So I am pretty happy to come out in the top 5% of my wave there every
year to get on the bike. This would be my first year that I would be racing my new Felt DA. It performed very well. It felt effortless and
I came away with my fastest ever bike split down there taking off about 12 minutes off my prior bike splits with less effort. My run went okay,
but not comparable to my bike. I was disappointed with my 19th place finish, but it was early and it definitely let me know what I needed to
work on.

Whitworth Sprint Triathlon
This was an early season sprint race that was a lot of fun. I was able to test out my new bike on a short technical course and see how it would
perform in race conditions… it worked very well. This was a very technical course since it was 13 laps of a 1 mile course. Very mentally
challenging not only remembering which lap you were on, but staying mentally sharp for the corners and other participants on the course. I
ended up coming away with the overall win at this local race. Great training for future short course events.

April:
Spring Thaw Duathlon
This was a great duathlon that kind of starts off the multisport season for the surrounding communities of Spokane. A great turnout with some
great competition. It’s definitely a runners course, so you get some great runners there as well. I seemed to have a good race there setting
a new course record and winning overall. Another test to see that my speed was still there… even though it was pretty painful.

May:
Napa Valley Half Ironman
This race was a great test for me. I wanted to work on my Ironman pacing and try out some new nutrition and intervals for it. I had a
great swim, a super bike, and a solid run. I ended up severely cramping on the run at about mile 9 in my right calf, but I was able to maintain
an ‘altered’ running gait to finish the race winning my age group and coming in 2nd overall to professional Gordo Byrn.

June
Blue Lake
Blue Lake was a USAT Olympic distance race that was a Tri Northwest Club Championship as well. There was a large turn out with a couple
professionals in attendance as well. The race went pretty well for me. It was the first Olympic race that I had done since ITU World
Championships in 2005. I love that distance, and my body seems to adjust well to it too. I ended up having a phenomenal bike split
(fastest of the day) followed by a strong run. I ended up winning my age group and placing 2nd overall to Matt Lieto. A very competitive
field so I was very pleased with my fitness for that distance since I have been focusing on Ironman and half Ironman races.

Trailblazers Sprint Triathlon
Another great local sprint race that brings out a lot of great competition. A very fast course. I jumped into this one at the last
minute. I was not sure I would do it with it being only a week out from Ironman Cda. But what the heck. It’s a race that would be less than an
hour and it was a great opportunity to see a lot of the local athletes and find out about how their season has been going. Everything in this
race was strong and felt solid. Again, my bike was perfect. I ended up winning overall.

Ironman Cda
Might be a little long winded on this one:

The day started off like all the other days this week… windy. The fortunate part is that the temperature was a unseasonably cool. It felt more like a fall morning than a summer one.  The past 4 Ironman Cdas have been so incredibly hot, that this was a welcomed change. But the wind was not welcomed by most. I loved to see the wind on the swim. I was actually excited to get started. It was going to be a tough swim.

Everything was set in transition and ready to go. I had mentally gone over the race over and over. But no matter how many times you check and
re check, you seem to think that you will forget something.

Before the swim start, they announced that athletes could opt out of the swim. People choosing this would not get age group awards or qualify
for a Kona slot, but in case anyone was afraid that they would not be able to swim in the conditions did have an alternative. I like this
announcement because it was letting all the athletes know that the water conditions were as bad as they looked. It instilled a little more fear
in the participants, and the overall feel of the day. Me… I was excited! I love chaos. I love tough conditions. I love it when the
course may be considered ‘dangerous.’ Bottom line it’s water, there are waves, and you swim. If you have been swimming in a pool for the past
year, this may be a little more than you would want to see right now.  But I was actually really excited for this race to start.

I started on the front line in a spot that looked like to me was a straight shot to the first turn. But when you are looking at about 750
yards out, everything looks like a straight shot. The wind was moving the markers a bit, so I just wanted to be sure that I knew where I was
going because when your head is in the water with those waves pounding against it, sometimes it’s tough to spot.

The cannon went off and the race began. I took off pretty hard with a shorter stroke count to battle the consistently larger waves. Kind of
like riding in a smaller gear and spinning up a hill. I went about 200 yards and then started to look around to see who was around me. It did
not seem like anyone so I started to wonder if I was going in the wrong direction. Soon I started to merge with the rest of the masses on the
buoy line and things got a little tight. But it soon settled in and the typical bumping was going on. Nothing to unusual, a couple flagrant
grabs here and there, but nothing that really screwed me up.

As I rounded the 1st lap of the swim, it felt good. I did not know my split, but I was definitely in a front group. The second lap was a
pretty easy swim to settle in to. My only problem in the swim was when we came up on some slower swimmers that we were ‘lapping.’ I ended up
getting more upright and pointing my toes more erectly downward which cramped up my calves. This happened 2 times, once to each calf. It
hurt so bad that I had to start kicking with my foot at a 90 degree angle to my leg for a bit… kind of like wearing a hiking boot. Not the
best form, but with my Blue 70 suit on, it did not seem to impact me too much with the leg flotation. But it was pretty painful and a bit nerve
wracking. I was a little concerned about the impact this would have on the rest of the day. But for the time being I needed to get done with
the swim and get on my bike.

I ended up coming out of the water in an hour and a few seconds. My slowest wetsuit legal swim to this point. But considering the
conditions, I thought it might be good. I later found out I was 60th overall which was good. So the course must have been slow, or the
conditions made the course slow.

I had a pretty good T1 and was on my bike quickly. The air was cool, but the sun was out and I knew the day would get warm. I had my race
plan and nutrition pretty dialed in. I was going to stick with the same, or similar, plan as the one I used in the half IM in early May.
My intensity zones (HR) were adjusted for longer distance. I had a lactate threshold test done a few days prior at Champions Sports
Medicine by Ben Greenfield to deterFor the first 45 miles, things felt good. The bike felt effortless. I wanted to make sure that I was not going too hard early on (common problem) and then pay for it later. I kept monitoring my effort and HR. I was breathing through my nose, felt like I could hold a conversation with someone… all the signs that things were good. I was all by myself on the bike. I almost felt like I was on the wrong course. I was in 14th place overall by the 34 mile with one of the fastest bike splits,  and I felt pretty good. But I was noticing that my stomach was feeling
a bit ‘gassy.’ I could not figure out what was going on, but I decided to stick with my nutritional plan. After about 30 minutes more, my
stomach was feeling worse and I started to notice a decrease in my hydration interval. My heart rate started to drop a bit and my
intensity was still feeling the same. This all tells me one of two things: More food or more water. But nothing was going in really well.
I knew I was getting behind on nutrition and my race was starting to suffer. From about miles 45-65 things were rough. I felt like this
great ride I had established was going to start falling apart.

I rolled through Special Needs on the bike and grabbed my bottle that I had planned to and made a bathroom stop. After leaving the Special
Needs section I was not feeling like things were doing any better and I started to try and figure out what was going on. At about the 80 mile
mark I decided to abort my nutritional plan and go with the one that I have used in the past that was more gel based and water. But that this
point in the race, I was way behind. I did not know how far behind, but I was definitely going downhill. I started feeling a little better with
bout 15 miles to go on the bike, but things definitely were impacted from my lack of nutrition. But the bike was over and all I had left was
a marathon.

I came off the bike in 18th overall and had a fast T2. As I started out on the run, I wanted to make sure that I did not go out too hard. I
figured if I stayed at 8:00 miles, I would be in good shape. I started off slow for the first 2 miles but still found myself at 7:30 miles. So
I eased it up a bit more. My stomach was feeling sour and I just wanted to throw up or something. I thought that if I had to run 26.2 miles
with my stomach like this, it was going to be tough. My like times started to drop and so did my HR. I knew what I was experiencing was
again a result of improper nutrition on the bike and now it was impacting me on the run. I made it through the 1st lap okay, but I was
getting slower and slower. At about mile 18, things just went from bad to worse. My calf that had flared up in Napa that I had been going to PT
for since was getting tight. I walked through the aid station and went to run again and my calf said no. I knew that I could potentially do
some serious long term damage if I were to keep pushing it, so I was limited to a walk. Not the best situation to be in at mile 18. To walk
8 more miles was going to be long.

Fortunately at the aid station I grabbed a couple fists full of cookies and a couple cups of water and Gatorade. I wolfed those down like the
true Cookie Monster. I ran into some friends on the side of the road and chatted with them or a bit. I could have stayed there all day, but
I figured I should get going if I was going to finish by dark. After about 3-5 minutes I started walking again. I walked about 2 miles,
through a couple aid stations before I attempted to run again. The run actually felt better than the walk, but I was not going fast. I think I
was at about a 10:30 or so. I finally reached the turnaround at Bennett Bay and was happy to know that I was heading home. I continued to run
and was going to try and run the rest of the way back hoping and elevate my pace. My stomach was feeling better and felt like I finally had
something in my stomach to work off of. I think that the cookies (though not the best for quthem that my body needed. I think that by consuming so many calories and walking for a bit allowed my body to absorb the calories and get caught up. I got the mile 23 and started drinking cola and running
harder. It was feeling pretty good… well, as good as you every feel at the end of a marathon. With about 1 mile to go I elevated my pace a bit
more. I really was not noticing anyone cheering. I was pretty much in a zone, and not necessarily a good one. As I approached the turn to the
finish, I was happy to watch all the people continue to the second lap.  I made the turn to see about 400 meters to the finish. A beautiful
sight with a slight downhill grade. The bad part of this sight was that there was a guy about 75 meters ahead of me that looked like he was in
my age group. Now I have always said that by running faster, or sprinting, in the last 200 will not make up time, but it will make up
places. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to close this gap but I elevated my pace a bit more and started striding out a bit. I could
tell I was closing on him, but the finish was approaching fast. The crowd was cheering louder and louder sensing me, the guy from behind,
might just pass this guy. Since this happened, he turned to look back and see what people were cheering about. When he saw that I was closing
in, he increased his pace as well. Crap! The finish line was getting closer and closer. I was in the better position to close, but did I
have the kick to do it. As I was running down the stretch, I was a lot of familiar faces cheering their hearts out. It really helped me out.
As I got close to him, with about 125meters to go, I saw that he was 27…not in my age group. But I had worked so hard to get to where I was.
It would be silly not to attempt the pass. I got up next to him and he elevated his pace one last time. We were now approaching the stands and
the finishing arch. I took a deep breath and let it fly. I got by him pretty quickly and he pretty much gave up and settled back in to his
original pace. I looked back to see that I had a pretty good gap on him so now it was time to celebrate in the finishing stretch. I have always
said that of all the areas to ‘run fast’ this was not the area. The final 40 meters is all about you. The crowd, he announcer, the banners,…
it’s all there and I think it’s so important to absorb this. But I could not go from a 6:30 pace to walking. So I spun around and
acknowledged the crowd and ‘high fived’ both sides as I came to the finish. It always feels like you won the race here no matter what
place, or time you come in. It’s just the energy.

So though my run did not go very well to put it mildly, I still came in at 10:15. Not too bad for that course, but bad since my swim was a 1 hr
and bike was 5:09. That leaves over 4 hours for the marathon. Yikes!  Slowest marathon ever for me. But it also goes to show you that
perseverance does pay off. I was able to get a Kona slot because my age group got 10 and 3 did not take them. I was 12th in my age group so I
ended up getting one. Whew! I was really thankful of this because in the race I figured I was at about 30th in my age group. The difference
between 12 and 9th was about 4 minutes. The same amount of time that I stood talking with some people on the run after I started to walk at
mile 18. You can always look back and find places where you ‘could have’ made up time. But it does not change the outcome. So it was nice to
get this taken care of here. I will still race IM Canada and hopefully put together a good race up there. I had a great race there last year,
so that might be tough to top.

Okay, if you are still with me after that report, then I’ll make the rest shorter :)

July
Spring Meadow Olympic
I raced this race back in 2005 and it went well after swimming off course and having a sprint finish with Adam Jensen in the last 200
meters. I wanted to test my fitness after IM Cda this year to see where I was and was not. The race went well. I swam on course, bikedand had a solid run. I was disappointed in my run time, but knew that I was still recovering from IM. I ended up winning overall there with a
similar time as 2005 when I was specializing in that distance. So I was happy about that, but not ecstatic.

17th annual Tiger Triathlon
This is a quarter Ironman race that is always tough and brings out some of the faster athletes in the area. I won this race in 2005 and was
looking forward to another good race here again. It did go well, but not perfect. I had some ‘volunteer’ difficulties in both transitions
that cost be about 40 seconds. But the race goes on. I had a great swim coming out 10 seconds behind the lead swimmer, my bike split once
again went very well, and the run was steady. I ended up getting passed by the eventual race winner with about 1 mile to go. He beat me by
17seconds so that lost time in transition haunted me a bit. But that is just the way it goes sometimes. Better here than at Worlds.

Federal Escape Triathlon- 2008 World’s Team Qualifier
This was a race that I have had my eyes on for about a month. I really wanted to race ’08 Worlds which will be in Vancouver Canada. It’s so
close and such a HUGE race. I really wanted to attend this one again.  Since USAT Nationals were the week after IM Cda, I knew that I would not
be in good form to race an Olympic race, and do well, that soon. USAT offered 8 regional qualifiers for ’08 Worlds to fill the remainder of
the team. Our regional qualifier was Federal Escape. Only challenge, you needed to WIN your division. I have had some great results
throughout the years, but I don’t think I have ever gone into a race saying that I was going to ‘win.’ I normally know it’s a possibility,
but I just want to race my best. And if I do that, normally things fair well. There were a few guys that I saw on the race confirmation that
were fast. One guy who can run 10ks in about 33 minutes. So I knew I would need to have a solid day with everything going right. My goal was
to get an ITU slot… that’s it. I knew that would mean going hard from start to finish without any mishaps. The swim went very well. A lot of
bumping, positioning, but nothing out of the ordinary. I came into T1 with some familiar faces from our Tri Fusion club, Ben Greenfield and
Joe Byers. That was good to see since they are very strong swimmers. But already out of T1 and on the road was professional Chris Tremonte
over 2 minutes ahead. The bike course was a very technical course. It was a 4 lap course with about 9 turns per lap. Congestion could be a
factor as well as maintaining speed. I took off on the bike and started to reel anyone I could in. I maintained a steady effort and power
output. Ironically, as the race went on, my heart rate dropped and my power output and speed increased… that’s good. I had not clue where I
was overall in this race by lap 3 since there were so many people on the course and you did not know which lap anyone was on. Jessi told me I
was in first, but I did not know by how much… but it really did not matter. All I knew was that I needed to keep going and push the bike to
gain as much time as I could over these phenomenal runners. I came into T2 alone. Always a good sight to not see any bikes in T2. I took off
running a solid pace letting my body settle in and get comfortable. I ran the first 5k in about 18+ minutes. For me, a solid 5k in an Olympic
race. Jessi could not tell me how far 2nd was back since she had not seen him. She knew it was more than 50 seconds. I picked up the pace
on the second lap a bit to give it what I could. I was now seeing more runners on the course that were on their 1st lap. I wanted to get past
them so that anyone that was chasing me would have a tough time finding me in the mix. At mile 4 I elevated even more, and then again at mile
5. I knew the last half mile would be a tough one, so I was prepared.  I knew that I WOULD NOT get passed with a half mile to go. pushing it harder and harder and saw the finish line in sight. Jessi said that she could see him now, and to not let up. I knew he would
have to run about a 3 minute mile to close the gap, but Jessi just did not want me to slow for anything. I ended crossing the line and winning
overall. I secured my slot for the 2008 ITU World Championships. I was so excited. In the process I beat one of the fastest short course pros
on the Pacific Northwest. It was a great result for me. Possibly the best race of the season so far. I have not seen the official splits
yet, but I know that solid splits in every leg played a role. My swim, bike, and run all went to plan. I have to give a little extra credit to
my bike split since I know that is where I gained the most time. This course definitely favored a technical rider… thanks for that.

Now I am off to prepare for IM Canada. Talk about a roller coaster of a season. Getting ready for Ironmans, then short course, now back to
Ironman…wow! But the bottom line is that I have accomplished to get into the biggest races in the world by adjusting things quickly and
efficiently. I’m really looking forward to Kona, and really, that will be my next big race. Even with Ironman Canada in between.

July 30, 2007 - English 2nd Female at Muncie Endurathon

Team Wicked Fast triathlete, Britta English finished a very strong 2nd place overall Femaleat the Muncie Endurathon. Despite unexpected and "wicked" winds(but good temps), Britta started off the event with a kick in the head and a missed buoy in the water, but coming out of the water as first female. Unfortunately, she lost her lead about 10 miles into the bike, but did hold out for 2nd overall female with a great time of 4:52:11 - Way to Go, Britta!

July 29, 2007 - Our Resident Endurance Lunatics Are At It Again - Minnesota Border to Border! (ouch!)

In Leslie's words...The Minnesota Border to Border. A sweet little team race from the southwest corner of Minnesota (Luverne) to the
northwest corner (Crane Lake).

Drew and I were a mixed-pair team in this 4 day event. It went something like this... Day 1: 220 mile bike relay. Day 2: 215 mile
bike relay. Day 3: 50 mile run relay. Day 4: 50 mile pair canoe with 11 portages of up to a mile in length.

We were team Go Wicked Fast Holtons (thanks to our sponsors Go Fast, and Wicked Fast). Drove up and arrived Monday right before the parade. It
was stifling. It's been hot in Colorado (near 100s) but there it was in the 90s and wicked humid. I broke into a sweat walking to the check in.
Goofy fun parade down the main street of Luverne. The 11 teams had their vehicles decked out, and were all dressed up themselves. Well, 10
of the 11 were. Since we literally just got there we just drove and waved and felt a bit schmucklike. Race meeting and we found out that we
were the only 2 person mixed team, and the only team without support. Our friend (and savior) Lauren was able to support the last two days
but for the bikes we were on our own. There were 3 other pair teams (male) a few 3 person teams, and the rest were 4s.

Started Tuesday morning, draft legal the first 25 miles so Drew went out and was able to stick to the wheel of the second set of 3 guys. It was
fun watching as I leapfrogged the car by them. The team strategy seemed to be to ride 2-5 miles then swap out. Since on our team we would
transition and then the off-rider would have to take off their wheel, put the bike in the car, get food/water, try to cool off, then start
leapfrogging the on-rider for support while attempting to get ready for the next switch we opted for 40 minute pulls, that eventually decreased
to 30. I was crazy anxious to get on my bike after Drew first hour draft pull. Got a little reminder from Drew to settle in for a long 4 days.

Tuesday we faced heat, humidity, and a wicked headwind but finished not too far back... about 20 minutes off the next team. It took some time
to get in the groove but it was fun to hammer as hard as you could for 30 minutes in the aerobars timetrial style, rest a little, and do it again.

Weds we did much the same, except we had a pretty good tailwind at times. I averaged a pretty nice 18.5mph for the 100 miles I put in and
spent most of it grinning. We started Weds in 30 second intervals (we were last) and I got the first half hour pull. Soon everyone was out of
sight, but after 40 miles or so we started seeing another team's car. We went back and forth with them for several pulls until I finally
"chicked" the guy I was riding against and we started pulling away. They were on 15 minute pulls so we'd make ground when Drew was on, lose
a little against one rider when I was on, and I'd make a little time against the other. Finally we stopped seeing their car and it was clear
sailing from there... til the train which we had to wait for and lost just a few minutes. Finished 5 minutes up on them, hot and tired but
generally feeling pretty good.

Thurs was the run. After a lot of debate we decided to start with 5 minute pulls, and see how it went from there. This was the day I was
most worried about because we had to average less than 9 minute miles over the 50 miles and Drew is a much stronger runner than I so every
time I ran I slowed us down. I didn't sleep too well Weds night fretting about it but the start line came at 6am then next day anyways
so time to go.

Lauren was there to drive, get us drinks, keep us moving, and be the brains for the team. All I needed to do was focus on running 5 minutes
at a time. When the car came by me I'd know my pull was close to being done and there would be water and AC and a few minutes to rest. The
weather was in the middle of a switch so we had everything that day. Heat, sun, humidity, wind, rain, thunderstorms. In 6 hours we hit every
warm condition that you could hit. I felt pretty good through 30 miles, but then my legs started protesting when I got out of the car. I
visibly slowed down, but never walked. Drew never seemed to change stride, but you could tell he was feeling the race too. We went back
and forth with a few teams, but after we started to slow they whumped us. They were doing quarter mile pulls with 4 people, so each person
got he same rest we did, but a much shorter run. One guy on our nemesis team from the day before had some issues and they ended up needing to
get permission to swap in their crew to finish the day. We moved up an hour on them, but not in the way we would have liked.

Fortunately the run day was short and we were done racing and with the meeting by 3. Rested up at the hotel a bit, drove out to see the canoe
start and had a delicious meal. One food note. I've always had issues eating after a long race (such as each night at Ultraman) but the breaks
here allowed me to eat/drink during the race. I actually felt good and ate a real meal each night. There must be something to this fuel your
body during a race thing, eh? This was good proof that it works!

So. Day 4, the last day, dawned early with a 5:30am start in the canoes. We rented a pretty nice canoe (40lbs) but... well,... we don't
really canoe (it's been over 3 years...). Some of the teams were obviously started their strength day in super sweet 15 lb boats all
decked out to race. No worries... how hard can it be?

HARD! 30 minutes into it we found our rhythm and Drew asked if I could hold it for the whole way. I was barely holding it right then and
there! I stupidly looked forward to the portage as a chance to get out of the boat. Yeah, try carrying a boat with tired arms over steep rocky
terrain with sore legs. Nothing to look forward to! The first several portages were short but then there was a mile long one. For that one
Drew carried the boat on his shoulders while I carried the gear. Way easier for me, but even though the canoe is rigged to be carried by one
person with shoulder pads in the middle it was quite the challenge. The next portage we found that if I put the front of the boat on my
shoulder I could go 5 minutes or so without pain. We saw some teams here and there, made some slow portage losses, some navigation through
the weeds gains, but at the next switchout point when the teams swapped people we fell from 7th to 10th like a brick. Next up was a 20 mile
stretch with no portages but a headwind and black horseflies everywhere. Everything hurt, the dratted flies hung in the front of the boat and
tore my legs and feet up. We dropped from 14 minute miles to 16 minute miles.

Really a true low point. I would stamp my feet to shake away the flies and that movement would go through the boat to our butts. My arms,
abs, back, and calves were in an uproar. Things went from fun to miserable and stayed there. I didn't eat enough, or drink enough
because to eat and drink meant putting down my paddle and I didn't want to be a slacker (and, yes, that night I felt awful and did not want to
eat at all after the race... hmm... trend?). We finally...... saw a guy with a cooler at mile 40. He gave us water, Gatorade, and bug spray
which gave me about 10 minute of relief from the flies. I wanted to stay there forever but we had to get back to it. We had a few 13 minute
miles after that in celebration.

The next portage we saw Lauren and she guided us in through the mud (which sucked off both my shoes when I got out of the boat). Gloriously
she had food, ice cold water, and carried the front of the boat over the half mile trek. This really helped my disposition as did the lessening
headwind when we got back in. It also helped that we only had one more (3/4 mile) portage and 4 miles of rowing to go! Drew boat carried that
one again, which was awesome because I had trouble just hiking myself up over the hill. Finally we were but a short 2 miles to the finish line,
could see the buoy, could see cool planes landing on the water.

Reached the finish, tipped the boat, and I had a moment of sheer happiness. I was floating in the lake with my PFD on, not needing to
move, cool, relaxed, no flies nibbling my feet. Absolute heaven! Got out and changed clothes and enjoyed life. We won the 2 person mixed
(well, we were the only team) and lots of congratulations from our fellow racers for doing it with only the two of us, partly unsupported,
and stupidly undercanoed.

Saturday was our day 5, the long drive back to Colorado with aches and pains just everywhere and sausage fingers and feet. Today my muscles
are recovering but I'm having allergic reaction to the bites and any pressure on a bit area brings up itchy welts.

Lessons learned:
1) Drew and I make a really good team!
2) I can always run 5 minutes no matter what I feel like.
3) Canoeing is hard, but can be made easier with better equipment.
4) Eating during a long race means I can eat at night.
5) It's a long long way across Minnesota, which I really learned driving back.

Next stop, Ironman Kentucky. The hot and humid conditions in Minn should set Drew up nicely for a strong race, and I just want a sub 14
hour training day.

Thanks for reading,
Leslie and Drew
Team Go Wicked Fast Holtons

July 26, 2007 - Sederberg Staying Strong

Team Wicked Fast Adventure Racer and Enduro Mtn Biker, Rick Sederberg send us this mid-season update:

In spite of injury, flats, mechanicals and mishaps, it's going GREAT !

After achieving first goal of the season by winning the new 3 event AR Marathon Series in the spring that finished with 'hometown' Syllamo 50, I began a series of planned ultra-endurance rides of 6-8 hrs on both road and mt bike, after allowing about a wk to recover from hard crash at Syllamo 50 when I finished the final 30 miles with a separated shoulder, broken ribs, punctured lung and a gash that required 14 stitches on my kitchen table ! And, I still had a top finish ( 2nd 40+ category ) and time that I felt good about in spite of the incident. I'm now about 80% healed.

The reason for the ultra rides is to further extend trng for next big targeted race which is Leadville 100, the 'grandaddy' of all 100 mile mtb races, in CO and between 10,000' and 12,600' of altitude. I've had an '02 finish when I got the coveted silver buckle for going under 12 hrs. This time I'm going for under 10 hrs and a top 50+ finish.

More importantly, the ultra trng for Leadville is planned to build an even bigger endurance base for most important event of the season which will be a 4 day mtb stage race in Costa Rica called La Ruta de los Conquistadores at which I'd like to make the podium against favored locals and 50+ racers from all over the world. Rain forest, jungle, alligators, mud, river crossings, volcano traverse at 10,000', 20 miles on RR tracks and across train trestles, Atlantic to Caribbean, my kind of ADVENTURE !

To stay sharp in the interim, took on a new challenge and got in some hardcore endurance racing by driving to NC this past wknd for the 63 mile OffRoad Assault on Mt Mitchell ( hi point east of the Rockies ), a technical and demanding course that I raced at a disadvantage without any pre-riding. Designed to be one of if not the toughest mtb race in the east. Turns out that at 57 I was the single oldest guy amongst 450 racers and still managed to win the 50+ category against 11 others, most of whom had prior experience in the race or on the course. Great workout and prep for Leadville and pretty pleased with the result.

Nice Work Rick - keep it up!

July 22, 2007 - Rosetta Rolling at Marble Falls Triathlon

Team Wicked Fast triathlete Vince Rosetta takes 4th place in his age group at the Marble Falls Triathlon- Way to go Vince!

July 15, 2007 - Ultra Runner Michelle Barton Sporting Some Wicked Fast Threads at Western States 100

Very nice!

Check out this profile of Michelle at the Run Down...

June 24, 2007 - Ironman Couer d'Alene Race Report from Katrina Mitchell

It's race morning and I am so excited to be here! The outside
temperature is around 48 degrees with expected highs around 68 later
in the day; the winds are strong. After being away from Ironman for
five years, it feels so good to be back!! Ironman races possess an
infectious spirit that energizes everyone around. I place my
nutrition on the bike and drop off my special needs bags. I run
through the transition areas once more to remind myself where
everything is. Now it's time to get the wetsuit on and go for a swim.
I just heard that the water temperature has risen to 64 degrees from
the very chilly 60 degrees I swam in on Friday. The winds are very
strong and the water looks extremely choppy. The announcer gives
participants the option to do a duathlon starting at 9:30, but I came
for an Ironman. A little wind will not stop me from reaching my goal!
I can do this.

As we approach 7am, the national anthem is heard over the speakers.
Then the announcer wishes us well and the gun goes off! It is chaos
as close to 2200 people enter the waters of Coeur d'Alene Lake. I
take my time getting in the water and quickly find that I need to take
a breath every other stroke in order to stay alive and get my
bearings. I can't see any of the buoys now that I'm in the water so
I'm hoping everyone else knows where we are going! I get whacked
upside the head a number of times but am able to remain calm. Even
with the water this rough, I feel relaxed. Surprisingly, I find
myself alone at times which is wonderful!! The swim out is a struggle
against the waves, swimming across a challenge to remain on course,
and then swimming in a breeze as we are now with the wind! I come out
of the water around 35 minutes to start the second loop. Although
this is slower than I would have liked, the conditions are rough and I
am still pleased. I get through the second loop and come out of the
water in 1:12:21. Wetsuit strippers - wow . . .these folks are
great!! Swim done.

I grab my transition bag and run into the women's changing tent. A
wonderful volunteer immediately takes my bag and dumps it on a table
and proceeds to help me get ready for the bike. She was such a help
getting my wet self into my bike jersey, shorts and arm warmers!! I
couldn't have made it through transition so quickly without her
support. Thanks to the volunteers.

I grab my bike and run to the mount line. I'm off for a little ride
through town and then up north to the hills. The crowds are all
screaming in support of the athletes helping to again boost energy
levels. I'm feeling good on the bike despite the wind. However, I am
having trouble drinking. My stomach is very unsettled and I am unable
to eat or drink for some time. The ride out by the Coeur d'Alene Lake
is fast and beautiful! It seems to pass by very quickly. Then I am
back on Government heading out of town to the hills. It is fast and
flat and I am still feeling good. The hills are starting. I don't
remember them being so hard in the car. I really need to start taking
in some nutrition because my energy level is going to fade at this
rate. I make it through the first loop and the crowds all along the
course are good, but definitely at their best in town! I feel great
coming into town again and finally see my Dad on the side of the
road!! I am so happy he was able to make the trip up here!

I start the second loop of the bike feeling alright but my lack of
nutrition is becoming apparent. I have only had about 1.5 bottles to
drink so far. I pick up my special needs bag at mile 64 but realize
that I haven't even touched my Hammer Gel yet. I don't really need
anything in the bag because I still have most of what I started with
on the bike. The wind is starting to wear me down on Government and I
know this second loop is going to be slower than my first. I am
finally taking in some HammerGel but I think it might be too late now.
It seems that everyone and his mother are passing me. I tell myself
it's going to be okay. I contemplate the idea of stopping after the
bike, but then realize that even though the day is not going as
planned I can still finish. The hills the second time around really
take a toll on me both physically and mentally. I'm finally back on
Government heading into town. I hit the dismount line and run my bike
to the volunteers who take it from me. I finish the bike in 6:24:05.
I had hoped to go under six hours on the bike, but my nutrition
resulted in a lack of performance. Bike done.

I grab my T2 bag and hit the changing tent. This time two volunteers
help me get everything ready. I opt to leave my jersey and cycling
shorts on over my bathing suit because I know this is going to take me
awhile and I'm worried about getting cold. The ladies are so nice
trying to help me get my socks and shoes on, but I have to put the toe
spacers and metatarsal pads on first; they look perplexed.

I walk out of the tent and start running once I hit the run course
sign. I hear my name immediately and it's my Dad!! I eat a Pria Bar
and then hit the first Honey Bucket (northern name for a Porta-John).
I then walk through the aid station and get some water and pretzels.
Time to get moving again! I have to keep moving. The run winds
through some cute little neighborhoods before heading over to the
Centennial Trail alongside the lake. The course is mostly flat with
some beautiful scenery. I run on the gravel next to the asphalt trail
to try and relieve some of the pain in my knees. I don't understand
why my knees hurt so much. I make it back into town and see my Dad
again just before finishing the first loop. After the first loop, I
stop and stretch my back which is getting very tight. I decide that
walking just feels better and decide to give that a shot. I start
running again once I get to the bigger crowds. I see my Dad again on
the way out and tell him it may be a while before he sees me again as
I will be walking a good portion of this loop. Bev comes by me while
we are in the neighborhoods. She was so nice and stopped to walk with
me a bit and then asked if I wanted to run with her. I declined and
she went on her way. I then met this nice guy from Denver whom I
walked a couple of miles with before deciding walking was just going
to take too long. I got back to running and walking through all the
aid stations and stopping every once in a while to stretch my back.
My new target is to try and finish under 13 hours (got to go with the
flow and be happy with what you can do). I take the last turn and can
now see the finish line! I feel energized just knowing this is it and
pick up my pace; I suddenly feel great!! Where did this come from? I
am sprinting, or at least it feels like it after such a long day, as I
finish my run in 4:56:37. I cross the line in 12:41:40 and I am an
Ironman . . . again!

While my performance was not what I had hoped for, the experience
provided much satisfaction in knowing that I can still go the
distance. It felt great to be out there again and I look forward to
another where hopefully I will feel better and be able to test my
ability. As for this day, I am elated to have crossed the finish
line!

My most sincere appreciation goes to the following individuals without
whom I could not have made it this far: Julie and Shawn Talbott with
Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition, Collette Ragan with GA Sports Massage,
Dr. Josh Glass with Georgia Sports Chiropractic, Dr. Charles Peebles
with the Atlanta Foot and Ankle Center, and Tony Luchetti with eBike
Warehouse. Thanks to Carole Sharpless for her advice once I decided
to do my own training schedules - I know, I need to learn to take more
time to absorb my training! A great big hug to those of you who were
so kind as to join me on some of the long training days - Paul, Rod,
Marty & Jennifer, Joe and Tracy! Thanks to TKO for loaning me his
race wheels - they would have been lightening fast had I had the
energy!! Lastly, I am so grateful to each of you, my friends and
family, for your words of encouragement and support!

Until next time,
Katrina

June 2007 - Race Reports from Team Wicked Fast

Rudy Dressendorfer placed 2nd in his AG at Triathlon 101 in Clear Lake - Way to go, Rudy!

With his season about half over, James Walsh is posting some outstanding results. He has already qualified for Xterra Worlds and Nationals so we're glad Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease can be part of his training regimen - and his hopes of "laying it down in October!"

James tells us that "I have been racing and training with Recover-ease and Energ-ease and know they have definitely helped in my success" - and we can't argue with results like these:
2/25 – Desert Classic Duathlon: 1st AG
3/31 – California Ironman 70.3: 4:52
4/21 – Arizona Xtreme Off-road Triathlon: 2nd AG/6th Overall
4/28 – Xterra Castaic: 1st AG/2nd Overall/1st amateur
5/20 – Xterra West Championships: 3rd AG/3rd amateur
6/17 – Xterra East Championships: 2nd AG/4th amateur
6/24 – Rim Nordic #1 MTB race: 1st AG

Nice work, James!

Jeff Kerkove continues to tear up the Endurance Mountain Bike circuit with his recent strong performance at the Firecracker 50 Marathon National Championships in Breckenridge, CO (10,000 ft above sea level). In the Pro Open category, Jeff took a solid 25th overall - right on! Read Jeff's race report here

If that weren't enough, Jeff also competed in the 6 Hours of Blue Mound event outside of Madison, WI - placing 1st Overall in the Solo Men category - nice! Read Jeff's race report here

Vince Rosetta not only had a strong finish at the Buffalo Springs 70.3 event, but he was able to take 40 minutes off his PR!!! time. Not that we want to argue with Vince's assertion that his strong finish was "because of the Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease" - but we're sure there was some hard training and determination involved as well  ;^)  Way to go, Vince!

June 2007 - Rivera's Ripping it Up! (as usual)...

Miguel Rivera sent us a note to let us know that he took 6th place and wife Nati finished second in her category at the Des Moines World Cup Hy-Vee Triathlon. Way to go - keep up the great results!

June 2007 - Chris and Liz Having a Season of Success!

Team Wicked Fast triathletes, Chris and Liz (Fedofsky) Waterstraat are enjoying a terrific season of outstanding triathlon results - here are a few recent finishes:

Striders Duathlon (Texas)
1st overall - Chris
1st overall - Liz
Both qualified for Long Course Du World Championship

Race For Sight (Missouri)
2nd elite overall - Liz
8th elite overall - Chris

Memphis in May (Tennessee)
2nd overall - Liz
4th in AG - Chris

Blackwater Eagleman 70.3 (Maryland)
2nd overall - Liz
6th overall - Chris
**Both qualified for Ironman Hawaii - WAY TO GO and Congrats to you both!!!

Chris and Liz are loving the benefits of Recover-Ease to help them bounce back after hard training and races.

June 2007 - 15-year-old James Shaw, Team Wicked Fast member - Going Fast & Having Fun!

June 2007 - Race Update from Team Wicked Fast Triathletes - Daniel Arnett & Kirk Wood-Gaines

So far this year, Daniel Arnett has earned a Team USA Long Course World Championship slot, a 70.3 World Championship slot, Top A/G and A/G record for the Smithfield sprint (7th overall) and 8th overall in a NJ Olympic Distance. In his own words, "I know that Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease have been a HUGE part of this. That's because I can recover so quickly from my workouts that they are all quality workouts. Using your products has allowed me to keep a high intensity combined with a challenging race schedule - Thanks!"

Kirk Wood-Gaines reports to us that not only does he "Love the products" and "They rock!" - but he proudly pulled off an impressive Masters Champ title at the recent Onion Man event. Thanks Kirk - and keep up the great performances!

June 2007 - Event Updates from Team Wicked Fast

Team Wicked Fast athlete Louis Chiapetta recently competed in the Bike Across Florida (BAF 2007) on one weekend followed closely two weekends later by the Sunrise to Sunset race (running across Florida). Louis reports that he did well in the extreme heat here in Florida - and was able to train harder with Energ-Ease and recover faster after those hard efforts with Recover-Ease. Both Wicked Fast products have become staples in his training bag and Louis tells us that he's lighter, leaner, and faster then he has been in years. Way to go Louis - keep up the good work!

Endurance Mountain Biker and Team Wicked Fast athlete, Jeff Kerkove, placed 21st of 125 men in the 100-mile Mohican 100 in Ohio (stop #2 in the National Ultra Series). Check out his race report - Way to go Jeff!

Team Wicked Fast Triathlete, Matt Hanson let us know that he won the Men's 25-29 at the Rock-n-Roll Man Half Ironman in Macon, Georgia. This qualified Matt for the ITU World Long Course Championships in France, as well as the Halfmax National Long Course Championships in Innsbrook Missouri. Keep up the good work Matt!

Stephen Attle, Wicked Fast Triathlete, had a terrific day at Mooseman - taking Energ-Ease before the swim and again in transition before the run. Said Stephan, "I was VERY pleased with the results and had a great day, and of course I took Energ-Ease before the swim, then again in transition before the run... I think it really helped!"

Ultra Endurance athlete and Team Wicked Fast member, Matt Hart is off to a storming season after coming back from a severe bone bruise injury (3 month recovery period). Since his flying pre-injury 2nd place at HURT 100k ultramarathon (setting the 2nd fastest time on the course), Matt is back with the following results:

-1st place: Trioba Adventure Race (3hrs anaerobic!)
-1st place: Blanchard Mountain Ultra Marathon (33 miles w/6000ft+ of gain)
-4th place: Lake Youngs Ultra (29 miles w/2,700ft of gain)
You can also check out Matt Hart at his new coaching site - tell him the folks at Wicked Fast sent ya!

Bob Flanigan enjoying his finish at Ironman 70.3 Florida - way to go Bob!

David and James Shaw - father and son triathletes and Team Wicked Fast members - show their stuff at Elgin AFB at My First Tri. Said David, "As usual it was a top quality event. I got to race with my son and fun was had by all. As you can see from the pictures we did pretty well with 9 of 12 taking home an award. It was a chance for James and I to sport our new uniforms and talk about our product. I handed out some samples and pamphlets to the interested people. Now for our results, James took 1st place in the 15 and under division, I got 3rd in the 40-44 division, well suffice it to say I got the "My trophy is bigger than yours" speech all the way home. On Sunday we went for a 70 mile ride, which would not have been possible without our Recover-Ease."

Sorella Cycling is Loving Wicked Fast Products. We heard from Aimee Murphy at Sorella, who reported that. "The Sorellas are having a great racing season this year. We know that your Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease products have really helped give us a competitive edge. Thank you so much. Our racers have been absolutely thrilled with your products and we talk them up to anyone who will listen. It's also fun to watch the girls in the parking lot after we return from hard group rides - the blue Recover-Ease bottles are everywhere and people are passing out the blue and yellow capsules to each other. We're all sold on the benefits." Thanks for the feedback Aimee - and congrats to the Sorellas for a great season so far!

June 8 , 2007 - Michelle Barton Winning (again!)

Here's a quick shot of Team Wicked Fast Ultra Runner Michelle Barton running - and smiling - and winning - and setting a new Female course record at Yosemite last weekend. Incredible!

Here's another nice shot of Michelle out on the Biship High Sierra race course - where she broke the course record in 5 hours 3 minutes on May 19. WooHoo!

June 2007 - Some Recent Results from Wicked Fast Ultra Runner - Michelle Barton

What can Recover-Ease do for you? Consider what it has done for Michelle Barton - who recently took four 1st place finishes and 4 female Ultra course records - all inside of a single month! These are ULTRA endurance events - and yet Recover-Ease helps Michelle to bounce back from hard training and helps keep her from succumbing to overtraining and injury.

Here are some of Michelle's recent event finishes - WOW!

February 3, 2007 Twin Peaks Inaugural 50K (31 miles) - 1ST OVERALL - COURSE RECORD
February 10, 2007 Winter Trail Run Series 15K (9.4 miles) - 1st female, 8th overall
February 18, 2007 Orange Curtain 50K (31 miles) - 1ST OVERALL - COURSE RECORD
February 24, 2007 Winter Trail Run Series 18K (10.7 miles) - 1st female, 8th overall
March 31, 2007 Lake Hodges 50K (31 miles) - 1st female, 8th overall - FEMALE COURSE RECORD
May 5, 2007 29th annual Wild Wild West 50K (31 miles) - 1st female, 2nd overall - FEMALE COURSE RECORD
May 12, 2007 28th annual San Diego PCT 50 miler - 1st female, 6th overall - FEMALE COURSE RECORD
May 19, 2007 16th annual Bishop High Sierra 50K (31 miles) - 1st female, 4th overall - FEMALE COURSE RECORD
June 2, 2007 18th annual Shadow of the Giants 50K (31 miles) - 1st female, 11th overall - FEMALE COURSE RECORD

And some shots of Michelle doing what she does best - run Wicked Fast!

And last but not least - Michelle's 7 year old daughter Sierra Barton blasting at her Moulton School Jogathon on June 1. Sierra ran 15 laps in the allotted 20 minutes, which is 2.7 miles total and a 7 min 24 second per mile pace! Many of us wish we were as fast - or having as much fun running like that!

June 8, 2007 - Ultra Runner Michelle Barton Joins Team Wicked Fast

Michelle Barton, one of the top (and friendliest) female ultra-runners in the world has joined Team Wicked Fast. Like most endurance athletes, Michelle found out about Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease from her training mates - satisfied users of Wicked Fast products who wanted to share the good news about products that work!

Michelle races Ultramarathon events (50k-100 miles) in distance - and after using Recover-Ease, has broken 4 course records IN A ROW. She believes in Recover-Ease 100% (her words) because she tried it and she knows it works (not to mention the pile of research studies that confirm the science behind the formula).

Michelle, in turn, shared her success with Recover-Ease with some her running friends - and so on... Recently, Michelle shared an email from her ultrarunner friend Keira about Recover-Ease:

First off I LOVE Recover-Ease!!!! I am part of Orange County Trail Runners
and our whole group of Ultra Running Maniacs are addicted to your stuff!!
ADDICTED! It is the best stuff out there.Let me explain how we found
out about you guys....

My dear friend and Women's Ultra Running Champ Michelle Barton got us
all hooked on it at the Western States Training Camp. She is a
bubbling burst of energy, outgoing, beautiful, and one of the top Ultra
women in the country. The last 4 races in a row she has done (50k, 50 mile)
she has broken the women's course record. She has also won the Javalina
Jundred 100 mile trail race. Actually she has smashed the women's course record and beat all the guys at
the Twin Peaks 50k and Orange Curtain 50k.

OK, I think I have said enough...

Thanks!
Keira

WOW! But that's how it goes - we developed Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease based on science - and we have the research evidence to back up our claims (can your current supplement say the same?). Your "job" is to give Wicked Fast products a try to see for yourself. We know you'll be pleased with the results...

May 2007 - 200 Miles on a Mountain Bike?!?!?

Team Wicked Fast Ultra-endurance-do-anything-that-sounds-insane athlete Leslie Holton sent us the following report from her attempt at the Dirty Kanza 200 mile mountain bike race (that is not a typo - it's really 200 miles - on a mtn bike)...We'll spoil the ending by saying here that Leslie not only finished the ride - but she was the first female finisher...EVER! (and she rode an extra few miles looking for the hotel)...Holy crap!

Subject: RR: Dirty Kanza 200... Calm satisfaction

As part of my year of strange fun Drew and I drove to Kansas last
weekend for the Dirty Kanza 200 mile mountain bike race. Got to Emporia
Friday night and met up for a very nice dinner with tri-drs Jeff
Campbell (from Alaska!!!) and his wife who happened to be in town for a
graduation. Since both Drew and I were racing we did not have a support
crew, so Jeff agreed to be our super-secret if the skies fall in and
bones break support crew. Fortunately his phone remained silent on
Saturday. After dinner we headed to the hotel to clean the bikes and
pack our backpacks... everything we needed that couldn't be bought at
the checkpoint gas stations needed to be carried.

The race started in front of the hotel Saturday morning at 6am. Around
50 guys, and 2 gals on a fairly even split of cross and mountain bikes.
Drew and I were on mountain bikes. The other gal was on a cross bike.
No idea which was better, and through the race I still couldn't decide.
The race was almost entirely on gravel roads, but that ranged from
smooth dirt, to double track, to large fresh gravel coverings.
Sometimes a cross bike would have rocked, sometimes it would have been
miserable. The mountain bike gave me more control, but I would have
liked some of the free speed on the cross bike occasionally.

We took off through town on a rolling start. Quite fun chatting in the
pack and riding with my hubby. After 4 miles or so we turned onto a
gravel road, the lead vehicle took off, and the race began. Whoosh!
The pack took off. I was kind of expecting that and didn't stress too
much just focused instead on keeping a good line through the gravel and
riding my own race. There were two guys still around me, and I refused
to look back to see if we were the last. Rode the next 10 with them
chatting and relaxing into the day. Then we turned onto the start of
what would be unrelenting rollers. The whole race was rolling hills,
not too steep or too long but continuous. Rumor has it there was over
14K of climbing. The guys pushed the hill and I watched them go. The
gal on the cross bike zipped by me. So, I am last, at least in the
girls race!

At mile 25ish the gal was stopped with her hubby who was working on his
bike. Said hello and continued by them and then they went by me again a
few miles later. Up, down, up, down. Eventually hit some pavement and
the first checkpoint at mile 48. A few folks (including the gal and her
hubby) were just leaving. I got my map for the next section, put on my
tunes, and headed out. About the map... pretty sweet. The roads in
that area are pretty much in a grid, so the map had a grid of a mile
spacing. As long as I watched my odometer the turns were pretty easy to
pick out. There were also blue streamers at the main turns so I could
check in that I was not lost, but there were no street names on the map
at all. So, the map was quite useful as long as you knew where you
were. Finding your way out of being lost would have been a different
story. I kept an eye out for bike tire tracks in the gravel as a sanity
check as well.

Did I mention the wind yet? It was WINDY (20-25mph)!!! And, we spent
the next many miles going into it. I was totally alone and then I
spotted two bikes a few hills ahead of me. I slowly closed in on them.
I'd lose sight when they'd crest a hill, then see them again as I came
up the hill. Around mile 65 I passed them, the gal and her hubby!
SWEET!!!! I worried that being together they would motivate each other
but what could I do, just keep pressing on.

Mile 70-76 was the worst part of the course for me. Bad conditions
(open range, cow paddies on the road, several water crossings at the
bottom of hills so I'd have to slow way down to cross, then start up the
next hill from nothing). Into the wind. Took over an hour. I got
pretty discouraged especially when I saw a car with a sweet cross bike
coming back at me. People were dropping out already. The bad thoughts
started "I could quit", "I suck", "Should give up and sit on the couch",
"I suck", "Endurance is my strength, yeah right, and what is my weakness
then?", "I suck"... figured I roll into the next checkpoint and call it
a season.

I saw a turtle. I have a "honu" tattoo and wear a turtle charm on my
necklace. I live the "turtle and the hare" story. This has to be a
sign. Walk up the next hill and eat a thing of Clif Blox and decide
that it's okay to walk the steeper hills if I'm doing something useful
like eating. My metal game comes back. And, at mile 76 we turn so that
we have a tailwind. Suddenly that 6mph becomes 16mph. Sweet! I saw
several turtles through the rest of the day and each one made me grin.
The girl didn't pass me back in my worst section so maybe I could keep
her behind me.

Make it to the second checkpoint (mile 95) with 45minutes in the bank.
Take some time to change my shorts (I have bum issues sitting on my MTB
for long hours and I was starting to get a bit of seam wear). Eat a
candy bar and refill my fluids. Waste a half hour chatting with other
racers (it's been hours since I've talked to people), but get out with a
little time left in the bank.

The next section is again into the wind, but my attitude is way better.
I push when I can, walk and eat on the big hills, talk to the cows, and
generally just had fun. At mile 128 we turn back with a tailwind but
the wind magic doesn't help quite as much as the first time. No
worried, just keep going. Hit some pavement at mile 140 and decide it's
time to stop and put on my lights... it's starting to get dark. I put
my light on my helmet so I could still read the map but unfortunately
that also meant bugs in my eyes. YUCK! Tried to ride with my
sunglasses on to keep the bugs out... not too successful. Big hill on
the paved section at mile 150. Had to wait for a train an mile 152, but
finally rolled into the checkpoint (mile 155) at 15:45. Crap.. Missed
the cutoff (15:30). There was a bike leaning against the table but I
didn't really look at it as I chatted with the guys. They said the
cutoff was flexible and the course was slower than they expected based
on the leaders times so I could keep going if I wanted. HELL YEAH!

Took some time to put on warm warmers and move the light to the
handlebars. Put my backup light up my sleeve so that I could use it to
read the map. Drank a coke and finally really saw the bike that was
there. It was Drew's. Eh? Apparently he was cramping really bad and
dropped out after coming in about 15 minutes before me. He was at the
gas station so I went over to chat with him. Thought to talk him into
going with me until I looked at him and rethought that plan. Instead I
asked him to meet me in Americus (mile 185) since the gas station would
be closed by the time I got there. Rolled out to finish this baby up.

About 5 miles out of town I missed a turn. They had reflectors at the
major turns, but they were hard to see. I called Drew and we stared at
the map (me in the dark in the middle of nowhere and him in the hotel
room) and tried to figure out where I was. We finally guessed right and
I was back on course after adding just a few miles. From then on I was
really careful to stop at each intersection and look around until I knew
exactly where I was, note how far to the next turn and then watch the
odometer carefully. A little freaky biking along in the middle of
nowhere. The light gave me great visibility so I wouldn't hit anything
but I did all the hills on feel. Just ride whatever gear felt right at
that minute. Physically I was feeling really good and cruising along
between intersections quite well. Loved seeing fireflies, I miss them
since we moved to Colorado.

Hit Americus and saw Drew. Big grin because with only 15 miles left I
knew I would finish. He looked much better after a shower and a nap!

Finally hit the pavement going into Emporia at mile 198 (should have
been 196, but I added on that bit). Missed the turn to the hotel, so
ended up rolling with 205 miles on the odometer, 21:15. First female
finisher ever. Last place finisher for 2007. The official results
aren't posted yet, but Drew got to see the whole field coming from the
pack to the back and we figure close to half the field dropped out.

I'm calmly satisfied. It could just be the endorphins running through
my system, like a hangover, but I am thrilled that I met my goal. Time
to take my Recover-Ease, have a few easy days of workouts, and then a
beautiful 3 day training weekend coming up for Memorial day. This was a
great confidence booster for my next big race, the Fireweed 400 road
race in Alaska in early July. I feel the power of the turtle.

May 2007 - Team Wicked Fast Continuing Winning Ways (and having fun)...

Team Wicked Fast Athletes continue to post fast (and fun) results around the world - please keep the good vibes coming our way - and best of luck for the heart of the endurance season...

Dave Shaw completed the Gulf Coast Triathlon, finishing in the top 35% of Clydesdales. He also raced event #2 of the Emerald Coast series finishing 2nd in the Clydesdale division and holding on to his series lead. Dave's son finished 1st in the Duathlon (series Leader) and raced the Red Hills kids triathlon finishing 5th in the 13-15 age group. Way to go guys!

Jeff Kerkove, Endurance Mountain Biker extraordinaire, participated in an off-road duathlon (his team finishing first)and followed that up the next weekend with a 1st place finish (solo men) at 12 Hours of Branched Oak in Lincoln, Nebraska. Keep up the great riding Jeff!

Team Wicked Fast husband/wife team of Miguel & Nati Rivera report that Nati was confirmed as a USA Triathlon ALL AMERICAN in 2006. Right on Nati!

Rudy Dressendorfer placed 3rd in AG at the World's Toughest Duathlon on May 20... and qualified for the Championship race in October. Way to go Rudy!

Our friend from the Great White North, Canadian Brent Poulsen has been tearing up the elite triathlon circuit - and sends us this update:

Two weeks ago I raced Elite for Canada at Aquathon World Championships. I was 6th in the Elite race, after having a first good run of 2.5k (7:50) I was in a good position to do well, unfortunately in the waves and surf our swim pack swam way to far left missing the buoy and causing the second pack to swim right to the buoy beating us there, coming out of the water, I would say I was in 10th and I tried to make up ground, but over the 1000m swim we lost too much time swimming to far left. I had a good second run placing me in 6th, leaving me wondering what I could have done if we swam in a straight line as the first 10people where very tight in overall time. Last weekend after Mexico, I did a local 10k in Fort Worth it was for a good charity and fun was had by all, it was more of a tempo run for me running 34mins, however starting to establishing myself as an okay runner in the DFW area after winning the Zoo Run earlier in the month. Thanks a lot for all the Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease, I am recovering very quickly with the volume and intensity in my training.

May 2007 - Sorella Cycling Enjoying Strong Early Season

One of our elite cycling teams, the all-female Sorella Cycling Team is off to a terrific early season. Check out some of their results and exploits in their Newsletter (PDF)...

May 2007 -Wei-Haas is Way-Fast!

Racing in the recent Bradenton Triathlon One-O-One race, team Wicked Fast triathlete Lisa Wei-Haas won her Age Group!

According to Lisa, she's "feeling great, thanks to Recover-Ease" and she's "ready to get back out on the road again!" (after only a day or two removed from an outstanding effort)...