Another week under my belt, and a lot more training under my belt as well. My week consisted of a couple of long swims in the pool, I missed my Wednesday swim session due to work. Missing a swim is not a big deal but I really try not to miss the runs and the bikes because they are critical.
The heat this week started to get very intense by the end of the week. By Saturday and Sunday, the heat was getting up to 100 degrees. Even though I was going out early in the morning, by the time I got to my 60-mile ride on Saturday it was scorching. I finished my ride when it was 89 degrees and it was very hot.
I mentioned in another posting I was planning on using Endurolytes to help with electrolyte replacement, well, they STILL have not come in!!!! So I went to the bike shop and they had something called ELIXIR. This was supposed to do the same thing. Just pop one in a 24oz bottle and it fizzes like an Alka Seltzer and you’re ready to go.
This ELIXR stuff is not very tasty, it has a putrid lemon flavor which after a while you get use to, but really isn’t that bad after a couple of hours. The last thing you want after 3 hours on a bike is anything very sweet tasting. This worked ok. I took in a lot of water during the ride and this mixture helps me reduce my sweat rate, but not efficiently enough. If I were to stick with this stuff I would probably use 1 ½ tablets per 24oz bottle for my needs. However, I still have faith that one day Hammer will actually send me my order of Endurolytes so I can just take a couple capsules and not have to put up with the bitter lemon taste of ELIXIR.
A couple lessons learned this week. The first is about supplements on the bike. I was talking to Sonni and told him that my Infinit mixture I had made was too sweet later in the ride. When I used the web site to make this mix I set the levels of flavor as medium. This is too much for long distance training and racing. I will be reordering this shortly and I will reduce the flavor by 50%-75%. However, Sonni brought up a great suggestion, he said to put 3 hours worth of supplements in a single bottle and mark on the side of the bottle hr1, hr2, hr3 and put lines around the bottle designating the 1/3rds and then drink 1/3 of the bottle per hour and water the rest of the time. Excellent! After 2-3 hours, nothing tastes better than just pure water. I used this on Saturday and it worked perfectly. I will need to greatly reduce the flavor of the Infinit mix next time because it was very sweet in this concentrated form.
The second lesson learned, or really product that I tested that worked absolutely great was the Sweat Gutr (see picture). I have had problems as I mentioned in earlier post with sweat getting into my eyes while riding in warmer weather. I grabbed two different kinds of sweat bands and the Sweat Gutr worked flawlessly. It is also clear and very small so it’s hidden under your helmet and you don’t have a true sweat band on that would get hot during a ride. This was a great find and you can get these on-line at http://www.sweatgutr.com/ .
Since I am posting this on Monday instead of Sunday I may as well talk about my swim this morning. I was scheduled for a 2300 yds swim (about 1.4 miles). I have started swimming in the lake now to get the open water feel for the swim down and the swim today was ok but not great. I didn’t sleep very well last night and when I don’t sleep well the night before I can really feel a drop in performance the next day. So I am hitting the sack early tonight!!!
The heat this week started to get very intense by the end of the week. By Saturday and Sunday, the heat was getting up to 100 degrees. Even though I was going out early in the morning, by the time I got to my 60-mile ride on Saturday it was scorching. I finished my ride when it was 89 degrees and it was very hot.
I mentioned in another posting I was planning on using Endurolytes to help with electrolyte replacement, well, they STILL have not come in!!!! So I went to the bike shop and they had something called ELIXIR. This was supposed to do the same thing. Just pop one in a 24oz bottle and it fizzes like an Alka Seltzer and you’re ready to go.
This ELIXR stuff is not very tasty, it has a putrid lemon flavor which after a while you get use to, but really isn’t that bad after a couple of hours. The last thing you want after 3 hours on a bike is anything very sweet tasting. This worked ok. I took in a lot of water during the ride and this mixture helps me reduce my sweat rate, but not efficiently enough. If I were to stick with this stuff I would probably use 1 ½ tablets per 24oz bottle for my needs. However, I still have faith that one day Hammer will actually send me my order of Endurolytes so I can just take a couple capsules and not have to put up with the bitter lemon taste of ELIXIR.
A couple lessons learned this week. The first is about supplements on the bike. I was talking to Sonni and told him that my Infinit mixture I had made was too sweet later in the ride. When I used the web site to make this mix I set the levels of flavor as medium. This is too much for long distance training and racing. I will be reordering this shortly and I will reduce the flavor by 50%-75%. However, Sonni brought up a great suggestion, he said to put 3 hours worth of supplements in a single bottle and mark on the side of the bottle hr1, hr2, hr3 and put lines around the bottle designating the 1/3rds and then drink 1/3 of the bottle per hour and water the rest of the time. Excellent! After 2-3 hours, nothing tastes better than just pure water. I used this on Saturday and it worked perfectly. I will need to greatly reduce the flavor of the Infinit mix next time because it was very sweet in this concentrated form.
The second lesson learned, or really product that I tested that worked absolutely great was the Sweat Gutr (see picture). I have had problems as I mentioned in earlier post with sweat getting into my eyes while riding in warmer weather. I grabbed two different kinds of sweat bands and the Sweat Gutr worked flawlessly. It is also clear and very small so it’s hidden under your helmet and you don’t have a true sweat band on that would get hot during a ride. This was a great find and you can get these on-line at http://www.sweatgutr.com/ .
Since I am posting this on Monday instead of Sunday I may as well talk about my swim this morning. I was scheduled for a 2300 yds swim (about 1.4 miles). I have started swimming in the lake now to get the open water feel for the swim down and the swim today was ok but not great. I didn’t sleep very well last night and when I don’t sleep well the night before I can really feel a drop in performance the next day. So I am hitting the sack early tonight!!!
1 comment:
If you're going to mix 3 hours of infinit in a bottle make sure you put the flavor slider all the way to the left side. Mixing in concentrations like that really intensify the flavor.
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