Thursday, February 16, 2017

Athlete Nutrition Review - Hammer Fully Charged

This past month I tried Hammer Fully Charged Pre-Exercise Igniter as a replacement for my beet juice, tart cherry juice, and beta-alanine dietary supplements.  It may just be for you too.

Use Fully Charged for:  Hammer Fully Charged is a pre-workout supplement that provides caffeine, sustained energy blends, and Nitrous Oxide exercise support to improve performance and maximize muscular and mental function.

What’s In It:  Green Tea Extract, Nitrous Oxide Proprietary Blend, Taurine, Tart Cherry Extract, Beta Alanine, L-Carnitine.  These ingredients claim to provide mental and physical sharpening, increased blood flow and supply to muscles, and amino acids for muscular efficiency.

Review:  During our racing careers we go through phases and experimentation with our diets.  There is an endless supply of new and rediscovered super foods in a dietary world that feels cyclical in nature.  Like many triathletes, I have tried most of them.  I used Beta-Alanine a decade ago, started using beets two years ago, and grew up with a tart cherry tree which has made it easy to utilize tart cherries in my diet as a recovery aid.  Hammer Fully Charged combines all three of those ingredients in their proprietary blend in addition to amino acids, taurine, and the everyone’s favorite supplement caffeine which comes from green tea.  Naturally, an all in one product is preferable to three different concoctions each day so I gave it a try through a training cycle including long runs, hill repeats, interval workouts, and three races. 
Day 1:  Mixed my first glass.  Fully Charged mixes into cool water easily and provides a pinkish hue.  The flavor is tart cherry, I personally smell and taste a watered-down bubble gum which is pleasant enough for a supplement and not painful to drink.  I went out on my first run 30 minutes after replacing my pre-run glass of water with Fully Charged.  The biggest test of these supplements to me is if my stomach can handle it; I did not notice any difference in my stomach which was a great start from day one.
Day 2-7:  I continued to drink a single glass in the morning before my first workout.  I felt great during this week, it was my first week of build into a training cycle.  A progression long run, hill workout, and my first race all occurred with good results and no stomach issues which has always been my complaint about other beet supplements. 
Day 8-14:  It took over a week until I started noticing the flush from the Beta-Alanine in the Fully Charged.  Research shows that Beta-Alanine requires a period of loading and then maintenance to provide the buffer effect.  By itself, Beta-Alanine is usually cycled for 4-6 weeks prior to your primary event.  This was my best week of the cycle.  Every day I felt I could meet or exceed my workout goals.  There is no doubt the Fully Charged wasn’t hurting and I kept feeling good; I found a supplement that made my legs feel like my other beet supplements – faster and fresher.  I continued to be happy about how easily my stomach handled the blend of supplements in Fully Charged.
Day 15-21:  I continued to sleep and recover well this week which was the final of this cycle before a down week.  One of the more common uses for Tart Cherry is as a sleep aide which is what I used it for in periods prior to beginning Fully Charged.  Sleep is vital to recovery so a supplement that can provide some quality to your shut-eye can be worth its weight in gold during harder cycles.  After making it through my last race and long run during this test period while hitting all of my goals has made me feel that there isn’t a fall off between Hammer’s all in one product and supplementing with the three separate products I was consuming otherwise.  I am a believer and since it is cheaper and easier to consume; Hammer Fully Charged will replace my other supplements going forward until I am convinced otherwise.

Pros:
-Multiple Performance Enhancers in One
-Easy on the Stomach
-Caffeine source without the acidity of coffee before a run

Cons:
-Tart Cherry Flavor preference
-For most this is a morning or early afternoon supplement only due to caffeine content
-Beta-Alanine flush can be unpleasant but is short lived


Recap:  After a three week hard training cycle I would highly recommend Hammer Fully Charged as a supplement to add to your arsenal.  Hammer Fully Charged provided the same exercise feel as similar beet or blended performance enhancing products at a lower cost and in an all-in-one supplement.  Easy to dissolve and drink before exercise without the stomach difficulties of other products. 

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Super Half Marathon Race Recap

Colorado Springs has a wonderful and popular race every Super Bowl Sunday, including a half marathon and a 5K that start downtown, and finish a bit up the trail.
Afterwards, we are treated to beer at a local pub to get ready for the game.
Both Jess and I beat our times from last year by a minute or so which could be credited to some amazingly warm February weather in Colorado Springs hitting near 60 degrees.
My race started fast, too fast as always, and I soon found myself with last year's winner and the new eventual master's record holder quickly losing one of our Fossil teammates as he ran away for a commanding win and course record of 1:11.  My group had a much more conservative goal of sub 1:20 which would require a steady effort on the long 7 miles of gradual climbing followed by negative splits on the way back to town on the slight downhill.
At about 5 miles, we were approaching an underpass with a mostly blind turn, last year's winner was on the inside and a bike came flying around the turn.  He juked and leapt but came down awkwardly on his right leg.  He instantly had trouble putting weight through his knee.  We checked on him and he decided he just needed to walk back.  It was a heart-breaking to see such a talent get injured in a small race that he was in for fitness reasons only.  From that point on, I only had one person to race - the 50 year old who continued to yo-yo back and forth.
After the turn-around, with the heart rate drop of turning downhill, I felt the energy I had hoped to notice earlier in the race and started moving up.  No offense to 50 year old badasses like this guy out there, but I just had to win that head to head. It took more effort than I hoped at times but running the hills intelligently allowed my pace to drop about 15 seconds per mile.  This year on the bike and run I'm focusing on keeping my cadence during fatigue which feels great so far.  With no 20 mile runs under my belt yet, and 2 more months in Boston training, I am encouraged by a 17 mile day with 13 at Boston goal pace.  In the end, I pulled back from 10th to 6th overall for a finish just under 1:19.
Jess ran with multiple different friends who all ended up separating by mile 10.  I found her at mile 12 and we ran in for her finish and new personal course record.


After the race we joined the crew for a few brews and the presentation of the golden ball to our teammate for his epic win.  Another one of our teammates, dressed as John Elway!, handed off the balls to the winners which made for a great Fossil Brewer's Cup showing.  Our women's team won the team competition while the men's team was unable to defend last years victory and came in a mediocre second place to the Air Force Track Club.

Happy Running Friends!
Thanks to Fossil Craft Beer, TriSports, and Pikes Peak Sports for the support!