Product Review (FlexR Water Bottles)

If you are like me you see new products almost every day. And unfortunately most of those products are just a slight change over something else that is out there. While this isn’t always a bad thing, it makes those truly unique products really stand out.

Recently my brother and I were privileged to try out one of such products. Thanks to the great folks at FlexR Sports, we have been trying their unique new water bottles which take an approach I have not seen before. These bottles are designed to be used with their disposable plastic liners, which allow the user to toss the liner out when finished with their drink and only rinse the lid and toss on another bag.

On occasions David and I switch between water, recovery drinks (Xood is currently our drink of choice), protein drinks, and occasionally juices. During these times you either have to have a ton of water bottles (which take up so much space) or constantly wash out the few you have. This is where the uniqueness of the FlexR bottles come in.

Simply put, this is a really cool idea that will certainly be a great fit for a lot of you out there. For me, I have found that they are not something I would use daily as that I usually stick with just a recovery drink and my water cup at work. With that said though, they have come in handy on some occasions. David even discovered that the unique design was a big hit with his 1 ½ year old girl!

So in closing, David and I give these cool new products a solid B score on our grading scale. While I wouldn’t say they are a perfect fit for our lifestyles, they are an intriguing product that would benefit a lot of people. So the next time you are trying to figure out how to bring your recovery drink mix and protein mix along on your next trip give FlexR a try. We think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Why We Do This

As Andrew and I approached our 2010 running goals, we realized that we were in need of some serious changes to the intensity of our workouts.  Being a top level runner takes a balance of speed, endurance, strength, and mental fortitude.  For that reason we both committed to the most major change to our daily workouts you could endure.  More kids.

Being a parent is like running a 10k while carrying an enormous bag of Idaho potatoes 20 hours a day (although I guess any potato could work in this analogy).  You will gain muscles you never knew existed, push your endurance training to completely new levels, provide yourself with a 365 day a year alarm clock, and most importantly have the ultimate motivation every day.  Now keep in mind, this is coming from the perspective of a dad, who has ZERO understanding of what moms endure every day.  Someone should really come up with a day to honor those brave mothers out there.

As I have watched the middle-age portion of my life quickly run me down, I have realized how much our lives really change as we get older.  Despite the new pains we discover on nearly a daily basis, the loss of free time from our lives altogether, and the challenge to get enough sleep nearly every night (we usually start our runs around 5:00am), we cannot think of anything that would make our lives more complete (enter sappy yet true sentimental segment of blog).  We have amazing wives that love us despite us, and wonderful kids who make every day both a challenge, but more importantly worth living.  Our wives are amazing moms to Callie and Wade, and we know they have already taken exceptional care of the ones who have not yet made their arrival.  To our wives, thank you for choosing to keep us around.   (Exit sappy yet true sentimental segment of blog).

So come May/June (For Andrew and Robin) and June/July (for Anna and I) we once again plan to rev up our workouts (aka…add new babies).  We realize that no matter how many repeats/hills we have run or diapers changed, we will never quite be ready.  Regardless, we can’t think of anything better.

 

Race on.

Homemade Energy Bars

If you are like me you love the benefit of a good energy bar right after a run, but you HATE spending a fortune for one little “granola bar”.  So after some research and creative work in our kitchen, I have created my own homemade energy bars.

I will start off by saying that these things not only taste great, but they also are a bargain at about 20-25 cents each (depending on your coupon skills!).  You can also be creative with making them your own.  Whether you use different types of nuts, add coconut or even add a little chocolate drizzle on top they will be awesome.

My only issue, is that I need a really cool name for these things!  Any ideas????  Check out the recipe and give them a shot.

2 cups of well-chopped nuts (I prefer Almonds and Pecans)
1 1/2 cup oats
1 3/4 cups rice crispies
1 cup Wholesome Sweeteners Cinnamon Agave Syrup (you could use maple syrup or honey instead)
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground coffee beans
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 8x12 pan with spray or butter. 

Toast the nuts in oven.  This will take approximately 10-15 minutes depending on the nuts you use.  Keep an eye on them and stir them around a couple times.  Once they appear toasted or slightly brown pull them out.

Transfer the toasted nuts into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in the oats and rice crispies

In a separate saucepan, over medium heat, stir the Cinnamon Syrup, Brown sugar, salt, coffee grounds and vanilla until it boils (about 4 minutes).  Pour the syrup mixture over the dry nuts/oats mixture in the large mixing bowl and then stir together until it’s evenly coated.

Spread into the prepared pan (you can use same pan you used to toast the nuts).  The mixture will be stiff enough to mold into whatever size and thickness you’d like, so spread to the thickness and size you would like.  The trick is to get the mixture VERY compact and pressed down.  Make sure to press really well into the edges of the pan.  You might need to wet your hands to allow them to work with the sticky bars.

Let bars cool on counter or in fridge for about 30-60 minutes. 
This will make approximately 16-25 bars, depending on the size and thickness you prefer.

Donuts+The Lake+Golf=Uh Oh!

I sit here and write this latest post with a good bit of guilt sitting in my stomach.  Thankfully though it’s taste is disguised by the really awesome free donuts my family and I just snagged from our local donut shop (if you live in Chattanooga or ever come this way you have to check out Julie Darling Donuts).

Yes, after a month and a half of solid training with only an occasional missed run I have now officially missed 4 days of running in a row!  (I will add here that David did actually get up and run this morning, so at least one of us in doing ok)  You would think that for a dedicated runner such as myself I must be going through some difficult injuries to have missed so many days, but alas that would be false.

Sadly, my tale of woe isn’t quite that woeful.  Friday I was lured away from my workout by a full day of golf with some friends and family (always better than a day at work!).  We then spent Saturday and Sunday with both our families and some good friends at the lake just playing around and having fun.  While we didn’t get any miles in, we did catch our fair share of really small fish. (and despite what the picture below implies, I didn’t use my son as bait!)

So that brings me to today.  Instead of hitting the roads and pounding out some good miles to start off the week I decided to sleep and eat donuts.  Yes folks, life is really good!

You Would Think We Would Know By Now!

Finally after 40 plus years of combined running experience we have realized something most elementary kids figure out in the 2^nd grade. Hydration matters. Don’t get me wrong, we drink water and lots of it (although probably not enough). We have even gone as far as to eliminate soft drinks from our diets. The problem is we also drink stuff that just isn’t really beneficial (i.e. PowerAde) that might do the job of hydrating and refueling our electrolytes but also add lots of ingredients that just aren’t natural or healthy. (No I am not as smart as this sentence would make me seem. I just read this stuff on the side of the box.)

With the really hot months of summer already breathing down our necks (today and tomorrow high will be in the 90s!) we have made it our mission to not only drink lots, but also drink smart. So thanks to the awesome folks at XOOD we are going to spend the next month trying out something a little new, XOOD Endurance Drinks. During this time we will be using all three of their drink lines, which will cover us from both fueling up before runs, during runs and after our runs. The coolest part though, is that this stuff is all natural with no additives or artificial ingredients! Consider this our press conference announcing our official endorsement of XOOD. We are currently negotiating with Runner’s World to be on their July issue cover (but most likely negotiations will lead to us renewing our subscriptions).

The bottom line is we are excited to keep you posted on our progress and let you know a little more about these products. In the mean time though, check them out at www.xoodhealth.com. They really are a great company, and we are anxiously waiting for our mailman to arrive any minute.

Finally, I wanted to update you guys on the status of my sore knee from last week’s long run. I took Sunday and Monday off (except for a little 2 miler on Monday afternoon just to test it out). It felt stiff, but ok so I decided to continue with out training. On Tuesday we hammered out 4 mile repeats at a comfortable pace (5:41, 5:39, 5:35, 5:33) and it seemed to respond well. I am still feeling some issues with stairs and when I do my bounding drills though. With the progress I am seeing though I am leaning on the hope that time really does heal all wounds!

The Lone Ranger (wishing he had Tonto)

One plus to having a constant training partner is that you reap the benefit of both someone pushing you to your best, but also someone telling you to take it easy when need be.  Yesterday I learned this lesson the hard way.

With David out of town and a 13 miler on my training schedule I headed to meet up with our Saturday running group like I would on any other Saturday run.  Things actually started off well as I did my warm up couple miles and shot the breeze with Jed (one of our local runners).  This though, is where things got crazy (or stupid, you pick which best fits!).

With my ego in full bloom and a large storm looming in the sky behind me, I decided it was time to leave the rest of the group and settle into my real pace.  I proceeded to then run the next  9 miles at a 6:30 (aka…stupid!) pace.

As I backed off my last couple miles and cooled down, I thought I had just ran a killer workout (and in many ways I did).  Unfortunately I also managed to do something to my left knee, which didn’t gain my notice until last night when I realized walking down the steps REALLY hurt!

Only time (and tomorrows run) will tell if this was a good finish to a strong week of workouts, or the beginning of yet another nagging injury.  Regardless of the outcome though, I have no doubt that two really is better than one!!