Save the Date: April 27th...and...80% Liquid

Once again, don't forget that on April 27th, Team Strong Heart and yours truly will be hosting the first annual Team Strong Heart Got Solo? Fundraising Gala... We've gotten even more donations for raffle prizes from local supporters and businesses in the Boulder area.

See you there!

For something entirely different, I just received a massive shipment (see the attached photo) from Hammer Nutrition, my chosen nutritional supplement for this year's RAAM. Hammer Nutrition, albeit not a sponsor of Team Strong Heart, has generously offered a substantial discount to registered racers of the Race Across America...like...me!

Many thanks to Hammer for all of the data on their website and their excellent customer service in getting my order processed promptly and accurately. Heck, I spent over 800 bucks on powders and gels, etc.!

From all accounts, for solo riders the winning formula for nutrition during the event seems to be an 80/20 split, that is, 80% of your daily nutrition during the RAAM will come from a liquid source. Hammer Nutrition and their endurance activity gurus argue that there is ABSOLUTELY no way to replace every single calorie lost during an ultra-endurance event, such as the RAAM. Based on previous experience, I burn about 1k calories per hour during moderately intense (60-75% threshhold) activity on the bike. I am working off the idea of spending about 20-22 hours A DAY on the bike for about 9-10 days in a row. So... about 15-20k calories will be burned up in the process per 24 hour period.

Hammer Nutrition posits that we can only replace about 300 calories an hour during exercise without suffering adverse intestinal and performance effects. I am translating this idea into a mindset where the Race Across America will be an "exercise" in managing of deficits and caloric deficiencies. Hammer steps in with their products to offer replacements with adequate calorie and carb/electrolyte to protein ratios that will sustain from California to Maryland (a sobering thought).

This sort of "techie" approach is now becoming more crucial as we approach the start of the RAAM, which is some 70 days away.

See you on the road...

Tim