Performance in a Pill (1) - Intro to Dietary Supplements

See original version at http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/10/nutrition/performance-in-a-pill-introduction-to-dietary-supplements_15479

In this first installment of a new series, one of the top sports supplements experts invites you to learn everything you need to know about safe and effective nutritional supplementation for endurance.

Written by: Shawn Talbott, Ph.D.

Nearly 2,500 years ago, Hippocrates, the “father of modern medicine”, embraced the concept, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Although we know that diet plays a role in five of the 10 leading causes of death (including coronary heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, Type II diabetes, and atherosclerosis), the advent of modern pharmaceutical therapy in the 19th century caused the “food as medicine” philosophy to fall into relative obscurity as a “quaint” concept among many healthcare professionals.

As endurance athletes, we’re concerned as much about health as we are about performance, so this “food first” approach is certainly something that we should be taking to heart. We know that diet is at least as important for optimal physical and mental performance as exercise training—but too few of us pay as much attention to our diets as we pay to choosing our next pair of running shoes.

Many of the athletes that I work with are looking for ways to “fix” the nutrition side of their performance, or looking to tweak their nutrition for a performance “edge” over their competition. This article is the first in a series, “Performance in a Pill?”, where I’ll explore the evidence for/against certain dietary supplements: some that might help us as endurance athletes, some that might not help, and others that might be downright dangerous or illegal (or both).

Herbal preparations have been used as medicinal agents and performance enhancers since time immemorial in all cultures the world over. Since 1994, however, with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), millions of American consumers have readily and avidly embraced the use of food, dietary supplements, and herbal extracts for more than just basic nutrition. The past decade has seen the dietary supplement industry grow in size from almost zero to almost $25 billion in annual domestic sales with more $100 million in worldwide sales. Although estimates vary, approximately 50-60 percent of adults in the United States identify themselves as consumers of dietary supplements (close to 200 million Americans consume supplements, according to the FDA). Among endurance athletes, some studies suggest that as many as 90 percent of elite-level athletes are regular users of dietary supplements (and close to 100 percent of power athletes use supplements).

When considering any dietary supplement, we all face the often-daunting challenge of trying to determine whether or not a particular product meets our needs (or lives up to its claims). The broad definition of dietary supplements permits the use of a wide variety of plant constituents (roots, leaves, stems, etc.), vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other ingredients that can have essential or nonessential bioactive constituents with associated health benefits (or risks). Endurance athletes tend to use dietary supplements either as preventive nutrition, where, for example, a daily multivitamin supplement is intended to provide nutritional “insurance”, or as ergogenic aids, or performance enhancers. For example, cordyceps and rhodiola are intended to improve oxygen utilization and boost endurance performance. Of course, consumers also use dietary supplements in myriad other ways to promote weight loss, to increase energy levels, and to treat specific diseases.

The Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplements in many of the same ways that it regulates conventional foods—but supplement products are required to carry the disclaimer, “This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” Like foods, but unlike drugs, dietary supplements do not require pre-marketing approval by the FDA, but the FDA has the authority to restrict sales and remove specific supplements from the market if they are shown to pose a public health risk. Because the scientific and medical evidence for the efficacy and safety of dietary supplements is highly variable in terms of both quantity and quality, it is very much a situation of “buyer beware” when it comes to choosing and using dietary supplements. However, by understanding the risks and benefits associated with use of these products, we can make an educated decision about which supplements are worth their cost to help with endurance, recovery, or general nutrition—and (perhaps more importantly) which others are best avoided.


This series of articles is intended to provide endurance athletes with a basis and background on which to make educated decisions about the appropriate use (or avoidance) of specific dietary supplements. The most important thing to realize is that dietary supplements are not panaceas or magic bullets that can counteract poor health habits; rather, they are supplements to a comprehensive lifestyle approach that also includes a balanced diet, regular physical training, stress management, adequate sleep, and other positive health practices.

Research studies of dietary supplements are often difficult to evaluate because of differences in the ingredients from study to study, incomplete description and analysis of the active ingredients, and variations in the dosing, duration, and population studied. Considering the large number of dietary supplements on the market, this series will focus on the supplements that are most likely to be of interest to endurance athletes and those that have a sufficient body of clinical evidence to evaluate.

Each article in this series will cover 3 main areas:

1. Claimst/theory behind the supplement (What is it supposed to do and how?)
2. Science (What does independent research say about this supplement?)
3. Recommendations (How might this supplement benefit you, the endurance athlete?)

I am generally a fairly “pro-supplement” kind of person, but I am also a staunch advocate of the idea that food and fitness must come first—so I won’t be pushing any magical pills or potions to make up for poor diet or lack of training. Thanks for starting this journey with me. I look forward to exploring the world of endurance supplements with you in the coming weeks.

About the Author: Shawn Talbott is multiple Ironman and ultramarathon finisher and a sports nutrition expert with a Ph.D. in nutritional biochemistry and a master’s degree in exercise science. He lives in Salt Lake City. For more information visit www.ShawnTalbott.com

Competitor Network Series

I have a new article series on the Competitor Network (http://running.competitor.com/) - these are the folks who bring you several excellent magazines dedicated to endurance sports, including VeloNews (http://velonews.competitor.com/), Singletrack (mountain biking at http://singletrack.competitor.com/), and Triathlete (http://triathlon.competitor.com/). If it matters to endurance athletes, you’ll read about it on the Competitor Network.

My first two articles for Competitor covered different aspects of Nutritional Recovery (what and when to eat to recover faster) - you can read the full articles at the links below...

1. Nutritional Recovery (http://triathlon.competitor.com/2009/07/features/nutritional-recovery_3402)

2. Now or Later? When to Eat Post-Exercise? (http://running.competitor.com/2010/05/features/now-or-later_10020)

More recently, I’ve been working on a new article series on dietary supplements that we’re calling, “Performance in a Pill?”

The series will examine the pros and cons of choosing and using dietary supplements to improve performance - specifically endurance, recovery, and other aspects of performance in which an endurance athlete may be interested.

The links below will bring you to the most recent four articles in the “Performance in a Pill?” series - hope you like them!

Performance in a Pill Series:

1. 1.Introduction to Dietary Supplements (http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/10/nutrition/performance-in-a-pill-introduction-to-dietary-supplements_15479)

1. 2.Supplement Use Among Endurance Athletes (http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/11/nutrition/performance-in-a-pill-supplement-use-among-endurance-atheltes_16530)

1. 3.Banned Substances – Buyer Beware (http://running.competitor.com/2010/11/nutrition/performance-in-a-pill-banned-substances-buyer-beware_16777)

1. 4. Choosing and Using Dietary Supplements (http://running.competitor.com/2010/11/nutrition/performance-in-a-pill-choosing-and-using-supplements_18191)

Thanks for reading!

Shawn M. Talbott, PhD
www.ShawnTalbott.com

New "About Us" at Wicked Fast

I thought it was about time to update the "About Us" portion of the Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition website for a few reasons. The primary reason is that people are SO surprised when they call or email us when either myself or Julie picks up the phone or personally replies to an email message. Many of our customers are expecting to get transferred to a call-center to speak with a customer service agent (not always a "bad" thing) - so they're surprised to actually get the owners of the company.

Well, it's not surprising to us, because when we started Wicked Fast back in 2004, we wanted to have a "different" type of nutrition company - one that didn't rely on advertising or pro-athlete payoffs to "push" its products - one that focused on the science of endurance to develop super-premium products (without the super-premium price) - and one that we could run the way we wanted to run it, with a commitment to helping our customers achieve their peak potential (hey, we can't all be on the podium, but we can certainly do our best to reach our personal best).

We're a small company - and we'll always be a small "niche" company because we want to stay focused on the committed endurance athletes (like us) who take their training and racing and personal performance seriously. 

At Wicked Fast, Julie and I personally guarantee that our products will be the purest, most-potent, and most effective products for Endurance, Recovery, Balanced Nutrition, and Fat Loss that you have ever used. Period. 

Thanks for reading...

Shawn

Here is the new "About Us" text for your reading pleasure:

About Us

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition (WFSN) provides FOUR research-proven nutrition products specifically formulated for endurance athletes. Our products are formulated with the highest purity and highest potency ingredients by endurance athletes for endurance athletes. The Wicked Fast Team (all of whom are avid endurance junkies – just like you) is focused on developing and delivering the highest quality, efficacious and cutting-edge natural products to endurance athletes around the world. Try Wicked Fast products and FEEL the difference for yourself.

Wicked Fast is owned and operated by Shawn & Julie Talbott – so when you email or call, you’ll get one of us – not a call center or an order taker. Shawn holds a MS in Exercise Science (UMass Amherst), an EMP in Entrepreneurship (MIT), and a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry (Rutgers), and is an avid endurance athlete with 14 Ironman finishes and numerous ultra-marathons under his belt. Julie holds a BS in Industrial Engineering (UMass Amherst) and an MBA in Operations (Rutgers), and is also an endurance athlete competing in marathons and trail running. No matter what questions you might have about Wicked Fast products – how they work – what our science shows – how to use them – how you can become a distributor – how they compare to more costly products – why we don’t advertise – whatever – Shawn & Julie can help to answer your questions and help you go faster, recover quicker, and reach your peak potential.

Our FOUR products are:

Energ-Ease helps you to "Get up... Get going... and Keep going..." Energ-Ease is the only endurance supplement that delivers quick energy, sustained stamina, and helps maintain normal hormone balance to help you avoid overtraining. Take Energ-Ease before exercise to help you reach new heights in energy, endurance, and stamina.

Recover-Ease helps your body to recover faster and more completely from your hardest efforts. No other recovery product works the way Recover-Ease does to reduce stress hormones, improve immune function, accelerate tissue repair, and manage muscle soreness.

Intense Defense is a comprehensive and balanced multi-nutrient supplement intended for dedicated endurance athletes. It provides 3 complete formulas delivering Optimal Nutrition, Antioxidant Balance, and Inflammatory Control.

Wicked Lean with Neurovectin helps burn fat, control appetite and enhance metabolism. One to two ounces before exercise or a meal will help ignite your metabolism while enhancing focus, giving that extra "edge" to your workouts and your willpower! Achieve your optimal "leanness" and high-octane performance with Wicked Lean.

Our Vision

To use the science of today – plus the wisdom and tradition of nature – to enhance your physical and mental endurance performance…

Committed To Research

WFSN considers science to be its guiding principle. While other companies pay a great deal of lip service to science, Wicked Fast stands behind each and every one of its products with clinical studies (on our actual finished products in endurance athletes), patents, biochemical assays, and laboratory analyses to prove to you that our products are pure, safe, effective, and worth your attention. We are one of the few nutrition companies in the world to maintain our own state-of-the-art human physiology and exercise biochemistry laboratory and support a program of ongoing clinical performance research. Rather than spending money on expensive advertising or professional athlete sponsorships, we would MUCH prefer to spend our money on research to ensure our products are the most potent, highest purity, and most effective endurance products on the market.

Committed To You

Every WFSN product is developed with the end-user in mind. We do not “pixie dust” our products with miniscule levels of ingredients. Rather, we only use the clinically effective amounts of the specific ingredients known to be effective for a particular benefit. We do this because we know that our customers want products that WORK – not products with empty promises and marketing hype. Each and every WFSN product is backed by our 100% money-back guarantee.

Research Proven

Our research has been presented at numerous prestigious scientific conferences, including The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), American College of Nutrition (ACN), Experimental Biology (EB), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), and the International Society for Sports Nutrition (ISSN), among others.

Wicked Lean Launches!

Earlier today, I sent out this email to our most loyal Wicked Fast customers - triathletes, marathoners, ultrarunners, and assorted endurance nuts to alert them (and you) to the launch (finally!) of our newest product = Wicked Lean (see #2 below).

I also wanted to find out what people generally thought about the whole issue of “banned substances” in dietary supplements (see #1 below). My hunch is that most people don’t care as much about the “elite athlete doping” issue as they do about naturally performing at their best with whatever “edge” they can find. We’ll see what comments I get back to this question and to my upcoming article on the topic in Competitor (a major endurance magazine/website).

===================================

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for being a Wicked Fast customer. I have two quick things to share with you - one Question - and one Announcement.

1. The Question

Do you care whether or not Wicked Fast products are certified by a 3rd-party lab to be free of prohibited substances?

-For several years, our Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease products have been certified by BSCG (Banned Substances Control Group) and HFL (in the United Kingdom) to be "free" of any substances deemed to be prohibited or banned by sporting governing bodies. This means that if you're competing in NCAA or Olympic or similar events (where you might have to pee in a cup), then our products would not cause anyone to "test positive" for something that shouldn't be there (steroids, stimulants, etc).

-Our Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease continue to be manufactured under FDA-GMP conditions (the highest and most stringent) and we screen all of our raw materials to ensure the highest purity and potency - but we're not sure if you (our customers) give a hoot about the extra level of banned substance analysis.

-Let me know if you want us to continue our 3rd-party banned substance testing (or if you don't really care). This is an added expense for our little company - we refrain from advertising and pro sponsorships so we can keep our prices fair for avid age-groupers like ourselves - but we'll continue the analytical testing if you want us to.

2. The Announcement

Earlier today, we launched our newest product - Wicked Lean ("Burn Fat, Control Appetite, & Enhance Metabolism")

-We've been testing and tweaking and retesting the Wicked Lean formula for the last 2 years and we're thrilled that it is finally "out there" for people to start using (especially with the off-season and Holidays coming, when many of us tend to stray away from our race weight and the need to get back to race weight as the season heats up).

-We have some cool deals on Wicked Lean and we're sharing free bottles with our loyal customers (look for your freebie in you next auto-delivery of Energ-Ease or Recover-Ease).

-Related to the Question above - you should know that Wicked Lean contains a couple of ingredients that are considered by WADA to be "prohibited" stimulants - so if the drug testers are often knocking on your door, then you might want to skip Wicked Lean - no matter how effective it is at helping you hit your race weight.

-Wicked Lean is produced in a completely separate facility (in another state) from our production of Energ-Ease and Recover-Ease, so there is no risk of "cross contamination" between the products. So, if you are concerned about banned substances, both EE and RE will remain "dope-free" even if Wicked Lean is off limits for you.

Thanks for letting me share this info with you all. Please let myself or Julie know if you have any questions about any of our Wicked Fast products.

Good luck with the rest of your seasons - and if you're already in the "off" season - then rest and relax and kill it in 2011!

All best,

Shawn

====================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

648 E Rocky Knoll

Draper, UT 84020

801-576-0788 (office)

801-915-1170 (mobile)

Shawn@WickedFastSN.com

www.WickedFastSportsNutrition.com

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/DocTalbott

Follow me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawntalbott

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Glutamine for Endurance Athletes?

Here is some correspondence I have been having with a journalist writing an article about the pros/cons of supplementing with glutamine:

I referred the writer to this link for some general info on glutamine (from my SupplementWatch educational site - based on the content from my 2 textbooks on dietary supplements)...

http://www.supplementwatch.com/SupplementWatch/Library/Entries/2009/2/18_Glutamine_-_Professional_Version.html

The I answered a bunch of question for her on the phone - and then handled a question about “how much can glutamine levels become depleted by exercise?” - to which I answered:

30-50% is probably a good range - the depletion of glutamine is very much dependent on the overall intensity of the challenge - so extremely intense catabolic conditions (such as burn patients) might deplete glutamine levels by 90% - while the casual exerciser would have little to no glutamine depletion. A hard-training athlete would be someplace in between - for example, we know that running a 1/2-marathon or full marathon will suppress immune function enough to result in upper respiratory tract infections in about 70% of finishers - so the more intense the effort, the greater the glutamine depletion is likely to be.

...and another = “How does glutamine increase glycogen levels?” - to which I replied:

Glutamine directly increases the activity of an enzyme - glycogen synthase - that creates glycogen in muscle/liver cells (glycogen = the stored form of glucose). Most studies suggest that this effect only happens if you have depleted your glycogen stores pretty significantly (very intense or long duration exercise). From a practical perspective, most people can “get away” with restoring glycogen levels after exercise with just eating carbs (provide the glucose for glycogen synthesis) - but in very depleted states, the added glutamine will enhance the glycogen storage - which could be important for athletes training/competing hard day after day.

...and finally - a very good question about some of the research on glutamine supplements not showing much of anything...

A lot of hard research does not indicate that glutamine does much - if anything - when taken as a supplement. Is this because the use of single amino acids can’t be substantiated somehow? Or is it because they need to work together with other nutrients to be effective? Or are they more effective when taken as BCAAs?

Hi Lxx - I think that most of the "no effect" studies come down to 2 factors:

1. the intensity of the intervention was not high enough - this is based on the fact that the most "extreme" situations (burns, post-surgery, and very intense/long exercise) tend to respond more predictably to glutamine supplementation - while the trials of shorter/easier interventions are hit/miss. It goes back to what I said before - that glutamine is a great supplement to consider if you are training HARD and need some help in "keeping" that muscle and enhancing repair - but if you're not going "hard enough" to get yourself into that hyper-catabolic state, then glutamine will probably not add much for you.

2. compliance with the supplementation regimen - I see this all the time with university-based research on supplements. A grad student will conduct a study on a small number of subjects, give them some capsules to take during a training program, and then not "manage" either the subjects or their supplement well enough (the subjects forget to take their pills or miss a few of the training sessions) - which results in a "no effect" result from the study because the subjects did not "go hard enough" (to create that hypercatabolic state) or even adhere to their supplementation regimen (they can't work if you don't take them).

There is also another factor that is more of a practical consideration when it comes to formulating products:

3. glutamine (which is cheap) is more effective when taken with BCAAs (which are expensive) - this is a harder one to tease out, but since the immune system cells are using all 4 of these amino acids as an energy source, it makes sense to take them together. We have found very good results on reducing post-exercise URTIs (upper respiratory tract infections after marathon running) with a combination of glutamine (1 gram) plus BCAAs (leucine, valine, isoleucine in a 3:1:1 ratio).

Hope that helps!

Shawn

==================================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D.

Nutritional Biochemist and Author

www.shawntalbott.com

www.supplementwatch.com

NEW BOOK - “Vigor - 7 Days to Unlimited Energy, Focus, and Well-Being” (http://www.VigorBook.com)

 

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-Killer at Large - an award-winning documentary exploring the causes and solutions underlying the American obesity epidemic  (http://www.KilleratLarge.com)

-The Health Professionals Guide to Dietary Supplements (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkens) - http://www.supplementwatch.com/

-Cortisol Control and the Beauty Connection - The All-Natural Inside-Out Approach to Reversing Wrinkles, Preventing Acne, And Improving Skin Tone (Hunter House) - http://www.cortisolcontrol.com/

-Natural Solutions for Pain-Free Living (Chronicle Publishers - Currant Books)

-The Cortisol Connection - Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health (Hunter House) - http://www.cortisolconnection.com/

-The Cortisol Connection Diet - The Breakthrough Program to Control Stress and Lose Weight (Hunter House) - http://www.cortisolconnectiondiet.com/

-A Guide to Understanding Dietary Supplements - an Outstanding Academic Text of 2004 (Haworth Press) - http://www.supplementwatch.com/

Energ-Ease is BACK!

After several months of being out-of-stock, Energ-Ease is BACK (and we’re having trouble KEEPING it in stock - a good problem to have, I guess)...

Energ-Ease is our dietary supplement for “improving energy, stamina, and endurance” - it helps your body to use oxygen more efficiently (so you have that “extra gear” when your workouts and competition demand it) and it helps you to avoid overtraining by naturally maintaining the balance between anabolic/catabolic hormones (so you can train harder to get faster, without getting sick or hurt).

We launched Energ-Ease in 2006 at Ironman Arizona because there was no endurance/stamina supplement on the market that did what I wanted it to do. There were - and still are - plenty of low-potency cordyceps and rhodiola products out there (selling for $50-$75 per month), but none of these delivered the right levels and combination of ACTIVE compounds to truly have a benefit for improving oxygen utilization and endurance performance. We’re the ONLY endurance nutrition company that standardizes all of our products to specific levels of specific active compounds - so you (and we) get the most potent and most balanced benefits. If you care to “do the math” you’ll see that the total content of active endurance compounds in Energ-Ease is much higher than competing products (Adenosine, Rosavin, Eleutheroside, Glycosaponin, Eurypeptide, Reseveratrol, and Withanolide) - but it’s not so much a “more is better” thing - it’s really a matter of “more of certain compounds in combination with the right levels of other compounds” that will help you reach your true potential as an endurance athlete.

One of the reasons that we had trouble getting Energ-Ease back in stock was because we use only the very highest-purity and highest-potency herbal extracts - and these extracts are simply not widely available (and they’re expensive). This is why you won’t see the Energ-Ease formula being “copied” anywhere else - because it’s too expensive for the mainstream companies and too limited in availability to sell to the mass market. That’s fine with us - we’ve always been about serving the niche of competitive endurance athletes (which is where we live as triathletes, cyclists, trail runners, etc) - with the best products possible. We could have been back selling “something” called Energ-Ease within a couple of days if we wanted to use the low-potency Cordyceps and Rhodiola powders that are so widespread in the industry (and so widely contaminated with banned substances), but that’s not our gig - and while it might increase our sales and certainly our profit margins to use the low-potency stuff, it would go against everything that Wicked Fast stands for...

Here’s a short note from a new Wicked Fast COACH who had a breakthrough performance in a recent International UCI Pro-1-2 stage race:

Subject: Energ-Ease ROCKS!

Thanks Julie, you are a star!

The Wicked Fast combo took me to 7th place!

Thanks for everything!!!

I want to order wholesale if possible...

Please let me know re: wholesale process

Thanks

Dave

Here’s the back-story with Dave (and with so many others who TRY Wicked Fast products). Dave is an up-and-coming cyclist. He’s been buying and using Recover-Ease for some time to help him recover faster and more completely after training. He’s a devoted “fan” of Recover-Ease, so we sent him a free bottle of Energ-Ease to try - and the combination of Energ-Ease before workouts and Recover-Ease after workouts helped him to have that breakthrough performance. Is Dave psyched? You bet - so psyched that he is now ordering Wicked Fast products on our wholesale Coaches Program and helping his coached athletes to reach their full endurance potential as he is doing. We benefit - Dave benefits - his athletes benefit - and the competition suffers. Very cool.

Give Energ-Ease a try - you’ll find that “extra gear” in your workouts because your body will be using oxygen more efficiently - and you’ll be able to dial up your workout intensity/duration without succumbing to the tiredness and dead legs that come with overtraining. Maybe you’ll like it so much, you’ll want to share it with others in your club, your training mates, or your athletes (if you’re a coach) - or maybe, you’ll just want to keep Energ-Ease “secret” and let your mates wonder why you’re flying...

Thanks for reading...

Shawn

=================================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D., FACSM, CNS, LDN

CEO (Chief Endurance Officer)

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com

Shawn@WickedFastSN.com

801-576-0788

Michelle Barton is a Peach (and can kick your butt)...

Good Karma - that’s all I can say.

Here at Wicked Fast, we don’t “do” sponsorships (in the traditional sense anyway) and we don’t “do” advertising (again, not as you might traditionally think of “advertising” - more on that in a future blog) - BUT, we DO SUPPORT a wide range of endurance athletes and endurance events around the country and around the world. We often send product samples (to use as podium and raffle prizes) and swag (like our great clothing, water bottles, and gear bags) to events (triathlons, ultra runs, etc) because we feel this is a great way to give something back to the sports that we’ve been doing for so many years.

We also have a limited number of athletes that we “support” in various ways. We don’t do this as “sponsorships” per se, but do it more because we just LIKE these particular athletes and they like US and our products. Typically, these have been long-time users of Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease (www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com). We sometimes will send “extra” (free) bottles of product with their orders - and sometimes we’ll send “extra” (free) product when they’re attempting a “big” event (like back to back to back ultras or huge speed attempts or other such craziness)...

We feel like helping out a few of these great folks ends up helping us in the end anyway (that’s the part about “good karma”) because these athletes have amazing performances and they talk about our amazing products to their training buddies. We could not ask for more than to be associated with “good karma” folks - that’s a big part of why we started Wicked Fast in the first place.

Here is a recent note from one of our “Friends of Wicked Fast’ - and amazing ultrarunner (and person), Michel Barton. Last year, Michelle won just about every ultra in California - setting course records in most of them - and chatting up her buds about how Recover-Eae was helping her to bounce back faster from her nutso training and racing schedule. We met Michelle thru a mutual friend and fell in love with her contagious enthusiasm for life (one of those “good karma” folks). Here is one of her recent notes:

Dear Julie and Shawn,

Thank you soooo much for the restocking of Recover-EASE!!

I have good news, I won the Leona Divide 50 miler and broke the course record!!!

I was 1st woman and 4th overall in 7:19:04.

I seriously could not do this without your support and your amazing incredible product!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

You are so wonderful, I appreciate all that you have done for me!!

I will send you some photos from the race!!!

Have a great day!!

Best always, Michelle

That’s all for now - you (and we) need to get out there for our morning workouts - thanks for reading...

Shawn

=================================

Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D., FACSM, CNS, LDN

CEO (Chief Endurance Officer)

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

www.wickedfastsportsnutrition.com

801-576-0788