A Ride, Nuun, & Caught In "The Act"

Back to work today. I'd like to say it sucked being home yesterday, and how I was glad to be back to work. BUT in reality it was worth having my wisdom tooth out just for the opportunity to stay home, putz around with my bike stuff, and get some house stuff done. Hmm, I do have THREE more wisdom teeth. I might be able to parlay this into some more time off!

I wanted to get outside tonight with my PT lights. That didn't happen based on the "to cold for me" weather that was predicted. I actually think it was OK today and I should have prepared and gone. Live and learn. Since the outside ride was aborted, I wanted to do 1:30 of Zone 1/2 on the trainer. Just get a sweat on, burn some calories and listen to iPodious. F*ck, at the 30 minute mark I KNEW I did not have 1:30 in me. So I did some mental deal cutting with myself, did an hour, and then 15 minutes of core work. Sets of plank, crunches, push ups, and super mans mixed in with some stretching.

Not sure it was my lack of hydrating and eating yesterday or what, but the bod just did not have any mojo, and I was having a hard time even getting my HR up out of Zone 1. Strange. I still burned some calories got the legs opened up, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

I did get to test out some Nuun tonight. I went with the Lemon-Lime since that is the flavor of Zym I used, and I would have a little bit easier time comparing the two. It's the same deal as with most of the Electrolyte tabs. Plop the round tab in you water bottle, watch it fiz for a couple minutes and then you're good to go. The lemon-lime taste was good, and tasted a bit like a light lemonade. I think the Nuun was a TAD more subtle tasting that Zym. Zym had a little bit more bite up front and then went down smooth. I personally found the Zym a TTTTTTiny bit tastier. But of course that's JUST a personal preference. One man's "tasty" is another man's "skank". Both are very good, just a smidge different.
I'll say this- if you go from something like Gatorade or Accelerade, you will find the flavor of Nuun (and Zym) SOOO much more refreshing. In my opinion I find them BOTH tastier than flavored Hammer Heed right now. And they provide very similar benefits (no sugar, mucho electrolytes, etc.,) Nuun retained just the SLIGHTEST bit of fiz to it (I think Zym may have had more). Again I found myself really wanting to drink it. Not just sucking it down because I know it will help me from cramping (which I didn't).

One slight edge for Nuun right now is what I call "bladderbility". That is the ability to add the tab to your hydration pack and not have it get skankier than $2 hooker. Nuun gets the edge on this right now. Boo from Nuun assures me there will be no residue or stickiness due to the lack of sugar. I have yet to try it myself, but I will say when I polished of my bottle tonight there wasn't one trace of stickiness or residue. That's cool.

When I asked Brian at Zym about using it in a bladder he recommended against it. Saying that currently the Endurance Lemon/Lime flavor may leave some slight residue behind from the magnesium in it. But they are working on eliminating that issue now. He also said that new Catapult Zym should be just fine it a bladder. I checked my finished bottle of Lemon/Lime Zym after my ride the other night and I saw nothing that would prevent ME from putting it in my hydration pack. I've put worse in it for sure! But, YOUR interpretation of clean and MY interpretation of clean may be two different things, so Nuun gets the slight edge in "bladderbility" for not having to worry at all.

As of now. Nuun and Zym are both doing it for me and I'm enjoying them both. I'll be trying more flavors in the near future and testing them in my hydration pack. Next on the test is Motor Tabs. By the way, there was NO way in hell I was going to link up Nuun or Zym every time I type them. So look to your right and you'll see them linked under "race nutrition". Thanks.

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Remember the part in Fast Times At Ridgemont High when Brad ( Judge Reinhold) gets caught "flogging his bishop" fantasizing about Linda (Phoebe Cates)? That's how I felt last night.

NO! I wasn't "gettin'er done"!! I was caught being a SUPER Bike Geek by Wifey. I was down in the Stankment® hooking my Switchback 3 up. Once I did, I HAD to test it out, right? So I turned out the lights, and fired up the SB3 (which rocked by the way). Next thing I know, the light comes on and Wifey flits down the steps. I stood there in my pajamas, slack jawed, helmet on, CamelBak on, lights ablaze. The look on her face was one part surprised horror, one part laughing, and one part embarrassed for me. 24 hours later I'm STILL not sure if I would rather have been caught flogging or testing lights. My only salvation is that I have enough hipster points stock piled that Wifey still out geeks me. But I'm closing in FAST!

Later.