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Running Events in Alaska

Cool Running Event Announcement!

Anchorage Running Club's Big Wild Life Runs will take place on Sunday, August 15, 2010. Runners will start and finish in downtown Anchorage, while enjoying the beautiful coastal trail in between. The marathon route will take you alongside Cook Inlet on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and then through several parks and greenbelts on the Chester Creek Trail.

The course is pretty flat, and when it gets a little hilly there’s always the distraction of the view and the wild life. It’s Alaska, runners will need to be prepared for a variety of weather conditions and variety of wildlife — last year a moose was seen at around mile 23. There is a good chance you will see moose. These are wild animals — keep your distance. If you see their ears go back and they seem agitated, get further away. Circle off the trail if necessary. Moose with calves are especially unpredictable.
  POWERBAR Gels will be on the course at mile 9 and 19 and at the bib pick up locations.
The event includes a pasta feed, variety of course distances, entertainment and special guests:

The Pasta Feed will be held from 4–7 PM on Saturday, August 14 at the Denaina Convention Center, downtown.

Big Wild life Runs
Humpy's Marathon
Humpy's Marathon Walk
Humpy's Marathon Relay
Skinny Raven Half Marathon
Snow City Cafe 5K

(USA Track and Field certified course and a Boston qualifying event.)

Special guests: Bart Yasso, Chief Running Officer of Runner's World Magazine and author of "My Life on the Run — the Wit, Wisdom, and Insights of a Road Racing Icon", will once again be attending this year's event. Bart will be presenting his adventure slide show, signing books, and on race day, announcing runners as they cross the finish line.

Jeff Galloway, former Olympian and founder of the Run-Walk-Run method, will be holding a three hour running clinic on Saturday, August 14. 

Rikki Keen, MS, RD, CNSD, CSSD, CSCS, Sports Dietitian and adjunct professor at University of Alaska,  will be at the bib pick up loactions answering questions on Sports Nutrition.
Coach Tom Shaw, Sports Dietitian
http://www.coachtomshaw.com/ href="http://www.coachtomshaw.com/" target=_blank>www.coachtomshaw.com
Scientific Advisor/Sports Dietitian http://www.frs.com/ href="http://www.frs.com/" target=_blank>www.frs.com
Webinars:
http://www.performancewebinars.com/ href="http://www.performancewebinars.com/" target=_blank>www.performancewebinars.com

Answers for Ironman PERFORM™

Ironman PERFORM™ is the new sports drink developed by the Sports Nutrition Experts at PowerBar. Some instances of staining plastic water bottles have been reported. I just wanted to reach out to everyone and let them know what the scoop is.  The ingredient beta carotene, a natural form of Vitamin A found in carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin has been linked to this staining; very much like pure carrot juice can stain plastic containers. Since beta carotene is in the fat soluble vitamin category, you may have success removing the stain with a small amount of vegetable oil on paper towel or cotton ball, and rub this over the stained plastic. This will remove that orange color from the plastic. Then, you must wash the plastic with soap and water to remove the oil used to remove the stain. If you have any furthers questions or concerns please call our consumer services line, 1-800-58-POWER (M-F 8-8 ET).

What would you do with 8 percent improvement in endurance performance?

The scoop
Research has firmly established that consuming carbs during moderate- or high-intensity endurance exercise helps to spare your supply of muscle fuel and helps maintain blood glucose levels. With more carbs held in reserve, you’re able to compete at your best, not only for a longer period of time, but also at a high intensity.

POWERBAR C2 MAX stretches the limits
Although carbs are the primary fuel for intense endurance exercise, there is a limit to the rate at which your body can absorb them. The absorption rate, or speed at which you absorb carbs from the digestive tract, is believed to be the rate limiting step in how fast you can metabolize or burn ingested carbohydrates during exercise. The metabolic burning of carbohydrate fuel is called carbohydrate oxidation. Based on past studies where athletes have consumed glucose, sports nutrition researchers have long held that the maximum burn or oxidation rate of ingested carbs during exercise is about 1 gram every minute. Thus, the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines advise endurance athletes to consume up to 60 grams of carbs during each hour of training or competition, or about 1 gram of carbs for every minute of exercise. Unfortunately, consuming more carbs than you are able to effectively absorb and metabolize won’t make you faster or extend your endurance. In fact, it might do just the opposite. Extra carbs sloshing around your digestive tract can leave you feeling bloated, nauseous or uncomfortable — not ideal conditions for performing at your best.

However, research out of the laboratory of one of the world’s top researchers in human performance testing and exercise physiology, has turned the tables on the accepted absorption limit for carbs. Based on the idea that simple carbohydrates, like glucose and fructose, have separate transporters for absorption from the digestive tract, researchers hypothesized that a combination of glucose and fructose together would lead to a higher rate of oxidation of ingested carbs than glucose alone. Sure enough, when trained cyclists were given a mixture of glucose and fructose during prolonged, intense cycling in a laboratory setting, the maximum burn rate for ingested carbs was significantly higher compared to giving glucose alone. To be sure of their findings, the researchers repeated their study using different sources and combinations of glucose and fructose. Each time, the glucose-fructose combination resulted in an increased oxidation rate (20–50% higher) as compared to glucose alone.

What about performance?
Research recently published further supports how this glucose-fructose blend impacts performance. In this study, eight trained cyclists pedaled at a steady, vigorous pace for two hours, and then performed a 1-hour time trial. The cyclists were given identical looking and tasting sport drinks that contained either glucose alone or an isocaloric combination of glucose and fructose in a 2:1 ratio. During the time trial, the power output from the cyclists consuming the glucose-fructose combination was 8% higher than those consuming glucose alone, and average performance time was 17 percent faster when the carb combination was compared with water alone.

The science explained

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Quick version



What it means for you
This important research means that athletes now have the ability to increase fuel delivery to working muscles during endurance exercise.

This could mean 43 minutes off your 9 hour Ironman
22 minutes off your 4.5 hour 70.3
10 minutes off your 2 hour half marathon,
and 17 minutes off your 3.5 hour marathon!

This is a chance for you to maximize what actually works in sports nutrition; why not take it?

What would you do with 8% better performance?

Boston Marathon weekend- dress warm!

It's great to be in Boston for the Marathon. Excitement is in the air as Marathon Monday approaches. The PowerBar booth has been a focal point  for runner and spectator alike. The Sports Nutrition Panel this morning featuring Josh Cox, Tim DeBoom, Lisbeth Kenyon and Jenna A. Bell, was very informative. The crowd gathered around to hear expert advise. There will be one more panel on Sunday morning at 11 am. I was expecting the excitement, but it is a bit chillier than I expected. If you are looking for a great place to buy what you may have forgotten, be sure to check out City Sports, with 7 locations in Boston. They have major clothing brands for men and women, and great customer service. http://www.citysports.com 

Share your Story

  As  Sports Dietitians, we are constantly challenged to develop new ways to reach athletes and active individuals. We look for ways to effectively educate, and guide behaviors that will improve nutrition, and ultimately performance. With budgets being cut across the country, we are being called on to do more, with less. I would love to be able to share experiences and stories from other Sports Dietitians and Practitioners that have been successful in reaching athletes with programs that work. Many of my colleagues  are utilizing the PowerBar Sports Nutrition Playbooks, Presentations, Seminar Videos and Calculators in their practices. It would be great to see what helps, what doesn't, and what else can we offer. Our desire is to advance the field of sports nutrition, by providing tools and resources that work for athletes. We are here to help, tell us what you need. Check this out as a resource: www.powerbar.com/nutritioncoach