So a few months ago Pro Triathlete Simon Whitfield contacted me looking to get some PreRace. He’s had success with some of the other First Endurance nutrition products. I gladly sent him a bottle and asked nothing in return. Just two weeks ago Simon won $200,000 at HyVee and I asked him if he used PreRace. Here is what he said.

Robert: Simon, did you use PreRace at HyVee? I will keep this confidential.
Simon: Yes I did..I used it all year. The only reason I would want to keep it confidential is so my competitors don’t use it! Ha. Honestly Robert, you are welcome to tell anyone including promoting it, I appreciate you sending it to me.
Robert: Very cool Simon, thanks.
Simon: Honestly you can promote it. You guys make terrific products!

I’m gearing up for the 70.3 World Championships in mid November and just finished up a 6 week re-base period where I averaged 25.4 hrs per week and had my highest 4 week average ever with 26.7 hrs per week average within that block along with my highest volume week ever with 30.5 hrs.  I started using the full First Endurance Nutrition System midway through this block and have been thoroughly impressed with the flavors as well as how my body seems to be bouncing back from workouts and absorbing my highest training load ever.  I think the added electrolytes in all of the products has been a contributing factor since my sweat rate is quite high (73oz/hr running @ 80+ degrees).  The electrolytes seem to make me want to drink more water which ultimately is a good thing for me.  My next 4 weeks I plan to drop my volume a little bit and get more focused at half IM paces and I’ll follow that up with a two week taper for Clearwater.  My goal for Clearwater is to go top 20 overall and break 3:55 which I feel I will be ready to do.  My initial aerobic run and bike tests at HIM effort have been much faster than ever before and I’m not sure if there is one product to thank or the combination of taking all of them.

Nick Frank

Had a satisfying racing season. First place in my age group (50+) in 4 out of 5 events, a first overall at C2M, and a top 10 finish and PR at the Hardrock 100.

It goes without saying – First Endurance had a lot to do with this. EFS is the only thing I can now drink. To speed my way through check points on hot days I make concentrated EFS ice cubes and have my crew just throw EFS ice into my bottles – top off with water and I’m gone. No fussing with powder. Just keep diluting with plain water as I go.  Ultragen every 30 miles is very effective in 100’s and I also take another dose of Optygen HP during the race – seems to keep the legs and head alive!  I’m no Leiphiemer or Contador, but I’m no less enthusiastic about FE products than they are!!!

Roch Horton

I’m 52 years old and max out my heart rate on 70 mile rides most saturdays and some sundays with alot of cyclist 1/2 my age, and Optygen HP allows me to keep competitive and going.  I see a substantial difference , Optygen did not have the same effect HP really made a difference. My heart rate may hit 180-182 (according to my polar heart rate monitor) on sprints, before Optygen HP, I would be toast, now I can tuck in, get my heart rate down, recover and ride 30-40 more miles and get anaerobic a few more times. thanks again.

Joe Lamphier

I was third on the swim, second on the bike and first on the run for this one)  Yahoo!  EFS in the tank (I use a Never reach) and EFS shot on the run…. With a little bit of coca cola at the rest stops.  Luna bar before the race and sport legs and some Cliff shot blocks on the bike.  Ultragen at the end.  Good stuff!  No cramping and no GI upset.

P.B.Rosen, MD, MPH

Intro
With its release of OptygenHP^TM in August of 2007, First Endurance^TM introduced the endurance training and racing market to beta-alanine-enhanced supplements. Since then, three additional clinical studies have shown significant endurance performance benefits from beta-alanine. Now positioned as the most promising nutrient since creatine and supported with over 10 positive clinical studies, beta-alanine has become widely accepted as a highly effective nutrient for endurance training and racing. More recent studies have clearly shown it to be an effective tool to boost endurance training and racing through its effect on working capacity, VO2 and lactate threshold. (Pottier 2007, Stout 2007, Suzuki 2002, Van Thienen 2009, Zoeller 2006, and Smith 2009).

Lactate Threshold
Based on current research, beta-alanine’s primary role appears to be its effect on lactate threshold – in endurance training, defined as the rate at which there is equilibrium in lactic acid production and lactic acid elimination. During exercise, hydrogen ions (H+) are produced in the body and cause the pH levels in the muscles to drop. When pH levels in the muscles are low, it means muscle tissue is acidic or producing lactic acid. At this lower pH, muscles cannot balance lactic acid production with lactic acid elimination, resulting in an overall slowing of movement, physical strength and intensity. When pH levels are balanced, training can continue for longer periods at increased intensity.

Exerting effort above the lactate threshold prevents endurance athletes from sustaining that effort for more than a few minutes. It’s long been understood that the amino acid carnosine plays a key role in the homeostasis of pH and lactate threshold, and carnosine levels are regulated by beta-alanine.

To understand how beta-alanine works, you must first understand how carnosine works.
Carnosine enters the digestive system and is hydrolyzed into histidine and beta-alanine, which is then synthesized back into carnosine by skeletal muscle. Intra-muscular carnosine buffers hydrogen ions, which in turn leads to an increase in pH – necessary for the balance between production and elimination of lactic acid.

Carnosine works by soaking up hydrogen ions (H+) to prevent low pH levels, which is confirmed by recent studies. Increased carnosine concentration in muscles leads to increased buffering capacity of intra-muscular hydrogen ion (H+) (Dunnet 1999 & 2002, Hill 2007), as well as regulation of intra-cellular pH of both oxidative and glycolytic muscle fibers (Damon 2003). Increased carnosine accounts for up to 30% of the pH buffering capacity of the body.

With intense training, athletes have an opportunity to improve their intra-muscular carnosine content by up to 87% (Harris, 2005), which in turn provides an increase in lactate threshold. However, though endurance training increases intra-muscular carnosine levels, oral supplementation of carnosine does not have the same result. So, even though carnosine is widely available as a supplement, it is only through the availability of beta-alanine that intra-muscular carnosine can increase.

A related study shows carnosine levels significantly drop with age, which may be a key reason older athletes tend to have a lesser ability to eliminate lactate. (Dunnett, 2002)

So where does beta-alanine come in?
Since beta-alanine is the precursor to the production of intra-muscular carnosine, it must be present in order for intra-muscular carnosine levels to increase when intense training takes place. Ingestion of beta-alanine for four to eight weeks has been shown to elevate muscle carnosine content by 42%, 47%, 64% and 65% respectively (Pottier 2007, Harris 2006, Hill 2007). Increasing intra-muscular carnosine means the body is capable of buffering more hydrogen and eliminating more lactic acid. The end result for an athlete is an improved lactate threshold.

What does this all mean to your performance?
The ability to sustain efforts above lactate threshold is the primary benefit associated with beta-alanine supplementation. Beta-alanine supplements should be consumed daily during heavy training blocks, and, based on today’s research, a minimum of four weeks is required before experiencing any significant increases in intra-muscular carnosine levels. Studies have proven the effect to be dose dependent, with an increased dosage pattern throughout the supplementation period. The buffering effects can be expected to slowly increase from the beginning of training, and sustained throughout the entire training block. Using this supplementation strategy to improve interval workouts or threshold training workouts is the best method to achieve a lasting physiological change that can be carried over into races.

A slew of research studies on the mechanism of improved lactate threshold through the supplementation of beta-alanine have shown significant improvements in power, strength, endurance performance, and aerobic metabolism (Smith 2009, Van Thienen 2009, Stout 2007, Suzuki 2002, Pottier et al 2007). These double-blind, placebo-controlled studies were conducted in 4 and 8 week periods.

Recent Studies

1)    Van Theinen’s 2009 study done on trained cyclists showed beta-alanine can improve sprint performance at the end of an exhaustive endurance exercise by 11.4%.

2)    The Smith 2009 double-blind study done on recreationally active college men supplementing with beta-alanine for six weeks while undergoing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) showed significant improvements in VO2peak, VO2 time to fatigue versus a group using a placebo.

3)    The Stout 2007 double-blind study done on 22 trained women supplementing with beta-alanine for 28 days performing on cycle ergometers showed a significant improvement in ventilatory threshold, physical working capacity at fatigue threshold and time to exhaustion.

4)    The Suzuki 2002 study looked at untrained men and trained them two days per week on cycle ergometers for 8 weeks. This double-blind study showed significant increase in sustainability of high power during 30-second maximal cycle ergometer sprinting.

5)    Pottier et al. 2007 investigated supplementation of beta-alanine on fifteen trained men in a 400m sprint and knee extension to exhaustion. Beta-alanine supplementation increased carnosine levels by 47% and attenuated fatigue in repeated bouts of exhaustive exercise.

Beta-Alanine References:
1) Dunnett M., R.C. Harris.  Influence of oral beta-alanine and L-histidine supplementation on the carnosine content of the gluteus medius.  Equine Vet J.  30 (suppl): 499-504, 1999.

2) Dunnett M., Harris RC, Dunnett CE, Harris PA. Plasma carnosine concentration: Diurnal variation and effects of age, exercise and muscle damage. Equine Vet J Suppl; Sept 2002. (34): 283-7

3) Harris R. C. Muscle Carnosine elevation with supplementation and training, and the effects of elevation on exercise performance. (ISSN conference, 2005).

4) Harris RC, et al; The absorption of orally supplied beta-alanine and its effect on muscle carnosine sythesis in human vastus lateralis. Amino Acids; 2006 May; 30 (3): 279-289.

5) Hill CA, Harris RC, Kim HJ, Harris BD, Sale C,  Boobis LH, Kim CK, Wise JA; Influence of beta-alanine supplementation on skeletal muscle carnosine concentrations and high intensity cycling capacity.  Amino Acids. 2007 Feb: 32(2) 225-33

6) Pottier, A, Ozdemir M, Reyngoudt H, Koppo K, Hrris R, Wise J, Achten E, Derave W. Beta-Alanine supplementation augments muscle carnosine contenct and attenuates fatigue in trained sprinters. Medicine and Health Sciences, Belgium; ECSS July 2007.

7) Smith AE, Walter AA, Graef JL, Kendall KL, Moon JR, Lockwood CM, Fakuda DH, Beck TW, Cramer JT, Stout JR;  Effects of Beta-Alanine supplementation and high-intensity interval training on endurance performance and body composition in men; a double-blind trial. JISSN 6:5 2009.

8)Stout JR, Cramer JT, Soeller RF, Torok D, Costa P, Hoffman JR, Harris RC, O’Koy J.; Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on the onset of neuromuscular fatigue and ventilatory threshold in women.  Amino Acids 2007 April; 32 93): 381-6

9) Suzuki Y, Ito O, Mukai N, Takahashi H,; High levels of skeletal muscle carnosine contributes to the latter half of exercise performance during 30s maximal cycle ergometer sprinting.  Jap Journal of Physiology 52 199-205, 2002.

10) Van Thienen R, Van Proeyen K, Vanden EB, Puype J, Lefere T, Hespel P.  Beta-Alanine improves sprint performance in endurance cycling.  Med Science Sports and Exercise; April 2009; 41(4): 898-903

11) Zoeller RF, Stout JR, O’Kroy JA, Torok DJ, Mielke M.; Effects of 28 days of beta-alanine and creatine monohydrate supplementation on aerobic power, ventilatory and lactate thresholds, and time to exhaustion.  Amino Acids. 2006 Sept 5.

Cellulose, xanthan and arabic gums are a typical ingredient in many gels.  These gums are used to turn a liquid product into a thick gel.   Clinical studies also clearly show they slow absorption and delay gastric emptying leading to stomach discomfort.  This is just one reason why the EFS liquid shot which was formulated without any gums gets absorbed fast and won’t back-up your stomach.

The two developers of Team First Endurance—Robert Kunz and Mike Fogarty—considered what a real athlete wants, which is either a PR or a qualifying spot. Moreover, they want knowledge, and a way to test products in their own training that will help them develop a solid nutrition program.

First Endurance has a stable of doctors and research board members in their stable who actually race as well, including Bob Seebohar (a former U.S. Olympic Committee sports dietitian and the 2008 Olympic Triathlon Team dietitian who is also an Ironman athlete) and Neal Henderson, the director of the Sports Sciences Department at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, who’s also a Masters road racer. They actually get what endurance athletes need. They do the studies on subjects and then they do the studies on themselves.

As a result, the pros who have joined First Endurance, including Ironman athletes Michael Lovato and Donna Phelan, Olympian Sarah Haskins and Xterra’s Ryan Ignatz, have joined because they believe in the product line, not because of money, shirts or jerseys. I’ve spoken to longtime First Endurance athlete Michael Lovato about his association with First Endurance in the past, and for him, it was never about money; it was about the product and the people behind the product who wanted him to perform better. To that end, Kunz and the team were at his beck and call, explaining everything from the benefits of a gluten-free diet or salt supplementation to calorie intake.

Which was great for him. But what about us age groupers?

Enter Team First Endurance. They have just launched their team website: http://team.firstendurance.com, and it has grown by word-of-mouth. The premise is not about getting a free jersey and a box of expired bars. It’s about getting through an Ironman without puking your guts out or bonking. Wouldn’t that be worth infinitely more than a cheap jersey? Methinks so.

The impetus behind the site is to provide a place for athletes to learn about key components in endurance sports nutrition. It’s about putting testing into practice, relaying data, examining cumulative data from other athletes and First Endurance docs, talking with them about personal nutritional experiences and finding a way to identify the best nutritional plan for your own body. It’s a version of a personal nutrition testing protocol—for free.

“People can truly learn a lot about their own nutrition by going through the programs we have on the site,” Kunz told us on a visit to our Competitor Group offices last week. “We have three programs set up—sodium loading, gluten and caffeine.”

Of course, Triathlete publisher John Duke had to chime in: “Is that like eating French fries the night before a race?” Kunz’s reply: “Lots of them—loading with two to three grams of sodium the night before a race. Bob Seebohar is testing this new concept on some athletes at the Olympic Training Center, and now we can test it on the masses, within our team.”

This is why so many pro athletes—including ones that have had nutritional issues in the past—particularly Joanna Zeiger, have joined the team. To solve the conundrum of GI distress, a problem that befalls many of us. This type of distress can derail the “A” race that has been circled on our calendar for five months.

“Mike and I talked to our pro athletes and our customers about how to finish the race and not bonk, not have gastric distress,” Kunz said. “There are so many variables, and everyone is so individual. So we created this website to work in both directions—we gain a lot of very valuable data, while at the same time each member who joins gains a lot of information.”

A simple email and password makes you a member, and allows you to create a page, where you can update it with images, blog posts and much more.

But the biggest benefits are located in the “Programs” tab. They have three big subjects on at the moment—salt loading, gluten and caffeine—along with pH-balanced foods, low- and high-calorie training, anti-inflammatory food studies and product testing coming soon.

So we come back to the question, which is more valuable: a jersey, or a chance at racing without GI distress? The latter is the stated goal of Team First Endurance; A high success rate among its team members of staving off GI distress and avoiding bonking. I know which team I want to be a part of.

First Endurance is proud to announce a two-year sponsorship with Pro Triathlete Jordan Rapp, aka “Rappstar.”  First Endurance co-founder and VP of Science and Technology Robert Kunz is ecstatic to work with Rapp. “Jordan has an engineering background and can clearly identify the importance of analyzing all aspects of training and racing.  In a short period of time, he has become well versed in the First Endurance nutrition system.  We will work closely with Jordan on new product development and will take full advantage of his race experience and analytical thinking. This will be a big advantage for us as we formulate new products,” says Kunz.

“As an engineer, I tend to analyze – and over-analyze – everything,” explains Jordan. “In an industry dominated by pseudo-science and products often devoid of any research, First Endurance is a refreshing change. Their products are well researched, the key ingredients are prevalent in substantial quantities (not in “pixie dust” amounts, to borrow a phrase from Ultragen), and they offer a complete system to support the body through the rigors of training. It’s truly invaluable to find a company whose entire product line – top to bottom – works as well as First Endurance.”

Jordan Rapp was introduced to the First Endurance products by Brian Shea of Personal Best Nutrition, who helped design his Ironman nutrition program.  Thanks to Brian,  Jordan had great success in both 2008 Ironman races placing 3rd overall in both.  His race preparation included the entire line of First Endurance products.  On race day he was fueled primarily by EFS drinks, EFS bars and the new EFS Liquid Shot.  “In my buildup to a break through finish at Ironman Arizona in the fall of 2008, First Endurance products helped me to train, race, and -most importantly – recover optimally. Optygen and Ultragen helped me manage the inherent stress of preparing for an Ironman, and I had my most consistent training block ever in the build up to this race. EFS was a great for during-workout nutrition, and I was able to maintain high quality even on days where I had multiple hard sessions. During the marathon, I was able to get in more calories than I ever had before by using EFS Liquid Shot, and I ran a PB time by almost four minutes despite somewhat boneheaded pacing. Fortunately, First Endurance products are better thought out than some heat-of-the-moment decisions.”

Race Results:

2008:
3rd Overall, Ironman Arizona November (bike course record), 8:19:45
finishing time
3rd Overall, Ironman Arizona April (fastest bike split)
1st Overall, Shawnigan Lake 1/2 Ironman (bike course record, overall
course record)
6th Overall, NYC Triathlon

2007:
1st Overall, SOMA Cafe 1/2 Ironman (fastest bike split)
2nd Overall, Tri101 Clearlake (fastest bike split)
5th overall, Ironman Canada (first Ironman)

2006 (first pro season):
3rd Overall, Powerman North Carolina
5th Overall, Timberman 70.3, Gilford, NH
6th Overall, Florida 70.3 (Fastest Bike Split)