Hey 2015 - don't let the door hit ya..

I'm not going to be too upset to see this year gone - I've spent a lot of it hurting in one way or another, but I'm looking forward to fresh opportunities and new adventures in the coming months.

I wish you all the very best for a joyful new year and a healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2016!

The holidays awaken

With next Friday being Christmas day and all of the attendant insanity that brings, I have no idea whether or not I'll manage another blog post before the end of this year. Thus, I'm just going to wish you all a joyful Christmas and a bright, safe and delight-filled holiday season right now!

I truly appreciate every single one of you who takes the time to stop by and read whatever nonsense I've spewed out onto the internet this week, and I wish you all your heart's desires for the new year...though I can't guarantee the quality of my blog will improve in the least.

Nonetheless, from Tanker the Wonder Sherpa and myself, be safe, stay warm, and be merry!

And may the Force be with you!

Just giving it away

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the EFS Liquid Shot gel from First Endurance (as evidenced by past race reports). Unfortunately, it seems to be an endangered species in Canada these days - when I went to pick some up prior to the Vulture Bait 50k in October, I was told that my favourite local running store was completely out of stock and would have to order it in.

Hmph.

So I tried another outlet I've reliably ordered from in the past. 

Nothing doing.

I tried several other places - anyone I could find in this country that said they carried it - all of whom were out of stock.

In the end, I ran Vulture Bait on a hodgepodge of Gu flavours with some Endurance Tap thrown in. It went ok, but I really love the convenience of having my gels in a flask rather than individual packets (not to mention the reduced impact on the environment, particularly since I usually buy the 32oz refill jug), plus the way my body seems to process the nutrition without any issues.  

Since I was down in the US last month, I decided to order some supplies shipped to the friend's place so I could bring it back with me, since EFS Liquid Shot still seems to be in plentiful supply in that country. When I opened the parcel from First Endurance, I got a surprise: they'd included samples of new flavours of their Ultragen recovery beverage.

Vanilla and chocolate, oh my!

Unfortunately, my dairy allergy won't permit me to use these. I really wish I could, since I actually bought a tub of the cappucino flavour a few years ago and used it after big or intense training days. Whether it was placebo effect or not, I seemed to recover quite well when I used Ultragen, despite some nasty side effects on my gastrointestinal tract. 

Let's just say Tanker is pretty happy I don't use it anymore.

So, since 'tis the season for giving, I'm offering up these two samples to a lucky blog reader. Just comment below if you want a chance to win these sample packets, and I'll draw a name at random from the list of commenters. Please include some way to get in touch with you so I can get your postal address to send these out! I won't limit it to any particular geographical region, since as a Canadian I'm sick and tired of being disqualified from this sort of draw and won't engage in that sort of shenanigans. 

Good luck and good recovery to you all!

Sometimes..

..you've just gotta run.

Be well, my friends.