News

INFINIT Fueled D3 Multisport to Have Huge Kona Presence

Oct 3, 2016

The Super Bowl event for triathlon is on it’s 10 day countdown to Saturday, October 8, 2016 in Kona,Hawaii. The Ironman World Championships are here and for those who compete in triathlon, it’s our special day. The pro field is stronger than ever, but the real stories are within the age group athletes and the industry related companies who help them. These athletes have demonstrated desire, determination and discipline to qualify for this epic event.

Meet Team INFINIT: Rob Barlow

Sep 19, 2016

Rob Barlow on mountain, text "Rob Barlow #IAmINFINIT"

I climbed Colorado’s 100 highest mountains without using a car. While most people who climb in Colorado wake up at about 5,000’ and drive a motor vehicle hundreds of miles to a trailhead at 9,000’ to 11,000’, I did not. On July 1, 2016, I started at the Four-Way trailhead outside of San Luis, Colorado, a full twelve miles north of the New Mexico border. On September 9, 2016, after climbing 104 peaks and biking peak to peak, I summited Longs Peak and finished my journey at the Longs Peak ranger station in Northeast Colorado.

If You Slow Down, You Go Down

Aug 29, 2016

At age 81, INFINIT user, Tom Cawood, accomplished what many others only dream of. He rode his bike across country, dipping his bike tire in the Pacific Ocean and then again in the Atlantic just a couple short months later. Below is Tom's story, which is an inspiration and a reminder to all of us to never slow down!

Posted in News

Vuelta a España

Aug 26, 2016

Image of frankie andreu and bike race, text "Frankie Andreu, la vuella espana"

We're wrapping up our series with Frankie Andreu, with a final insider view of one of the biggest races in the world - la Vuelta a España. The Vuelta is unlike any other race; for many riders, it's their last shot to prove themselves. Dive inside the peloton with Frankie, and into the mind of the racers who are going hard for the final Grand Tour race of the season.

Posted in News, Race Reports and The INFINIT Library

The Next Generation of INFINIT Athletes

Aug 23, 2016

Maddy frank getting supported by coaches, text "Back to School edition"

As the summer comes to an end and the school year begins, some INFINIT athletes are faced with the task of balancing a full school schedule and a packed racing calendar. With training schedules, class, and homework a lot of kids can get overwhelmed but these INFINIT athletes have it down to a science. Maddy Frank, Lucy Westlake, and the Prochain Cycling team all put being students before athletes but still continue to succeed at the highest level of their individual sport.

Posted in Team INFINIT, News and Athlete Spotlight

Ryan Petry Takes on Leadville

Aug 3, 2016

Ryan Petry on a bike, text "Ryan Petry Professional Mountain Biker"

Saturday August 13^th is the return of one of the oldest and most well-known endurance mountain bike races in the world, the Leadville 100. Leadville hosts some of the biggest names in the sport and has come to be known as one of the most physically demanding races in the United States. With a starting elevation of over 10,000 feet and climbs reaching 12,000 this 100-mile trek challenges even the toughest riders. As a race that was originally started on 1994 as an effort to bring work to Leadville's mining community, Leadville has grown in publicity and popularity substantially over the last two decades. The race originally had 150 participants and has grown to 1,400 today, all whom must earn a spot or be selected to compete.

Posted in News and Athlete Spotlight

Olympian: Frankie Andreu

Aug 1, 2016

Image of Frankie Andreu and the olympic flag, text "Frankie Andreu 1996 Olympics"

Before Frankie Andreu's time competeing in the Tour de France, his number one dream was becoming an Olympian. The following is an artcle written by Frankie himself detailing some of what it means to be an Olympian.

Posted in News and Athlete Spotlight

Olympian Interview: Brian and Caitlin Gregg

Jul 29, 2016

Brian Gregg posing nex to the Olympic Rings, text "team Gregg"

With the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio fast approaching INFINIT wanted to get an idea of just what being an Olympian really means. To do so, we reached out to Brian and Caitlin Gregg, two Olympic skiers and INFINIT athletes, to see what it really means to represent your home nation on a world stage.

Posted in News and Athlete Spotlight

Hydration in the Dairyland

Jul 25, 2016

Kristen Arnold, RDN, LD, MS domestic-elite racer for Velo Classic p/b Stan’s NoTubes, and registered dietitian, gave us the inside scoop on the hydration strategies of some of the best crit racers in the world from the 2016 Tour of America’s Dairyland, one of the midwest’s premiere road racing events.

Late June in Wisconsin, features the Tour of Americas Dairyland Criterium Race with race temperatures in the High 90’s, high humidity, hot pavement, and a real feel of close to 110 degrees at the start line. In a race with conditions as brutal as these and racers going all out for the majority of the race, hydration is a major key to success at the TOAD. Racers from around the world come to compete in this legendary ten-day racing event.

Tour of America’s Dairyland (TOAD) is a legendary 10 day criterium race series surrounding Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Racers travel from all over the world to compete against the best criterium racers in an effort to take home the pink cow-print leader’s jersey. Criterium races, or "crits" for short, challenge racers to a timed race on a short course. Racers perform dozens of laps at blistering pace on the frequently technical and tight courses.

While crits vary slightly in length, all TOAD races were 60 minutes of racing on a range of courses. Each day the event travels to a different city or town, implementing a different set of city streets, including four to eight corners per lap. Courses ranged in difficulty level and could be flat or hilly, roads could be narrow or wide, bumpy or wet, and turns ranged from hair-raising, tight u-turns to wide-open and sweeping.

Photo Credits: Matt Ankeny

A typical Daily Schedule for most racers at TOAD:

Wake up
ride with teammates for 45 minutes at an easy pace
relax with legs up
travel to race
warmup
race (around 5pm start time)
cooldown
Bedtime

Performing optimally takes discipline. In order to remain sharp and powerful each day, every racer is required to attend to their body’s needs.

I spoke with racers about their hydration strategies during the event; they explained not only what they drank, but also how they kept their bodies cool. Most days at TOAD ranged from 90-95˚F with hot pavement and humidity adding to the heat. Many racers put ice cubes in panty-hose or a sock, placing the make-shift ice pack between their jersey and back to keep them cool before and during the race.

PRO TIP: on a hot day put ice cubes inside of a panty-hose or sock and stuff it down your jersey or skinsuit before the race. If it slides too far down, use an extra safety pin to attach the sock where you want it.

Photo Credits: Daniel Steinle www.yungpinephotography.com @yung_pine

During the morning and afternoon before the evening race, racers sip on all kinds of beverages; water, non-calorie or low-calorie drink mix, lemonade, coffee, and tea. My favorite was lemonade with a teaspoon of salt. This drink tastes like a margarita and encourages me to drink liquids throughout the day. It also helps my body retain water in preparation for losing it during the race from sweat. This became a staple in my daily hydration plan leading up to the evening race. Drink mix blends with high-quality electrolyte ingredients are also a great way to prepare your body for an evening event or training session.

Going into an event hydrated is as important as staying hydrated during the event.

Some racers use pre-load mixes; powders which have a high concentration of salt and other electrolytes. Laura Van Gilder, the winningest woman in the world with over 300 career wins, drank 24oz of water mixed with drink mix containing electrolytes and 87g of carbohydrates in the car on the way to the race and another bottle of the same formula during her warmup. Jennifer Sharp from Stages Cycling and ALP Cycles Coaching reported drinking 24oz of water containing a pre-load drink mix high in sodium and other electrolytes 30 minutes before the race.

Many racers will start the race with two bottles; one bottle to squirt through the holes of their helmets and down their fronts and backs, and one bottle to drink during the race. The national anthem felt like an eternity while our bodies baked on the pavement waiting for the start of the race.

Photo Credits: Matt Ankeny

I observed that most racers drank 50% or less of the fluid in their bottle during the race. The speed and technicality of crits make it particularly difficult to drink and eat during the race. Two hands are needed on the handlebars 95% of the time. Harriet Owen, UK crit specialist, and guest rider for Velo Classic p/b Stan’s NoTubes, who finished top five at four of the ten days at TOAD, was able to drink an entire bottle during most races. Owen’s bottle was filled with a 2:1 maltodextrin to fructose ratio and electrolytes formula.

Consuming fluids and carbohydrates throughout the race allowed her to retain a powerful sprint at the end of each day. Hypohydration (when the body is not adequately hydrated) detrimentally affects high-intensity muscular endurance¹ (sprinting at the end of a crit) by up to 10%². 5 out of the 10 days at TOAD resulted in a field sprint in which the entire pack of racers are all together during the final lap and everyone sprints for the finish line simultaneously. At this point, the odds are lower for winning than if a racer is in a breakaway of just a few riders, and every racer must be at the top of her cognitive and physical ability to place in the top 5. Remaining properly hydrated before and during the event aided Harriet in her powerful sprints.

PRO TIP: Drink chocolate milk (provided for free) mixed with recovery drink powder while sitting in front of a fan and stuffing more ice down your jersey or skinsuit after the race. You will feel $1,000,000 better.

As is customary in the land of dairy, chocolate milk was served by event sponsor, the Wisconsin Dairy Council, at the end of every race to the racers. All the racers I interviewed said they took advantage of the free chocolate milk. My teammate, Cynthia Frazier, of Lexington, Virginia, filled a bottle with 2 cartons of chocolate milk and added a scoop of recovery drink mix to it after every race.

SOURCES

Torranin C, Smith DP, Byrd RJ. The effect of acute thermal dehydration and rapid rehydration on isometric and isotonic endurance. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 1979; 19: 1-9.
Judelson, DA, Maresh, CM, Anderson, JM, Armstrong, LE, Casa, DJ, Kraemer, WJ, Volek, JS. (2007) Hydration and Muscular Performance. Sports Medicine, 37(10), 907-921.

Posted in News and The INFINIT Library

Maverick Multisport

Jul 25, 2016

Maverick Multisport is a team of individuals all working towards one goal, to improve one another in the sport of triathlon and to help the community surrounding the sport. Maverick is a professional triathlon team based out of the United States that was started by team Director Chris Hutchens in 2012. The team began as a way for Chris, and three pro triathletes, to secure sponsorship from companies like INFINIT Nutrition. Today the team has grown to become something Chris had never really imagined. The team now consists of seven pros, roughly 20 age groupers, and a youth development team to help build up the triathletes of tomorrow.

Posted in Team INFINIT and News