Blog

Infinit

For those of you who didn’t read the last post and are too lazy to follow the link, Infinit is a drink mix that I’ve been using for a few years and have had a ton of success with it. Since my last post, I received a few emails with questions about Infinit. I always use it for all my calories on the bike and most of my needs for running. This year I carried a bottle with it for the first half of the Boston Marathon, only supplemented with a few gels during the run portion at Ironman Canada and relied nearly exclusively on it at the North Face 50. (Infinit does not sponsor or pay me, they don’t give me free product and don’t even know I write this. Their reps did give me this sweet free hat that I wore at Ironman Canada, but that didn’t have anything to do with my blog and is the extent of it.)

I’ll begin by repeating what I’ve said before. Infinit is a great product. I’ve tried all kinds of stuff but since finding Infinit, I’ve been able to get rid of almost all of it. Infinit replaces sports drinks, gels, solid food, electrolyte replacements as well as any other supplements I might need during a race. The only reason I do ever use anything else during training or racing is if it’s inconvenient to carry Infinit or if I want electrolytes without calories (in which case I use my second favorite product, Nuun).

The first thing that attracted me to Infinit was that you can create “custom” formulas to fit exactly what you want/need. There are seven different “sliders” that you can manipulate to change things like how strong the flavor is, the amount of calories per serving, the type of carbohydrates in the drink and, whether and how much caffeine and protein there will be. The ability to customize fed my inner geek.

So, since talking up Infinit last week, I got asked a few questions and figured that it might be worth publicly answering.

Do I use a custom formula or one of their “pre-set” formulas?
I use two different custom formulas – one for cycling and one for running. They’re both pretty close to pre-set formulas; my cycling one is similar to the “Ironman Distance Formulation” and my running one is similar to their “Ultra Distance Blend”. The primary differences between my formulas and the pre-set ones are that in mine I dialed-down the flavor and have reduced the protein per serving. I made both of those so that I can superconcentrate it without it getting too sweet or risking an upset stomach. By “superconcentrate,” I mean that on long rides, for example, I can get up to 3.5 servings (~950 calories) in a single 24 oz bike bottle. It’s still easy to drink, but at that concentration, it’s nice to have a separate bottle with plain water to sip after each sip of the Infinit mix. One other tip: I use different flavors for my bike and run formulas, it’s nice to have a new taste when starting the run. If you have more questions, you can email me or leave a note here.

Does it really replace everything else? What about salt tabs? What about getting hungry for solid food?
In general, I don’t need anything else. Infinit has enough electrolytes that I’ve never needed to take any salt during training or racing. Also, as long as I drink enough of the Infinit, I never ever get hungry or feel any need for “real” food. During the Ironman and 50, I did have some banana pieces or orange slices, but in the Ironman that was out of boredom and during the 50, I had a little banana in between drop bags with Infinit. (knock on wood) I’ve never had any cramping or stomach problems.

The other thing about Infinit is that their customer service is fantastic. I’ve called them a few times to discuss my formulas and they’re always happy to help.

As a training update, I haven’t been. It’s been a really really strong recovery time since the race. In addition to wanting to take it easy in the days after the race, I came down with a cold on Tuesday and still am not 100%. It sucks sucks sucks to be sick, but it couldn’t have happened at a better time this entire year. I’m guessing that the race had something to do with me getting sick. And maybe being in Vegas and all those airplanes. Whatever the reason, if I had to get sick, I’m glad it happened immediately after my final race of the year.

Anyway, after over a week completely off, today I went for a bike ride with my dad in San Diego. Elizabeth, Charlie and I went down to San Diego this weekend to see my parents and meet my sister’s new puppy (pictured below, with cousin Phoebe). My dad was going to ride this weekend anyway, and I figured it was a good excuse to finally get back on my bike. It was a blast to ride with him, despite the fact that we got stuck in the pouring rain for part of the ride.

Now it’s time for me to start really figuring out race plans for 2010. Stay tuned.

Bike – December 12
Distance: 23.6 miles
Time: 1:50
Course: Mission Hills to Point Loma
Conditions: Sun and clouds, then pouring rain, 60s
Notes: With dad