I must just start this post by saying that I am by no means a professional MTBer so to find a drink I enjoy and sustains a long day in the saddle is what I am really after! My standard for energy suppliments and endurance drinks to date is set by 32GI with the raspberry flavour being my favourite.
I received a couple of MARATHON Fuel sachets and RECOVERY Booster from SingleTrackFuel a few days ago and have been itching to give them a try since then.
The MARATHON Fuel flavours I got were Strawberry & Lime and Cherry. I thought I’d enjoy the Strawberry & Lime combination the least so knocked that first. The powder is pretty thick with dehydrated strawberry seeds in the mixture so I would strongly recommend adding the powder to water rather than the other way around as the powder didn’t dissolve 100% when I added water to it. I was in a bit of a hurry and maybe didn’t mix it as best as I should have. The texture is a little like a really well liquidized smoothy and I felt like I was drinking something 100% natural.
I got out on the ride, a 5Km tar and foot path ride to Tokai to start and could feel that I hadn’t been on the bike for 3 weeks! My chest was sore and I was breathing heavily through sections that used to be a lot easier. I decided not to start the drinks just yet and warm up properly first. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake. I got to the bottom of the Tokai trails and started the SingleTrack MARATHON Fuel. I must admit the flavour took 75% of the bottle to get used to but by the end it was going down a treat. I drank a bit regularly through the first section of singletrack and up the first big climb and started feeling better and better. By the time I was through the flat section and up the second climb I felt like I had my legs back. Half the bottle down and half way up, I was feeling good. Got through the Boulders singletrack and up the last couple of climbs to the boom. I finished the bottle of MARATHON Fuel at the boom and washed it down with a bit water. I felt good on it and it kept me going through the uphills.
I wasn’t planning on riding as far or as long as did so I filled the backup bottle with water and I hadn’t really touched that yet.
As I started my decent I could feel that I’d finished the MARATHON Fuel and was wishing I’d taken two bottles of it. I was starting to loose my legs but pushed on.
I could really see the effect after the ride when I did my post ride analysis on Strava (check the ride here) – a few personal bests and plenty of seconds and this after not being on my bike for 3 weeks!
I am really looking forward to trying the Cherry flavour on this weekend’s Simonsberg MTB Classic and the RECOVERY Booster post ride!
Thank you very much SingleTrackFuel for the samples and for a bottle that doesn’t leak!
From SingleTrackFuel:
MARATHON Fuel™
Whey hydrolisate helps with extra long hours in the saddle.
The heart muscle needs healthy fat for energy – Organic Coconut oil gives just that!
Also containts huge amounts of electrolytes to help prevent dehydration.
Have you tried SINGLETRACKFUEL? What did you think? Let me know below…
