Sally Bigham wins Roc d’Azure Marathon
Update from Sally Bigham:
"I was training really hard for the World Championships which were on October 7th in Ornans, France. I initially hoped for a podium but terrible weather and consequently course conditions made the race exceptionally challenging. With many people not finishing due to mechanical issues and crashes, I was happy to finish 5th – a top 5 in those circumstances was a good result.
Twin Biatheletes Tracy and Lanny Barnes
NOTE: Tracy and Lanny Barnes are top US biatheletes. This is a recent letter they sent us about their year. For more pictures, visit Lanny's slideshow.
Hi!
How are you? Tracy and I wanted to give you an update on how training and racing was going. A lot of exciting things have happened in the last couple of weeks, including becoming the US and North American Summer Biathlon Champions again for the 5th year in a row. We had been training out east in Lake Placid, NY and Burlington, VT since the begining of July. We had a great block of training and it showed in the races at the end of our trip. The races took place in Jericho, Vermont on the Ethan Allen Biathlon Range. They have been host to these races every year for as long as we can remember. The best US and Canadian biathletes took to the trails and battled extreme heat and humidity on rollerskis to complete two races over the weekend of 8/11-8/12. The races consisted of a 7.5km sprint and a 10km pursuit that was based off of the results for the sprint. Lanny won the Sprint with only one miss for the day, while Tracy was third behind a second place Canadian racer. In the pursuit Lanny started with a huge lead over the field and was able to open it up over all her competitors except Tracy. Lanny had near perfect shooting hitting 19/20 targets with the miss coming in the last standing stage. Tracy hit 18/20 and was able to pass the Canadian to finish 2nd behind Lanny.
With only a few days at home, Tracy and I jumped back in to travel mode and headed down to Raton, NM. to shoot the Sportsman Team Challenge with World Champion Sillouette shooter Cathy Severin. We were exctied and honored to be a part of her team. We competed in a 3-person team with Cathy called TLC and a 2-person team as the Twin Biathletes. With Cathy leading the charge, we had a good score the first day in the pistol and rifle events and were in first place going into the second day. For our two man team, we had an equipment issue and ended up 2nd going into the second day. The third day was the shotgun event that combined 3 different events throwing 50 clay targets every 1.75 seconds. With all three of us not having a lot of shotgun experience, we were nervous about how the day would go. Despite our lack of experience though, we felt we had a good run through the stages. It wasn't enough though and two mens teams pulled ahead of us in the 3-man and we finished 3rd while we stayed in 2nd place in the two man. It was a blast and a great experience to shoot in pressure situations and gain shooting experience that can help us in biathlon.
We have a few weeks at home now and will focus on some high altitude training after that long block down at low altitude. We have another big US Biathlon training camp out in Utah in October and some more races during that camp, then the World Cup Season will start! We are really excited with how things are going so far this year. The hard work and training are starting to pay off and we had some extra motivation for 2014 watching the summer Olympics this summer. We hope you are doing well and having a great summer. Thanks of all your help and support! Take care.
-Tracy & Lanny Barnes
www.twinbiathletes.com
by Val John Anderson, Executive Vice-President
Q: Is table or sea salt in a capsule really an electrolyte?
A: Technically, yes, in that it contains one electrolyte; sodium and chloride that will dissolve and split in fluids making the fluids electrically conductive. It’ just a poorly balanced and incomplete electrolyte that is really no better than the salt capsules that were abandoned due to ineffectiveness some time ago.
Almost all sea salt, weather dried crystals from the sea, or mined crystals from an ancient sea are very different in balance and mineral content that sea water which is virtually identical in balance and content to healthy blood plasma and lymphatic fluid. Typical sea salt is over 98 percent pure sodium chloride consisting of sodium chloride crystals with a trace amount of other stuff on the outside.
Implying that sea salt provides calcium, potassium, and magnesium can be technically accurate, but very misleading in implying the benefits of those electrolytes as they are only provided in trace amounts and needed in macro amounts. It is further, even more deceptive when the label makes these claims but does not contain any nutrition facts or supplement facts panel listing the quantities or lack thereof so consumers could actually understand the amounts being claimed.
It is a little like the deceptive practices used by a number of very popular water products that claim electrolytes on the front panel as a marketing tool, but provide so little as to prevent the claim of even a single milligram or percent of the RDA for any of the electrolytes in the nutrition facts panel. Only recently have some of these water products, without acknowledging any fault, slightly changed their labels to claim the flavor or taste benefits of added electrolytes.
I hope that the consuming public is smart enough to see through these practices and am all too often disappointed to see how many of the masses are deceived.
Sally Bigham continues to impress us with her top finish at the AlpenTour Trophy in Austria this weekend.
In an article about the race, Cycling News comments: "In the elite women's field, Sally Bigham continued her winning streak with a fourth stage win and took out the overall classification ahead of Nadia Walker from Switzerland and the Dutch rider Monique Zeldenrust."
Pictures of Sally in the race are included here and here.
Additionally this week, Sally's American teammate, Sonya Looney, wrote an article with tips on surviving ultra-distance and multi-day stage races. Sonya stresses the importance of electrolytes. "I prefer elete, " she said, "because it contains higher levels of sodium, magnesium, potassium, and chloride, all of which stave off cramps."
At elete, we received some very exciting news this week.
In the final weeks of 2011, elete athlete Sharon Gayter, a 48-year-old long distance runner from Guisborough in
Upon breaking both records,
During her seven day race,
In using elete to stay hydrated during her race,
This is amazing especially in light of the fact that it is not unusual for athletes to lose sometimes three or more than four percent of their body weight during ultra-distance events.
We can’t guarantee that using elete that you will go on to break world records in your sport. elete, though, opens up a range of exciting new possibilities for athletes to increase and expand their usual hydration protocol—that is not tied to sugars, flavors, preservatives, etc. elete is just pure electrolytes and as such can be added to water and/or to boost the electrolyte profile in diluted sports drinks, or as Sharon did, in her smoothies. So, whether you are running a 5k or a 150k, you can use elete to tailor the amount of electrolytes your body will surely need ( and use) during the event.
Of her next adventure,
For those who are visiting the elete web site and wondering what is new, one exciting bit of news is that we have posted the latest certificate of analysis by HFL Sport Science laboratories confirming that elete Electrolyte Add-In is free from WADA-banned (World Anti-Doping Agency) substances.
elete Electrolyte Add-In is certified by Informed-Choice, a quality assurance program for sports nutrition foods, beverages, and supplements, to be free from banned substances, which can cause athletes to test positive on urine/blood tests and has the power to end an athlete's career and reputation.
Part of our certification with Informed Choice requires that we submit a sample of each new lot of product we manufacture. In addition, HFL purchases random bottles of product from store shelves and then tests these products for contamination.
Granted while certification may not be a big deal for the average person, according to Informed Choice, "…it is clear that some supplements (our evidence suggests 10-25%) suffer from low levels of contamination from steroids and supplements." (Source: http://www.informed-choice.org/faq#). For elite and professional athletes whose reputation and livelihood literally hang in the balance, elete's certification through Informed Choice.org (and Informed Sport.org internationally) help to reassure athletes that the products they are taking are safe and will not endanger them or potentially end their career.
For the average consumer, we hope that our certification through Informed-Choice not only demonstrates the safety of the product, but also the quality. Not only is elete Electrolyte Add-In certified by Informed-Choice, but they are manufactured at a facility (Mineral Resources International, Inc. or MRI) that is Good Manufacturing Practices-certified by NSF International, the leading public health and environmental organization that provides standards development, product certification, auditing, education and risk management services. MRI is audited twice annually (every six months) by NSF to ensure we are manufacturing supplements that comply with FDA Good Manufacturing Practices. Furthermore, last September, MRI was inspected by the Food and Drug Administration. During this week-long inspection, there were no deficiencies that were noted or areas where a corrective action notice was issued ( http://www.mineralresourcesint.com/releases/FDA_Inspection_PR.pdf
To see the latest C of A from HFL Sports Science (the lab that conducts the testing and analysis, go to:
http://new.eletewater.com/why-elete/informed-choice/
We hope that not only do our products help our consumers feel better physically, but that consumers feel good and have peace of mind taking elete knowing that the product they are taking has not been exposed to small amounts of steroids, hormones, or other substances and that our products have manufactured to quality standards.
Sarah Kaufmann, a professional mountain bike racer and sales representative with elete Electrolyte Add-In™, secured First Place this past weekend in the 100 Kilometer MTB Baja Ultra Endurance Race, 5th edition, in Ensenada, Mexico. This is the second win for Sarah since returning from a broken collarbone earlier this season.
“Bajadventours put on a fantastic event that I was thrilled to be a part of. Winning was even sweeter coming off of an injury, and I cannot thank Jorge Trujillo, Jorge Contreras, and the cycling community in Ensenada enough for taking such good care of me,” said Sarah.
Congratulating Sarah on her win, Val John Anderson, Director of Sales and Marketing for elete, stated, “Now that Sarah has recuperated from her earlier injury, she is coming back stronger and faster. I think it’s fair to say that people can expect to see great things from Sarah this year and next.”
MTB Baja is a 100-kilometer race set in Ensenada, Mexico. The punishing course circuits Ensenada, up steep climbs and down rocky, loose descents, traveling through mountainous desert landscapes and small villages. Approximately 300 riders participated in the event. This win comes in succession to her win at the Utah Cyclocross Series in Ogden, UT, the week before, which was the first race she was cleared to ride in.
elete Social Media Links:
www.facebook.com/elete.electrolytes
http://twitter.com/eleteaddin.
This week we received an update from twin elete biathletes Tracy and Lanny Barnes who wrote with an update about their training and their feedback on elete and the new elete CitriLyte Add-In.
Here's what they said:
"We have noticed a huge difference in how we feel and our fitness the last 4-5 years of using Elete. It has definitely helped us step up a level internationally…When we leave for Utah Oct. 1st we probably won't be back home until the end of March, and wanted to make sure we had enough elete to last us the winter. We've been using the CitriLyte and love it! It is such an awesome addition to the Elete lineup! After drinking the amount of fluids we do, CitriLyte definitely brings the enjoyment back to water. Thanks! Thanks for all your help!"
As any athlete and consumer knows and expects, when taking any product–whether it's a dietary supplement or food or beverage product–you want absolute assurance and the knowledge that the product has been produced using the highest quality standards.
For some time, Mineral Resources International, Inc., (MRI) the manufacturer of elete Electrolytes, has been certified to be in compliance with dietary supplement Good Manufacturing Practices by NSF International, an independent organization that certifies products and companies and writes standards for food, water, and consumer goods.
Good Manufacturing Practices or GMPs as they are often referred to are guidelines that govern the processes, procedures, and documentation that assure a dietary supplement possesses the identity, strength, composition, and quality represented by the manufacturer.
Earlier this month, MRI completed a successful GMP inspection by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to gauge the company's compliance with GMPs. We're pleased to report the FDA found no deficiences or areas where corrective action notices, such as Form 483, were issued.
The weeklong inspection included a physical inspection of the facility as well as an in-depth review of the company's record keeping including master manufacturing records, batch records, work orders, raw ingredient receiving and holding, product labeling, packaging, employee training and more.
We hope that the results of this inspection demonstrate and assure elete's consumers of the quality standards used to make elete products. In addition, elete Electrolyte Add-In is certified free of WADA-banned substances.
To view the full release, go to: http://new.eletewater.com/doc/FDA_Inspection_PR.pdf
It's been a busy summer in elete land. We've launched a new product–elete CitriLyte Add-In, attended some great shows, and have enjoyed meeting each of you and hearing firsthand about your wonderful testimonials about how elete has helped training and performance.Recently we received a great testimonials from U.K. running sensation Sharon Gayter. Sharon has completed more than 300 marathons and 100 ultra-distance running events. She is a Gold medal winner of the Commonwealth Games. This summer she competed in "The High," the world's highest race that takes place in the Himalayas. Sharon not only completed the race, but she placed a new women's and men's record. Sharon shaved 11 hours and 16 minutes off of the men's record.Here's what Sharon related to us about using elete during "The High:"
"Al-Andalus was the first event that I used it [elete Electrolyte Add-In] after I completely went off my normal sports drinks and only drank this [elete] in the last 3 days of the race.You may like to hear that I have just been to the Himalayas to run "The High". AAUT was training for this(!). The High was a 222km non-stop race at high altitude, average of 14,800 feet and two high passes over 17,500 feet. This was the most challenging race of this distance I have ever run (there are two reports on my website, www.sharongayter.com under the August news section.)
In the long report, elete gets a mention as I used this throughout the race. That large bottle (120ml) that was given in the goodies bag at AAUT was intact when I took it to India, I drank the whole lot over the 37 hours it took me to run the race. Throughout the race the main drink I had was 500ml of water, 1 capful of eletewater and 1 scoop of neutral High Five (carbohydrate powder). I ate little during the race as altitude seriously affect digestion and fluid was always the key.Altitude is supposed to dehydrate you more than sea level and am pleased to say that I finished the race well hydrated and reduced the mens' course record from 48 hrs and 50 minutes (set last year) to 37 hrs 34 mins (and beat the men, of course).”
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