A lovely lady called Annabel Lee at a new start-up sports nutrition venture called Orbana very kindly sent me some samples of their new energy drink to try out. Many of my followers will know that I am not one to get enthused by commercial sports nutrition products, all of which seem to claim that their product will be your answer to improved performance/recovery because of its unique blend of carbohydrate, minerals, protein etc etc. I find that most of these drinks and gels wither play havoc with my stomach or make me gag. They also tend to leave a sweet and sickly artificial taste in your mouth. I am much happier with the home made variety
So what is in Andy Murray’s drinks bottle?
It’s really hotting up out there and any physical activity takes on a new level of commitment when it’s hot outside. I have found it really hard to motivate myself to run in this week’s heat, partly because of the temperature and partly because I am expending so much energy with the various launches of Go Faster Food that I have been lacking in any spare! Tonight, however, I have no excuse. the boys will be playing cricket for a couple of hours and I will find somewhere shady to run.
Watching Andy Murray play last night was an inspiration. The match started at about 6 pm and didn’t actually finish until 3 hours and 56 mins later. There were points in the match where both he and/or Wawrinka looked absolutely exhausted and I did notice that they were given a little snack to eat at about 9.30…quite rightly. No matter how fit either of them are, you cannot play for such a long time without something to top the glycogen levels and replace minerals that you will have lost through sweat. Andy will have had a cleverly formulated mix, probably with the right combination of glucose, sodium, potassium and other minerals to help sustain his energy and concentration levels. I just hope that he managed to get in some recovery food and drink so that he can endure the next match tomorrow.
For us mortals who do not have a sports nutritionist to care for our daily diet and our hydration strategies, take a look at my article on hydration for some good tips – Running in the heat.
