Contributors
Posted by admin on March 15th, 2012
Chia Seeds are tiny black and white seeds that used to be a staple food in Aztec and Mayan times. They are now experiencing a surge in popularity due to their wonderful health benefits. I recently read up on them to find out what all this hype was about. I found out they are tiny miracles of nutrition in a micro-seed! Now every time I take a Chia Surge Gel made by Vitalyte, I think about how they’re benefitting my body and mind! 
Chia seeds are indeed a superfood! Just to list a few of the comparisons, they have:
- 2x the amount of protein of any grains
- 3x the amount of antioxidants of blueberries
- 5x more calcium than milk
- 2x the amount of potassium in a banana
- 3x the iron of spinach
Chia seeds are also loaded with Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and have trace amounts of boron, which is an essential mineral to help transfer calcium to the bones. Now I don’t think I’d be able to eat ALL of that on a run! So it’s pretty cool to be able to get all that nutrition at once from some little chia seeds in an Energy Gel! Actually, that is my favorite quality of CHIA Surge; it doesn’t upset my stomach or cause any gastro-intestinal distress! Most anything eaten during exercise will give me stomach cramps, however Chia surge is absorbed so quickly that I don’t feel any stomach discomfort ever!!! It’s such a relief! Just pure energy and high quality nutrition on the run. I’m so happy to finally have such a wonderful solution for my running energy needs!
Posted by admin on March 14th, 2012
In exactly 27 days I will make my competitive return to running after eight years of leaving the racing flats in a dusty box in the closet. The Hollywood Half Marathon is a welcome event highlighted and marked with a star on my calendar. Why am I looking forward to it with such raw enthusiasm? Pretty simple…I feel I have unfinished business.
I was forced to walk away from the sport that I loved because of a mix of personal family issues and severe health challenges that would keep me housebound for years. During these past eight years there has been a slow burn deep inside that over the last year has intensified to a smoldering. I so desire to experience that personal satisfaction that comes with finishing a race where you have left all of your sweat and soul on a 13.1 mile stretch of hard pavement. I so desire to run with a body that is now strong, resilient and fueled by the best sports nutrition products on the planet. Last time I raced I think I weighed about 92 pounds and my soul felt like it carried the weight of the world.
Now I’m proud to toe the line at 110 pounds of muscle and carrying nothing but the personal triumph that comes with creating the life that I desire. So this race, I can easily say, is a tribute to myself. Not just Milena the athlete. But to Milena the whole person. I’m just like a lot of you-balancing work, training, horrible friday night dates and awesome Sunday afternoon cocktails with my best girl friends. I feel so blessed in my life because my full-time “real” job is based in an industry that I love. Vitalyte Sports Nutrition is not only my employer but my greatest champion. The products they have created for endurance athletes have allowed me, at the age of 36, to work full-time, train full-time and finish this chapter in my life that I feel has been unwritten for almost the last decade.
Last Saturday night I was at the Endurance Live Awards. Competitor Magazine celebrated the greatest endurance athletes on the planet during this awards ceremony. As I walked onto the stage during the “Parade of Athletes” I felt like a completely different person that I did ten years ago when I walked onto the stage during this same ceremony. I walked with a confidence that only comes from experiencing both the depths of turmoil and the peak of success. I truly feel the fact that I have not just experienced, but lived both extremes and the entire spectrum of intensity that comes with being plummeted from the pinnacle of victory to the trenches of vicious conquest, is the reason I can walk into any situation knowing I can not be intimidated, bludgeoned or scared. No, I know I will own that line because the Milena that is running now is in charge of herself.
My stress fracture is still there. It’s not getting worse, but not much better. You know, I can run three days a week and the other days I am in the gym cross-training. I like the fact that I am making the most of what my body is able to do right now. I am being resourceful, smart and determined to be there on April 7th.
Posted by EvanDem on March 13th, 2012
Complete Recovery redefines what recovery means post workout or competition. By understanding the many needs of the modern athlete, Vitalyte Sports Nutrition has designed the most advanced Recovery Formula on the market.
Without glycogen restoration and electrolyte replacement, the body simply cannot begin the process of recovery. With Palatinose and Vitalyte’s amazing electrolyte profile, Complete Recovery will replace glycogen stores and balance electrolytes.
Complete Recovery’s Amino Complex helps the body begin protein synthesis without weighing the body down. Our special blend of these necessary amino acids help muscles repair faster and more efficiently.
Vitalyte Sports Nutrition has introduced the most advanced Recovery Complex ever! Superoxide Dismutase, the most aggressive and potent free radical scavenger ever, leads the charge against full body inflammation and oxidative stress brought on by intense exercise. Add to that Beta Alanine and Glucosamine, and you have a powerful combination that helps muscles and joints heal faster.
Complete Recovery is the first product of its kind to address the many needs of the modern athlete. With the most intelligent recovery system ever created, Complete Recovery allows athletes to decrease joint and tissue damage, rebuild muscles, improve cognitive focus, shorten recovery times and ultimately improve performance.
Visit REI near you to pick up your Complete Recovery!
Posted by admin on March 13th, 2012
My experience at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA has been amazing. As the account executive for Vitalyte Sports Nutrition, my purpose of being at the tournament has been to provide athlete support to the numerous top ranked ATP and WTA players that use our products.
I have been an avid tennis fan since age three when my dad put an old, cut-down-to-size, wooden racquet in my hand and took me to the courts at San Marcos High School where he was the principal. Little did I know that in the next few years the quick and agile boy that was out there everyday on the court next to me with him dad, mom and brother would grow up to be the youngest ever French Open Champion.
You have probably heard of Michael Chang. I knew him as the boy whose dad talked really fast and used to give me lessons while my dad gave lessons to Michael. My dad was a former professional player, so he really wanted my sister and I to take up the sport. My sister was really talented but gravitated to team sports like soccer while me, the steady one, loved the self-directed nature of tennis. So I grew up spending most of my youth at a tennis academy. Then one day I discovered I was pretty darn good at running. I still continued to play and played in college. My love of the game has only grown over the years. I used to make the pilgrimage to this tournament every year with my mom to watch our favorite players.
Now I am sitting in the player’s lounge. I think that was Milos Raonic that just walked by. I’m actually having coffee with Janko Tipsarevic’s trainer and I just had my picture taken with thelegendary Vic Braden. Ok I am a tennis nerd I totally admit it. Because we work with so many professional players, my boss keeps telling me to keep it on the down low and be professional.
So I guess running up to Andy Roddick and asking for his shirt is totally against company protocol! Anyways, the atmosphere out at the tennis tournament is amazing if you have never had a chance to experience it. The barren brown mountains in the background are an amazing contrast to the green courts and lush grounds of the tennis gardens. Plus the weather is out of this world. Eighty five and sunny. Ok more than sunny. Try really hot. But seriously it is March and it is twenty degrees in some parts of this country. I’m not complaining. And I’m definitely not complaining that I got to see Novak Djokovic, the number one player in the world, practice this morning. Well this tennis dork is off to watch another match and bring some Vitalyte to the players. I wonder if I’d really get in trouble if I asked Nadal for a lock of hair?
Posted by Milena Glusac on March 7th, 2012
There is so much hype and so much debate today as to what you should take and when prior to and during racing. I understand, nutrition itself can be a logistical nightmare. Well I want to help make it very simple for you and give you some information based on twenty years of pure personal experience. It’s time to take the guess work out of running nutrition and for once take control of your cabinets so they are not occupied by thirty different jars, bars and gels. All of which stay unopened or partially used until the best-by-date is more than thirteen months past. Let’s start the spring off right and get ready for the your next 10k, half-marathon or marathon in the right way.
This is the first blog in a series that will address the stages of fueling and what to take when. Let’s start with gels. They are taken during the stages of racing or running when you need portable nutrition and energy to keep up with the caloric output you are creating. My personal experience has been to avoid them like an ex-boyfriend. They may have looked tempting at mile 20 of the New York Marathon when my sugar levels were plummeting and my cognitive focus transient at best. However, I knew my chances of finishing the race would be slim once the gooey concoction hit my stomach. Yep, we are talking cramping, spasming and all around agony when the high simple sugar content hit my system. See, when you are running and exerting yourself that hard and you flood your system with a very concentrated refined sugar source that is usually made from fructose corn syrup, the body has to jump to process it. All the blood is going to the working muscles, so the digestive system and organs such as the liver and pancreas are not prepared to handle the metabolic workload. So instead of “laser lime flavored energy enhanced shots” that are likely to send your system into a tailspin instead of delivering the jet fuel they claim, what are your options? Well, after twenty years of competitive running and passing up the little gold packets encapsulating gelatinous torture, I have finally (yes FINALLY) found an alternative. Palatinose.
What is Palatinose? It is only the super starch of the century! What does it do? It provides the body with an easily digestible source of slow-burning carbohydrate that will offer sustained energy rather than the down and dirty quick hit from those other short-chain saccharides (saccharides are a fancy name for sugars. See Mr. Albritton, I did pay attention in science class). Where can you find it? Vitalyte Sports Nutrition’s “Chia Surge Endurance Gel.” The first gel on the market to utilize this incredible polysaccharide superstar and pair it with the nutritional benefits of the superfood Chia. It’s a match made in heaven.
So next time you are perusing the sports nutrition aisle of your favorite bike, running or triathlon store, ask the sales representative to point you to the raspberry-flavored nectar of the running gods we at Vitalyte Sports Nutrition refer to simply as “The Gel.” Believe me, your stomach with thank you, your sugar levels will thank you, and your improved running time will be the proof in the pudding (or in the gel) that this super starch is the stuff that helps make champions.
