A month on the road, living out of my car, traveling mostly in sunny California, I had the opportunity to run lots of training miles in beautiful weather on spectacular trails from Malibu to Yosemite, Ventura to San Francisco. While on the road I visited with friends, ate from a variety grocery stores and restaurants and came up with interesting concoctions to fuel my body for the long runs I enjoy. I finally started the trek home up the beautiful coast into Ashland and then on to Portland before finally making my way home to Seattle. My Oregon stops also added some great miles to my training log and legs and by the end of that last week I peaked at over 100 miles. All in all a successful time away, great time for reflection both on the trails and behind the wheel.
While in Portland I stopped in to visit and meet the team at Living Harvest. Their great headquarters is just up from the river and the small office has a comfortable feel with great energy about their products. I sat down with samples of three Tempt Hemp Milk flavors and in the 30 minutes I was there got the run down of their product line and information on the process. I have integrated hemp milk and a hemp protein powder on an off in my nutrition in the past, but with this new information and a bag full of goodies to try I was even more excited to finish the drive up I-5 and work these in to my daily routine.
In the two weeks that I’ve been home I’ve used the hemp milk daily, the chocolate is definitely my favorite and tastes even better after a long run for quick calories, a bit of protein and that important glucose boost/replacement. The protein powders are best in smoothies, especially the original flavor. When I am home and able to pull out the blender the original flavor blended with frozen berries, a banana, a bit of greek yogurt and hemp milk is a great combo and by adding the protein powder I feel I get more than the sugar rush a typical smoothie gives me, the protein powder which also has some good fats is a more sustained energy.
The other day when I left at 10am and knew I wouldn’t be home till well after 8pm I put 4 tablespoons of the vanilla spice flavored protein powder into the cool shaker bottle. After climbing at the indoor gym mid afternoon I added water to the shaker and drank the drink in route to a meeting. The flavor is great, the texture a bit gritty, but totally doable and the energy gained was appreciated.
I am enjoying using these products to enhance my nutrition, I am having fun incorporating them into different recipes and using them as a part of daily calories. Right now I don’t see these products as specific to sport training, but as an overall healthy addition and supportive to an active lifestyle.
I’m headed out on the road again and will have these in my cooler and look forward to more kooky concoctions to fuel me along the way.