USN Protein Shakes review

Protein shakes are just for body builders right? You only need them if you are lifting weights or trying to bulk up? 

I'm no nutritional expert but I kind of always thought that protein intake was more important for people into weights and body building than for runners and endurance athletes. 

Then a friend recently pointed out that while lifting weights undoubtedly causes muscle damage that needs a protein fix to repair running surely causes a much higher level of muscle damage when you are running high mileage which surely needs even more attention in the form of a protein fix. 

I'd never really looked at it that way before so recently I have had an added interest in not only getting enough protein into my diet but also getting a good intake after particularly long or intensive runs. 

So when I had the chance to try out some USN protein shakes I jumped at the chance to try out some high quality protein supplements from one of the market leaders. 

I later went onto read that USN were in fact founded by a mountain biking enthusiast as opposed to gym going body builder, alongside their ethos of providing advance sports nutrition to people from all sports with any goals I was even more assured that their products could be for a runner like me. 

The main protein shakes that I sampled were the Diet Whey Isolean which although designed as a meal replacement shake worked pretty well as a post workout drink as it contains over 25g of protein. 

I sampled the vanilla flavour, which would probably be my least favourite flavour of the general options you get of protein shakes. However this flavour of this product was actually delicious and one of the best vanilla flavoured products I have tasted. 

Thick and smooth like a rich vanilla yogurt it tasted great and provided a great recovery drink after a 15 mile run. 

The other product I tried out was Pure GF1 6-Stage Lean Protein which I sampled in the chocolate cream flavour. 

Packing a massive 40g per serving I saved this for after a really long run as I figured my muscles would be glad for the protein overload! I was excited by the sound of the chocolate cream flavour and it didn't despite as it was chocolaty and creamy however there was the horrible artificial after taste you sometime get with these products, but all in all not a bad shake. 

Overall I really enjoyed using the USN products and really felt like I noticed a difference in my recovery when taking these products, part of that might be mental of course but I think that there was definitely a physical benefit. 

I would definitely consider purchasing USN products going forward as I believe their products have an obvious superior taste and benefit. They are more expensive than some other products on the market but that is because they are a quality product and as with most markets the added cost does represent itself through higher quality.

You can find out more about the USN protein shakes range here.

Thank you to USN for providing me with some fitness shakes to try for free in return fro a review. Although these products were received free of charge all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. 

Marathon crunch time

It's getting towards the business end of marathon training. I have about four weeks to go to marathon number eight, this is it now, a few weeks of the hardest training left then taper time.

Rather than giving you my unqualified advise as to what I think you should do to successfully train for a marathon, I'm going to tell you about my training in the hope that it will interest/educate/enlighten/guide/confuse/amuse you (delete as appropriate). 

First off this is my first spring marathon, the big negative associated with a spring marathon is the rain, the cold, the wind and the dark, training during the summer months for an Autumn marathon is much more fun!

The big advantage for me though had been that my marathon, Halstead on the 8 May, comes a few weeks after several big events, Paris, London, Brighton etc. This means my training has been a few weeks behind the masses of people running these events and sharing their training on social media so I have been quietly lurking in the background watching and learning from other people's experiences. 

Six weeks out from a marathon seems like a perfect time to get new trainers, that and the fact my current pair have done well in excess of 500km. 

So these are the pair that are (notice there is now hopefully added in here, I am trying to engage in more positive thinking) going to take me to sub 4 hour glory. 

In the last few weeks I have been racking up the miles and on top of the three half marathons I have done this year I have completed two 15 milers and a 17 miler. I am planning two more long runs in the region of 20 miles so that should take care of getting enough mileage in.

The long runs have been paired with a decent amount of speed work as well with regular early morning track sessions over at Regents Park.

I reckon my training has been better than previous marathons with a definite case of my training having been smarter if not necessarily having been harder or longer. 

So what do I have to do now to get me to the marathon start line in tip top condition:

Sleep - Plenty of rest to maximise the benefits of training.

Protein - Increassing the amount of protein I am including in my diet so plenty of hummus, natural yogurt, protein shakes, nuts, peanut butter, milk and the old faithful chicken for me. Its also lucky that USN recently sent me a free goody box of products to try out and review.

So far I have tried out, pure GF1 a tasty, rich, creamy protein shake packing a whole 40g of protein, pretty perfect to help recovery after a long grueling run. 

Trying out new carb loading options - I recently read an account from a runner who reflected that while training for an event so many runners will priotitise eating well, cutting out refined sugar and processed food only to get to race day and then start consuming sickly energy gels down their throats to help power their run. This really hit home with me so I decided to try out some more 'real food' options. I stumbled across whitworths shots (other dried fruit snacks are available) as a great way to get some carbs on board while out running. So far they are working really well, the main difference being that they take a bit of time to chew and swallow as opposed to gels which just slip straight down your throat. 

Not eating any puddings - Cutting out sweets, cakes and other sugary snacks is usually on most runners pre race preparation list and I am no different as I have a particularly sweet tooth and the problem is heightened by the fact that I get free lunch and work. Not just free lunch, but free lunch with a great range of puddings, cheesecakes, fruit crumbles, sponge cakes all the good things you can imagine! Cutting these out is fast becoming a major challenge! 

So here we go 4 ish weeks to go, lots of hard work to go but only 2 weeks before things tail off and its taper time! 

If you are running any of the great range of marathons in the coming weeks I hope your training has gone well and you have a great run! 

My homemade protein bar experiment

So I decided to make myself some homemade protein bars. It was a spare of the moment decision, I saw an easy to make recipe online when looking for some circuit training ideas and as I am running low on whey powder i thought why not give it ago!

I popped into my local supermarket on the way home and soon enough I was in the kitchen making a mess concocting my very own protein bars.

So how did they turn out I hear you ask?

Ummm.....

Pretty awful!

They are calorific, don't have much protein in and don't taste too good at all.

Protein bars aren't meant to be super tasty like chocolate bars so I wasn't surprised they didn't taste great and they had a similar consistency to your average protein bar that is grainy, unnatural and pretty much unpleasant.

I shouldn't have been surprised really as the ingredients are pretty basic, oats, milk a bit of honey and peanut butter, a lot of peanut butter, OK they are basically just peanut butter! This goes someway to explain why they aren't any good! 

After a quick bit of maths I worked out that although at pretty great value at just 20p a serving a return of only 12g of protein and about 400 calories ago was unbelievably awful!

So now I am stuck with a fridge full of homemade high calorie yuck which doesn't really deliver on my specification of being a post workout high protein hit.

So other than providing an amusing baking fail to amuse readers all I have done is waste a perfectly good tub of peanut butter!

Someone must have some better suggestions? Anyone any have recipes or ideas to improve on my efforts? It would be great to hear from you if you have any suggestions and if you fancy a try of my protein bars please do get in touch! It will save me eating it all!

Marathon preparation check list

Marathon training demands a lot of time, effort, dedication, determination and preparation to be successful. The foundations for success need to be put down in the weeks and months preceding an event, however the week before a marathon is still a key time. Here is my guide to the final stages of marathon preparation based on my own personal experiences: 

Eat lots don't be hungry 

There is so much advice on pre-race nutrition and the importance of carb loading such as these great articles from Runners World and RealBuzz, 

Also you should also check out this video from Buzzfeed which gives you an entertaining yet informative guide to how the carb loading process works. 

But as well as eating more carbs its also important to just eat more. 

While preparing for a race it is common to cut down on your food intake to try and lose weight to be in the best shape for race day but in the final stages its all about fueling your body to be ready for the demands of the upcoming 26.2 miles.  

So I let myself go a bit and eat if I feel hungry as long as its good stuff I am eating. Regular readers will know I have enjoyed the carb loading phase from previous marathons as you can see here. 

I tend to snack a lot on dried fruit, Brazil nuts, almonds, peanut butter, flap jacks, tortilla wraps and that kind of thing as you might have seen in previous posts or seen on my twitter feed if you follow me on twitter @beoutrunning. 

My other advice is a common recommendation of eating familiar things, food you eat a lot, that you enjoy and that you know suits you fuels you correctly. 

I also try and stick to the mantra of eating little and often so that I am not overloading my body and I am providing a constant steady flow of calorific fuel for energy. 

Sleep lots don't be tired  

In the week or two post marathon I focus more on getting to bed that bit earlier as well as cutting down on the early morning training to perhaps once or twice a week.

Giving your body plenty of opportunity to rest and restore its self so it is in the best condition possible for race day is really important.  

Although relax if you don't end up getting as much sleep the night before a run because of pre-race nerves or a change of routine due to travelling for a race is fine and wont impact on your performance.  

Walk lots - well not lots but maybe a bit more than usual.  

As my training is cut down in the lead up to a marathon I try to replace this with a bit of extra walking. This is for a few reasons, to keep my legs ticking over all be it with a much less strenuous form of exercise and to keep burning off a few calories while not training so much. 

My other bit of walking related advice is to where running trainers as much as possible pre race. Your feet are important so its important to look after them and keep them as comfortable as possible. 

Roll and stretch 

If not already part of your daily routine it definitely should be in the build up to the big run. Keeping your legs nice and loose and getting rid of any stiffness and tightness is key to a great performance on race day, its amazing how brilliant and energetic your legs can feel through the week with a reduction in training but an increase in rolling and stretching. 

Hydration

Water water everywhere! 

There is an abundance of advice on staying hydrated so I wont bore you with that only reiterate its importance. Stay hydrated and drink loads in the days building up to your marathon! 

Along with lots of water I also enjoy drinking a variety of herbal teas to help hydrate and refresh me. As well as this they also provide a sweet touch that might be lacking from your diet as well as providing other digestion and health benefits. 

Nutrition 

As well as trying to eat a well balanced nutritious diet in the marathon build up heres a few personal specifics I throw into the mix. 

Vitamin C - Load up on some vitamin C, something that should already be plentiful in your diet but especially necessary in the final stages of a marathon training programme to ensure you can fight off any illnesses while you body is more susceptible to attack due to the strains of training and to ensure you are as fighting fit and healthy as can be come race day. 

Coupled with an increase in vitamin C i have also found taking a cold and flu remedy such as Beechams is a great way to top up your body's defences and keep you feeling tip top!  

Protein - In race week as well as stocking up on my carbohydrates I also try to increase my protein in take to help my muscles be fully repaired and raring to go!

Specifically I opt for plenty of protein shakes and chicken throughout the week along with a steak dinner a few days before interspersed with plenty of protein rich snacks like almonds.  

Good digestion - To help make sure my stomach is settled and can cope with the high amount of carbohydrates along with potential pre race nerves I make sure I have a couple of spoons of natural yogurt in the morning and evening just to be kind to my gut in the hope it is then kind to me! 

Preparation  

Along with all the training and nutrition advice the best piece of advice is to be prepared. Mentally prepared for the challenges that lie ahead as well as physically prepared taking care of the practical and logistical arrangements of; how am i going to get there? What time so i need to get up/leave? What am I going to wear? Etc, etc

Its good to have these arrangements clear in your mind a few days before so you can relax and just focus on the actual running. 

One last thing most importantly:  

Don't forget to enjoy yourself! Enjoy the run, the challenge, the atmosphere, the experience, the location and the scenery, embrace it all so you can remember it in the future. 

Good luck!

1 marathon down 2 to go, what have I learnt?

So after 1 of my 3 marathons in 3 months challenge where am I and what have I learnt? 

My challenge was to run 3 marathons in 3 months, I entered theses in early 2014 as I felt I needed something to work on and needed to achieve something positive and challenging prior to turning 30 in early 2015. My other motive was to give myself a great chance of running a sub 4 hour marathon, firstly so I can just say I have achieved this milestone and secondly so I could have the challenge of achieving this before turning 30. 

The first and third marathons in my mini series are trail marathons so the second marathon in Nottingham on the 28th September which is a standard city marathon on a flat course with strong PB potential was always going to be the ideal opportunity to crack the magical sub 4 barrier. 

I am pretty desperate just to get a clear run at a marathon and have a good crack at a sub 4. As you can read from my post run report of my first marathon it didn't quite go to plan and didn't give me any kind of chance of running a good time. 

As I train more and run more I continue to learn more about what it takes to train for a marathon and how to run one and I am increasingly eager to put this into practice and to try and run a 'perfect' race.

With the Notitngham Marathon coming up in September I know this city marathon will be my best chance of cracking sub 4 and probably my only chance of running sub 4 pre 30. 

So what have I learnt from my training and running the first marathon?

Drink more water - I am not talking about the actual race but more on a daily basis, although I have always drank a lot of water and stayed well hydrated I have realised I think I am not drinking enough especially when I am training a lot. So I have started to make a conscious effort to drink more before and after training as well as drinking more while at the gym as well.

Eat more protein - Putting in some serious mileage and training every day obviously puts a great strain on your body and your muscles and again I figured I wasn't eating as much protein as I could/should be. In the week or two before the marathon I started eating steak and chicken all the time as well as increasing the amounts of protein shakes I was consuming.

Now I am trying to pack my diet full of as much protein as possible with my main protein sources being chicken, steak, kidney beans, chick peas, hummus, brazil nuts, almonds, tuna, and mackerel.

Run more - I have finally broken some kind of mental block I had which stopped me from running on consecutive days and seemed to hold me back from running too much. Now I am quite happy running day after day within reason and have put together several 4 and 5 day plus runstreaks. It goes without saying really but running on more days means I am able to train more and get in more mileage which will benefit me massively. 

More strength training - A neglected part of my training regime as its hard and it hurts and its generally not as fun as running is. But unfortunately doing weights, circuits and body weight exercises such as press up, lunges and squats are integral to any training plan if you want to get faster and stronger and I am now making a real effort to include 2 or 3 strength training type sessions into my weekly routine.  

Thanks for reading and I hope you found this post useful for your own training.

Am I eating enough protein?

The last week or two I have been craving and subsequently eating a lot of ham. 



This has led to me wondering whether or not its a great thing for me to be eating as I try to clean out my diet ahead of my marathon in August and whether or not its a good source of protein for me as a runner. This then led me on to thinking about my protein consumption generally as well and if I consume enough. 

My diet

I have been trying to cut down on my carbohydrate consumption as a snack and looking for protein based alternatives. Ham seemed to git the bill as its cheap, easy to eat as a snack and low fat, not to mention a tasty treat.

When people talk about a good protein source to have as post workout or as a snack chicken is always towards the top of the list. Chicken has a few drawbacks though as it is more expensive and requires cooking and preparation if you choose to buy it uncooked. Ham then seemed like a decent alternative for someone like myself operating on a budget.

I know ham doesn't really fit in with a clean eating approach as it is processed and somewhat artificial especially in comparison to freshly cooked chicken straight off the bone. 

So how do they compare nutritionally?

Chicken as taken from myfitnesspal

A snapshot from the back of my packet of ham

Here is a breakdown of my usual sources of protein that I try to include in my diet to increase my protein intake, listed below in order of the amount of protein they provide.  

Per 100g:

Chicken:                                                             165 calories               31g protein

Whey protein shake (pro start):                       120 calories               20g protein

Ham:                                                                   124 calories               17g protein

Whey protein shake (Holland and Barrett):       83 calories               16.6g protein

Chickpeas:                                                         125 calories               6.4g protein

Pinto beans:                                                         86 calories               4.9g protein

Milk (semi Skimmed):                                         47 calories               3.6g protein

Peanut butter:                                                       90 calories               3.5g protein 
Nuts:                                                       approx 500 calories   approx 20g protein
Eggs:                                                                   155 calories            12.6g protein
Mackerel:                                                            206 calories             18.8g protein

All nutritional information in this article is taken from http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ either using a generic description for the mentioned food or the specific brand or type that I would regularly eat. 

which I use to track and monitor my diet when I fell like keeping a closer eye on what I am eating or when I want to make my self feel really bad about the large amounts of calories I have consumed. 

I would recommend using it especially in its app form as its a clever little resource that can provide a lot of useful information. 

As we all know protein is an important part of a runners diet as we need plenty of the stuff to repair our muscles and keep us strong and healthy through regular training. 

Research tells us that the best sources of protein are those that contain the best balance of amino acids the so called 'building blocks' of protein. Some of the top protein sources that fall into this category include: 

Almonds:                                               578 calories        21.3g protein
Tuna:                                                      126 calories           30g protein
Chocolate skimmed milk:                      76 calories          3.4g protein
Eggs:                                                     155 calories        12.6g protein
Beef:                                                    1200 calories        81.5g protein
Low fat yogurt:                                         63 calories          5.2g protein
Turkey:                                                   104 calories        17.1g protein
Soy Protein:                           approx   400 calories            90g protein
Whey protein:                         approx   400 calories            90g protein  
Salmon:                                                  200 calories            20g protein

Again these figures above are based on Per 100g:

Only three of these 'best' source are listed in my list of my regular sources of protein so I obviously need to change my diet a little to try and incorporate these better sources of protein.

As you can see some of these items are very rich in protein and certainly a lot higher in protein than most of the items on my list. 

How much protein should I be eating? 

Its all well and good knowing all this information but what affect does it have on me? How much protein should I be eating? 

A Runnersworld article suggests a regular runner will need 0.6g of protein per pound of weight. 

So I weight somewhere around 11 stone which works out as around 154 pounds which works out as around 92g per day as a minimum, maybe more when I am training more or on an intensive training day. 

What I need to work out now is how close do I come to meeting this require of 92g+ of protein per day? Unfortunately I haven't been keeping a food diary for ages and my diet is quite different to what it was last time I kept a record so I will try and figure out my protein intake myself. 

Looking at just food that is a good/high protein source my protein intake would look a bit like this if I was on a typical day to eat these protein sources: 

Milk on my cereal:                                                      3g protein

Whey protein shake after training:                         20g protein

Chickpeas with my lunch:                                     12.8g protein

Mackerel with my lunch:                                        17.4g protein

Some almonds as an afternoon snack:                    8g protein

Ham as an evening snack:                                      17g protein

Some peanut butter on toast for my tea:               1.3g protein

                                                                   Total = 79.5g protein

These figures are based on actual serving sizes of what I would actually eat. 

So looking at just the protein rich foods I am not very far off and am pretty impressed with the amount of protein my diet could contain. 

Conclusion 

Do I need to eat more protein? Strategies for eating more protein 

I think I need to be more conscious of always trying to include protein whenever possible into every meal. I already do this by including bean into my pasta or rice dishes for lunch and I need to keep this up as well as regularly snacking on protein rich foods like nuts. Buying and eating more chicken is a definite as well as treating myself to eggs for breakfast a lot more often. 

I definitely need to substitute some of my food choices for options higher in protein such as chicken and beef. This brings me back to my original question about the ham, ham seems to be all well and good but it isn't as protein rich as other meat sources and as discussed isn't that healthy as it is processed and not fresh. 

In an ideal world my perfect protein rich diet would look something like this and would provide me with more than enough protein;

Breakfast:
2 eggs                                                      156 calories     10.8g protein
200g baked beans                                 156 calories       9.6g protein
Mushrooms & tomatoes                           56 calories       7.8g protein

Lunch:
Brown rice                                               216 calories       5g protein
Chicken                                                   102 calories      22.1g protein 
Chickpeas                                              125 calories       6.4g protein
Peppers 39 1.5g protein 

Dinner: 
Homemade potato wedges                  414 calories      12.9g protein
Ham                                                           62 calories       8.5g protein
Salad                                                         16 calories       0.6g protein  

Snacks:
Almonds                                                  137 calories    5g protein
Bananas                                                  100 calories    1.2g protein
Whey protein shake                               120 calories     20g protein
Apple                                                         65 calories     0.3g protein 

                                                  Totals: 1725 calories      110.2g protein

Wow! That is a lot more protein than I was anticipating! This is far from a typical day but is potentially a 'normal' day if you like in terms that although I don't do this every day it is achievable on any given day. 

I know my diet is far from perfect and could be improved in a lot of areas and even the diet scenario outlined above could be improved a lot but I know I am moving in the right direction and my diet has steadily and consistently improved over the last few years. 

So going back to the start of my article I have certainly learnt a lot about protein and my own protein consumption just from thinking about the healthiness of a bit of ham! 

I hope this article was interesting and useful for you to think about your own diet and protein consumption.