The questions have been flowing in and I must say that they get better every month. Thanks for everyone’s entries, I love reading them and laughing. This month there was one question that stood out to me. Congratulations to our July winner Ganesh Harinath on winning your new Smith Sunglasses!
Q: I’d like to know… what’s the aspect of your life that is most transferable to people like me, who work in business? Are there any lessons you’ve learned in your amazing career as a professional athlete that is portable enough for someone like me, a young business person, to apply to my own life?
A: It’s very simple, but seems to take years to learn. It’s the same stuff they teach you in kindergarten. Try hard, never quit, surround yourself with good people, treat others as you would like to be treated, choose a career/activities that you are passionate about and never, never quit.
I know I said “never quit” twice, but that seems to be one of the main keys to success that I’ve learned. Even when something seems impossible and they are not going well, just keep working and many times your persistence will pay off in the end. I’ve won many races after being sick, being slow, getting flat tires, but just plugging along.
The giveaways are going great and we are excited to announce the August contest prize from Hammer Nutrition, a full recovery package! As always, I will choose the best question that lands in my email inbox. So ask away and send them in to askreba@rebeccarusch.com
Athletes have no trouble pushing themselves during workouts and putting in tough training days. However, this is only part of the equation. Many of us fall short in the recovery process. You can train like a champion, but if you do not recover like one as well, you’re not squeezing 100% of the benefit out of your workouts. Training and breaking down muscle is just step #1. Where you actually get stronger and faster is then allowing your muscles to recover from that training effort. It’s taken me years to figure this out, but I’m finally learning to take my recovery as seriously as my training.
The best question this month will win some of my favorite recovery tools.
Hammer Nutrition Recoverite is my recovery drink of choice. I make up a shake immediately after every hard workout and race. It restores gylcogen stores and starts to rebuild muscle tissue right away.
My favorite Recoverite recipe after a freezing spring ride in the mountains: strawberry Recoverite mixed with hot cocoa.
We will also throw in the Super Antioxidant and the AO Booster too! So you will have all your nutritional recovery needs met. All you have to do is get out and train!
The second essential recovery item that I can’t live without are Skins compression tights. These babies are scientifically engineered with gradient compression to provide the correct level of surface pressure to specific body parts. What all this does is improve circulation to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and remove metabolic waste. You recover faster. I wear these after races, on the plane, between stages in a multi-day event. There are a bunch of compression products out there, but Skins is the only one with hard science behind their designs. If you win this Hammer and Skins recovery package, you are guaranteed to be faster! Below you can see me drinking Recoverite before I even take off my filthy kit after a stage of the Cape Epic. Send your best and most creative questions to askreba@rebeccarusch.com for your shot to win!
What was it like for you when you first started out? I absolutely love mountain biking I sleep, eat, breath bike, anything that involves a bike I’m in. My issue I’m having is, I don’t know if it’s the city I live in or what, but it’s so hard to find female mountain bikers. Sometimes I can feel a little alone I have male biking partners but they don’t know what it’s like to be a female rider.
Do you ever get to drive the fire engine?
Hey Reba, of all the adventure races you’ve done which was your favorite and do you think Mark Burnett will bring back the Eco challenge or is it done for good. Thanks for the inspiration.
Reba! My questions relate to the products in your giveaway:
My 1st question relates to the nutritional/caloric balance between weight loss and performance. How do you know what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat? I’m think I’m struggling to loose weight because I’m eating too much or the wrong stuff. I don’t want to loose fitness due to bonking mid workout or have poor recovery due to not eating enough.
2nd question is how do the athletic versions of compression products compare with the clinical medical versions of similar products (ex. PEDS)? Thanks!
Congrats on the Leadville 100! Very impressive!
I’m a newbie mountain biker…less than 6 months under my belt. A typical weekend mtb ride is about 30 miles. Are compression tights beneficial to the weekend warrior or are they more for endurance riders?
Why are Coke’s and PB&J sandwiches so popular in endurance mountain bike races? (even see Coke in the Pro Peleton) From alot of things I have read, including Hammer facts, these food items should not work due to the sugar, fat, protein content. Would love to hear your opinion. Thanks, and great job at Leadville.
Hey Devon, Mark Burnett is done with Eco Challenge. I doubt any of the really big races such as Eco or Raid Gauloises will ever come back. It was an awesome time to be involved in the sport and I’m grateful to have gone to so many amazing countries, but it’s just too expensive and not within reach for most people. I couldn’t name one favorite, but the Raid in Kyrgyzstan was a highlight for sure. Borneo was amazing, except for the hideous leeches.
I’m a total bike geek. I love bikes. I have a firm belief that the number of bikes you own is (n+1). n = number of bikes you currently own. But there is always that one bike you let get away. Mine was a 1990 Ritchey P-23 Team. I loved that bike. So, my question is, do you have “One bike that you loved and wished you still had?”
Okay, I’ve gotta ask it–what do you do about riding sores??? I know you must have gotten them in adventure racing or 24 hr. mt biking. Do you carry a medical kit and operate or suffer through until after the race is over? Fill us in…
Have you thought of working with Skins on developing a bee sting compression garment, and do you (as an EMT-A) feel that this might be an effective treatment?