Saturday July 24, 2010
The first trial of an early sprint specific performance drink is completed. The control was performed late afternoon in about 90°F heat while the experimental trial was performed a week afterwards late afternoon in the mid 90's°F. Timing for both was performed electronically through digital video camera for accuracy. The control drink was Power-Ade and test drink included two drinks: the first was a 709mL bottle of water with 3/4 teaspoon 12% food grade H2O2, 10g NaHCO3, and a G2 packet. The second was a 709mL bottle of water with 10g NaHCO3 and a Propel packet. After each sip regular water was drunk to wash the drink down. The performance drink was ingested over a 90 minute period, and 30 minutes after finishing, the 400m was run.
Control 400m 58.21sec
Performance Drink 400m 57.19sec
Percent increase 101.78% faster
During the control, rounding the last 200m resulted in hitting a wall. With the performance drink, a continuous sprint was possible; no wall was present, speed was limited to aerobic limits only. The arms were slightly fatigued during the last 100m after the drink, as opposed to the whole body being fatigued for the last 200m.
No side effects were experienced during ingestion of the drink, but the texture and underlying baking soda flavor were unpleasant.
A 1 second increase is very promising as that could mean the difference between running at districts and not.
