Orbana Healthy Energy Review

I recently tried sample packets from Orbana Healthy Energy… I got them from a give away contest from the running and rambling (http://www.runningandrambling.com) blog.

First off, the idea to get reviews that way is in itself a testament to Orbana’s creativity and customer oriented practice … brilliant. The packets contain 50 g of fine powder which dissolves impressively well in 250 ml water. The powder, when added has a nice effervescent effect that insures a good mixing. The smell and taste present citrus and pineapple flavour. The drink itself is quite palatable and do not give the sickly sugary feeling when the water is not cold. Somehow the taste and smell were vaguely reminiscent of the McDonald’s orange juice I so liked in ages past. The citrus-pineapple taste is free from the usual acidic feeling from citric acid, although the taste is subtle, it was a bit much for me since I’m not a pineapple fan.

I am not a big sports drink fan since I usually have problem digesting them and experience gastric weirdness on long runs (gasses and balloon effect) from the caffeine and truck load of sugar, but the Orbana mix is pretty easy to digest, no burps and no upset stomach … sweet “nada”.

Each bag of Orbana powder carries a impressive load of vitamins, amino-acids and electrolytes, a nicely balanced ratio of carbs, sodium and potassium with a pinch of protein … who could ask for more ? Thanks to the nice mix of amino-acid and electrolytes, it is also a good hang-over remedy, drink one glass of water mixed with Orbana before going to bed after a big party … the morrow is less painful by far …

Pros :
- Effervescent powder help mixing
- No acid tasting effect
- No chalky sugary feeling while drinking
- Reminds me of McDonald’s orange juice
- Good hang-over remedy

Cons:
- Only one flavour available, not bad in itself, but since I’m not a big pineapple fan, I noticed

Bottom line is, Orbana offers a great product, really efficient, even for guys who are not really sports drink fan. If they were to offer a different flavour (like one that does not taste like pineapple) I would definitely buy a box.

Shaping up in West Africa

Now working in Mali for the next 2 weeks. Just when I started my motivation sequence and got up my ass, boom! a month off shore, a month of eating crap, sweating like a pig and thinking beer the most wonderful and bacteria free beverage in the whole wide world ...

What can a chap do to stay fit, and getting fitter ... i'll try to discover it !

For now, i'm armed with :

- P90X Cardio
- P90X Ab ripper
- 100 push up program
- A hotel near a really nice running track, in the Botanical Garden
- A kind of motivation to shed some unwanted pounds I accumulated while doing some autumn-procrastination


First night (18th october) was training free, arriving à 9 pm with a strong jetlag, a bit tipsy from the champain, wine and calvados i had while travelling in business class (lucky me), i opted for some stretching of calves and off to bed.

19th october : decided to check on the garden ... bummer, there is now a fee to access the training grounds, 500 francs for local and 1500 francs (3,50 $) for strangers and i only carried 2 $ ... i turned back, lost myself in the streets near Bamako's Stadium, got a bit spooked since the sun was coming down, used my "Navigate to start" feature from my Garmin ... what a beautiful life saving piece of technology. 4.5 km, 22 minutes ... kindda fast for running in my Merrel Barefoot, but like I said, i got spooked. I skipped supper, drank a meal replacement (Lean body) with cold water.

20th october : Got back from work a bit late and was'nt in a mood for running in the dust ... , did the P90X Cardio training and ended up eating Pizza at the "Relax" with colleagues and drank too nice, cold and big "Flag" (local beer).

21th october : Got news that Khaddaffi was dead, since Mali is full of pro-Khaddaffi population, I received the good advice of not playing smart by myself in the streets ... there goes today's run ... down the drain. Ankle stretching (Mobility WoD), 75 pushups, 75 crunches ... 2 cans of home-brought thai-tuna and two "'Flags" with my colleague.

The rest was pretty much a downward, i kept doing the P90X Cardio, but a weird injury in my left knee that prevented me from raising my left kept me from doing any serious work out ...

Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove Review and Giveaway

Another nice give away promoting bare foot running ... from the best blog around ...

Running And Rambling

New Balance Minimus Trail Review and Giveaway Contest

A nice review of the New Balance Minimus Trail on THE best website on minimalist running :

http://www.runningandrambling.com/2011/02/new-balance-minimus-trail-review-and.html




Also, a good book from the same author :

Air Canada: 2, me : 0

Could not get to the Rock and Roll Marathon ... flight cancelled due to a crack in the pilot's windshield, lucky for us, the pilot noticed the said crack before getting to high and blowing up his cabin ...

Still, it's a bummer that after getting from Quebec to Montreal and doing half an hour of flight towards Pheonix I had to go back to Quebec in the same day ... and now, after nearly a month, no news of any reimbursement ... i still hope to get a refund for the full flight, and hopefully, they will reimburse the car rental and marathon subscription fees (wishful thinking here) ...

To say that in the same week, i had another flight cancelled for Port-au-Prince Haiti because there was a toilet malfunction in the plane ... three cheers for Air Canada ...

First step ...

First post ... still recuperating from the Christmas parties and new Year's Eve ... preparing for the Rock'and'Roll marathon in Phoenix, Arizona. Quite a stupid idea when thinking about it, spending more than a thousand dollars for my first shot at a marathon ... i never was known for being bright anyway :)

Winter training is always a challenge, cruising along at -20 C in my adistar racer always is frisky, but it would'nt be training for real if I did'nt feel like a wuss from time to time.