Spotlight Athlete Sara Davis

Fluid Athlete Sara Davis has been competing at the top of her game lately and we are proud to bring he results into our spotlight section.

In her recent triathlons Sara has been able to capture 2 overall titles as well as 3 age group titles. Her Race finishes include:

Carlsbad Triathlon- 1st in age group 6th woman overall including pros
LA Tri Series #3- 1st in age group 8th woman overall
Bakersfield Triathlon- 1st overall woman
Dam Sprint Triathlon- 1st overall woman
LA Tri Series #1- 1st in age group 6th woman overall

Sara is a 24 year old Triathlete from San Clemente, CA with aspirations of becoming one of the top female Triathletes in the world. She currently rides out of Ladera Cyclery, one of our awesome stores! We hope to help her along the way as much as we can and watch her grow as a fantastic athlete.

Sara has also qualified for the Age Group Nationals in September.

Good Luck Sara, we will be cheering you on!

We are Back!!

Hey everyone,

The wedding went great and we are all ready to get back to Fluid business. We are spending the week catching up and getting to all the emails and orders that came in over the weekend. But again we are back and ready to roll. Thank you everyone for your support of our healthy message and we know the rest of this year is going to go great.

We Hope everyone is doing well this late in summer.

Team Fluid

The Fluid Wedding

Hey Guys,

Starting tomorrow everyone at Fluid is going to be a little bit tied up with Fluid co-founder Dave Brown's wedding. We will all be participating in the wedding and have our hands full with things to do. We apologize for the vanishing act for a few days but not to worry we will all return shortly.

Thanks everyone and we hope you are all doing great!

Team Fluid

A Training Story From Pro Triathlete Chris Foster

Earlier this Summer, Fluid Pro Triathlete Chris Foster was able to train alongside some of the top athletes in the sport at the Elite Development Camp put on by USA Triathlon. This is a story of his time there and how grueling, yet pleasing training can get.

This is what Chris had to say.

Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of being invited to the Elite Development Camp being put on by USA Triathlon. I was one of roughly 15 to 20 athletes who would be living and training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. The training center is a compound of sorts, set in the middle of the sprawling town of Colorado Springs. Located at 6,000 feet and with a backdrop of nearby Pike's Peak (14,000 feet), it's a nice area where it seems to rain almost every day at 2pm on the dot.

We're staying in college-style dorms (three to a room...ouch) with a college-style dining hall. One of the best things about being here is unlimited food at almost any time of the day. It certainly makes training and (most importantly) recovering easier. The layout is a lot like a college campus as well: the pool, dining hall, dorms, gym, coaches offices, and everything else one could ever need to train and recover is all less than a quarter mile away. The cool thing about everything being all together on one campus is that we get to come into contact with lots of other athletes. I've seen the Hamm brothers (gymnastics), Shalane Flanagan (track), and numerous other Olympians. It's not uncommon to see pictures of Gold Medalists on the wall, then see that same person at the salad bar next to me.

More than just the food, facilities, and Olympians, the training out here has been great. I've been able to do some swims with the National Resident Team (or at least be in the pool with them working out at the same time...haha) and train with a bunch of other ITU pros staying here. On Friday, I was able to get some blood lactate testing done at the Olympic Performance Testing Lab and learned some valuable information for my training.

It's been a hard week--adjusting to the altitude, riding in 99 degree weather, and doing it all with the top ITU pros in the country. Through all the working out, I will admit I have been able to recover and bounce back thanks to the *entire jug* of Fluid that I brought and have been leaning on heavily. There is no doubt that when I get back to Los Angeles, I will be rested, recovered, and ready to jumpstart my training and my season!

Chris

Video Blog Delay

Hey Guys,

We tried as hard as we could to get the video blog up as soon as we could but it is going to take a little while longer. Our new segments are going to be in HD and clearer than ever. We are preparing for one of the internal managers weddings and that has taken a lot of work. Sorry for the delay but they will be up soon.

Team Fluid

Athlete Highlight Armand Arekian

Fluid Athlete Armand Arekian has has some impressive success lately and we would like to highlight him and report those results.

Armand recently returned from the NMBS East Coast National in Windham, NY where he placed 2nd in the XC division.

On Saturday Armand was able to race his first ever road race in the CAT 5 division. Although a mountain biker at heart Armand was able to pull off a 3rd place finish against some seasoned road racers.

Next up for Armand is the USA Mountain Bike National Championships at Mt. Snow. Armand is looking to keep his streak of podium finishes going which now stands at four.

To find out more on Armand you can visit his website at www.armandarekian.com

We wish you the best of luck Armand and Fluid will be with you every step of the way!

Fluid Athlete of The Week Karra Colgan

Our featured athlete of this week is Karra Colgan. Karra competes at an extremely high level in the world of Martial arts, Karate to be more specific. Recently at the 2008 USKA World Championships in New Orleans, LA Karra came home with some pretty impressive titles. She placed 1st in the adult KYU weapons competition and first in womens brown belt form. She also placed second in brown belt womens sparring championship. Among all of the competition Karra was able to walk away as Adult KYU Weapons Grand Champion. Needless to say that is impressive.

Karra is not only a competitor but a mother of two and owns and runs, with her husband, a Karate School (Shozen Martial Arts USA).

We are proud to have this wonderful athlete, teacher and person as a part of Team Fluid. I only listed a minute amount of accomplishments that Karra has achieved and we all know that she will continue to strive for success in the Future.

Good Luck Karra!

New Layout

As you can see we have a new layout for our blog. Let me just say thank you to our code creator and this looks great. Same great blog just with a new awesome look. We are proud to bring you more stories, updates, and tips as the year goes on.

Thanks Everyone!

Shoemaker and Brown Go 2&3

Fluid athletes Jarrod Shoemaker and Ethan Brown had an astonishing weekend at the 2008 Musselman ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup. Shoemaker was able to walk away with a 2nd place finish in an amazing 01:51:47 which was only 12 seconds behind the winner. Brown came in less than 3 minutes later to take a stance on the podium as well.

Fluid has always been proud to stand behind these two elite athletes and we could not be more excited about their finish in this weekends race.

We know that we are not done seeing podium finishes from these two and we are overjoyed to be one of the sponsors fueling their success.

Jarrod will be leaving for Beijing to compete in the Olympics on the 19th of next month and we are wishing him the best of luck and we know that his determination and grit will push him to success on the worlds biggest stage.

Brown has many upcoming races in the next few months including the U23 worlds in Vancouver ,Canada. Ethan will also travel this late summer in Europe to compete in other world championships. With so many challenges ahead for Brown we can only hope that his success will continue on as the year progresses.

To read more about both athletes you can visit their websites at:
http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/http://www.emanswim.com/

Good Luck guys we wish you the best of Luck!

What is Tough?

Many could say that running a half iron man is a tough act. Others could say that running a half marathon with a injury to their foot is tough. What if you had to do both? Could you finish?

Will power is such an amazing tool that we athletes have and one Fluid Athlete, Bryan McDonnell, has will power beyond many of us.

During the Providence Iron man 70.3 Bryan came off of T2 on pace to smash his PR time at this distance. However two miles into the run he was plagued by a monster blister. At one point he had to stop at the aid station due to the fact that his shoe was covered in blood. Most would have stopped here and thrown in the towel due to injury. Most would have wrapped their foot up and kept off of it for two days; Not Brian. He was able to walk/run the rest of the half marathon and still finish in 4:43, which is only four minutes slower than his personal best. Amazing!

Tough is not just saying you can do something in a rough situation. Tough is doing it and being able to tell listeners later on about the experience. I tip my hat to you Bryan. You truly are a Triathlete.

If you havent please do

Hey Guys,

If you have not been able to check out "Outsideallday.com" you really need to. With great stories, this fantastic blog and website has been a major friend and supporter of Fluid these past few months. Make sure you stop by and maybe just drop them a line. You can find their blog in the Fluid "Great Blogs" section on this website.

Also make sure to go by Amateurendurance.com and Cyclingnutz.com as well. Fantastic websites with a lot to offer.

Thanks everyone!

Fluid Amateur John-Paul Koenig

Fluid Amateur Triathlete JP Koenig has had some pretty exciting success during his past two races. In the Summer Sizzle 5 mile race, JP was able to track down a division win. At his next race, The Tri-America Short Course Triathlon, Koenig not only was the first out of the water heading into T1 but he was able to place fourth overall. Not to mention he won his age group and captured the title. Koenig is a great tribute to a healthy lifestyle and we are proud to have him on our team.

Fluid is Proud to Announce the Crossniacs

We at Fluid are proud to report that we have become a sponsor for The Crossniacs Cycling team. With many experienced riders on board we could not be more excited about this venture. You can learn about them at their website Http://www.crossniacs.com.

Fluid Video Health and Nutrition Segment

This is the first of many "Fluid Health and Nutrition Segments" Come by every Wednesday to check it out and leave your comments and take something away from it. Thanks everyone!

Fluid Anyone?

Why Does Fluid exist?

As one of the founders and creators of Fluid, I wanted to share with everyone our original mission:

TO PROVIDE THE WORLD A SAFE, HEALTHY, HONEST, AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT THAT IS INSPIRED BY PEER REVIEWED SCIENCE, AND WELCOMED BY ATHLETES AND COACHES ALIKE.

It was really that simple, yet dramatically powerful when you think about the state of nutrition advice in the world today.

For example: A recent study inspired the following to be written in a reputable periodical, by a reputable editor:

"An advice for sportspersons looking for an edge over their competitors -- sipping a cup of coffee while grabbing a bite of a burger can help you recover more quickly after a strenuous workout, a study has revealed."

In reality, the study showed that 8mg of caffiene per 1kg of body weight showed increases in recovery time when consumed with the proper amount of carbohydrate.

As you can see, the reported advice isn't even remotely close to the actual findings, and is completely missing the point.

At FLUID, we don't "miss the point"

Thank you.

Dave Brown

Courtney Crutcher Looped Featured Athlete

We are proud to announce that Fluid Pro Triathlete Courtney Crutcher has been honored by sponsorhouse.com as the Looped Triathlon Featured Athlete! Coming off her division win at the Buffalo Springs lake Half Ironman, Courtney has proven that she is one of the top female Triathletes in the business. We could not be more proud to have such an amazing member on our team. Courtney has provided nothing but undying support since her conception as a Team Fluid Member. Any and all companies would be hard pressed to find an athlete as dedicated and as pleasant as she is on a daily basis. With personal milestones and celebrations approaching in the future for her, we can only say Congrats! and we all hope everything goes well. Good luck on the rest of the season Courtney!

Cal Multi Sport Updates

Hey everyone!

Cal Multisport has some great events coming up and they are a great organization. Please check them out and possibly get involved with them. They are always looking for volunteers and people to join their coalition. They have monthly updates and they can be found on these four websites.

www.cencalcycling.com
www.ccadventure.com
www.pinemountaincomp.com
www.slomountainrun.com

Thanks Everyone and make sure to keep your eye out for more Cal Multisport updates!

Fluid Health Tip of the Week

So you want to get back to living a healthy lifestyle, but you don't know where to start. There are some basics that you must follow in order to get yourself not only looking better but more importantly feeling better.

1.) DRINK WATER!! It is not only essential to sustain hydration, it is a tool that we overlook sometimes. Do not go drinking down an energy drink and think that you have liquids in you. You body needs water to survive. Everyone has different needs as far as water goes and the whole eight by eight rule might not be right for you. Divide your body weight by two and that is how many ounces you NEED to be drinking.

2.) Vitamins are key. While we might not all have the time or the money to eat rich leafy green vegetables at every meal, or the will power for that matter. Our bodies still need essential vitamins that occur naturally. Multi-vitamins are a great source of complex vitamins. Depending on what your body needs you can go a purchase all vitamins at your local nutrition store. B-12 to Fish Oil, these vitamin supplements can serve as a great way to avoid asparagus prices.

3.) Put down the Fork. Plain and simple people, eating less is not a crime. Leaving food on your plate is not immoral. Feeling so bloated after a meal is a sign that maybe you should not have ordered the foot long or the dessert.

4.) Take the batteries out of your remote. On your days off from the grind, head outside and do some yard work. Take a walk with someone you love, buy an old beat up mountain bike and take it for a spin. Burning some calories is better than no calories and you are doing your heart a favor. Watching the Tour on TV is all great, but if you feel guilty for not riding your bike in a long time, go ahead... Its waiting.

5.) Last but not least, Do not stress. Don't expect overnight results from anything. In our world today there are countless products that offer a miracle cure for losing weight and getting healthy. You could have a pill that sucks out thirty pounds of fat overnight, but does that mean you are healthy? No, health is a state of mind and takes time to cultivate. Find joy in your workouts, don't eat a little and workout a ton only to get in shape. Ride your bike to have a good time, and eat healthy food because it tastes good. Do not let image stress you out, live healthy, live long, live Fluid.

New Fluid Single Serving Packets

Fluid is proud to announce that we are in the late stages of releasing our new "Tropical Escape" Single serving packs. Made of 100% recycled foil materials, the Fluid Single Serving Packet is the easiest way to take Fluid on the go. No more plastic baggies for recovery. Its simple, just mix with water and pure all natural recovery is ready to drink. Look for them in your local shops and online at Livefluid.com soon!

An Introduction to Fluid from co-founder Dave

This is the first of many videos to come from Fluid, these will include interviews and greetings from Fluid team members, please enjoy!

Fluid Athlete Steve Murray

This Season Fluid cyclist Steve Murray has been atop 13 podiums, which included a Victory in the Georgia Criterium State Championship. In addition to being the new state Champ, Steve is currently the Overall leader in his Cat 4 race category for the Georgia Cup Series. He is also leading the Most Aggressive Rider competition (Sprinter) for that series as well. The Ga Cup is the largest series in the Southeast and his category had seen over 175 riders participate. Steve is a brilliant rider and we are proud to have him represent the Fluid name. Great Job Steve and good Luck on the rest of your season!

Fluid Athlete Chris Foster Wins San Diego Tri

Chris Foster, a Fluid Triathlete, was able to accomplish a major victory this weekend as he won the San Diego Intl. Triathlon for the second straight year! In doing so Foster was able to beat internationally renowned Aussie Luke Bell. Although Foster was behind after the swim and the bike and it seemed that Bell was going to capture the crown, Foster roared back in the run to defeat Bell by less than a minute. We could not be more proud of Chris and his accomplishment, he is a great tribute to the progressive world we live in. You can check out the entire story at http://www.amateurendurance.com/2008/06/2008-san-diego-international-triathlon-race-report/

Great Job Chris and Good luck on the rest of the season!