2 for 1, and a Giveaway! Nuun Hydration, and Clif Shot BLOKS Reviews

Ok...  it's your lucky week... 2 reviews for the price of 1, and a give away!

Over the past few weeks I've been trying out two great products from Nuun Hydration, and Clif Bar.

I decided to review these together, as they seem to go hand-in-hand.. at least for me that is. Plus, I have a few extra's to giveaway, so see the instructions below to enter!

First of all, are the Nuun Active Hydration tablets. The folks at Nuun have a great family of hydration products, and I tried out these electrolyte loaded tablets in my hand-held water bottle.  Each tube from Nuun contains 12 tablets, and 1 tablet can be dissolved in 16 oz of water in about 2 minutes.

I've only recently begun to run longer distances, and I hope to keep extending that out. My first 10 miler is in two weeks, and my first 1/2 marathon in August.  So, as my training runs get longer, and the days get hotter, I am learning more about how to stay better hydrated.  Here is a quick description of this product from the Nuun website:

Nuun Active Hydration Lemon+Lime drink tabs are portable, taste great, and deliver a fast-absorbing electrolyte blend without the sugar or waste of bottled sport drinks.

The electrolytes that your body needs: Each tube of Nuun contains 12 tablets. Each tablet makes 16 oz. of Nuun, and delivers 360 mg Sodium / 100 mg Potassium / 25 mg Magnesium / 13 mg Calcium

Nothing that you don’t: Less than 1g of carbs, fewer than 8 calories. No sugar. No high-fructose corn syrup. No artificial flavors or colors.

Good for the Earth: One tube prevents the manufacture of up to twelve 16oz plastic bottles from sugar-ADE sport drinks.

So, for the past few longer runs, I've been dropping a tab into my water bottle.  What I really like about Nuun is that it is not loaded with sugars. I've tried running while drinking Gatorade, or sipping some during a race, but I can't get over the sugary sweetness.  I tried diluting it, and that helped somewhat.  Nuun doesn't have that sticky sweetness, but just enough flavor to make if pleasant to drink, and provide an electrolyte replacement.  

What's funny is that when I first tried it, it had an oddly familiar flavor and taste, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Finally it hit me... Fizzies! Ok... this may be familiar to those of you that were kids in the 70's like myself.  Goofy Alka-Seltzer type tablets that were flavored and you could drop into water.  Not overly sweet and fun to drink... well, actually I think we licked them straight out of the package... haven't tried that with Nuun yet! 

Anyway, I think these are a great alternative to sweetened energy drinks, and the convenience is great... you could sneak a few tablets along with you during a race, and just plunk one in when you refill your water bottle etc. 

In addition to the lemon-lime, I also tried the Lemon-Tea version, which provides 20mg of caffeine as well... bonus!  (Plus it looks just like beer!) I have a bottle of each to give away below, or enough to make 3 gallons! Also, check out their website for 9 other cool flavors. 

Now as far as fueling options go, there are a variety of gels, bars, and other ways to get quick energy on the run.  Up to this point, I've tried some GU Gels, which were ok.. a little thick, and also making my own energy bites (see my recipe tab above for those).  As I was doing some research, I came across Clif Shot Bloks.   What drew me to Clif was the fact that they use simple, organic ingredients, which is important to me.  And, as you can see above, they have a variety of flavors, some with various levels of caffeine, and one with extra sodium. 

Each packet contains 6 "Bloks", that are about 33 calories each.  So one packet is roughly equivalent to 2 gel packs.  The nice thing about these is that with it separated into smaller, easily dispensed blocks, you can control how much you have at a time. 

It's easy to open the package to dispense the blocks, and they aren't messy like a gel, and the packages are easy to fold over to close up. 

Simply give a little squeeze, and you can easily pinch one off....  uh...  wait, that doesn't sound very appealing...  lets just say they are easy to dispense.

Pop one in your mouth, and press the others back down a bit, and you can put the pack back into your pocket, or whatever you are using to carry stuff, and its ready to go... no sticky mess, and it's easy to measure how much you are taking in over time.   My only warning on these is that the Bloks are a little chunky, and have the texture of a softer gummy bear.  That being said, don't try to down one of these  if you are hyperventilating (like I often am), as it wouldn't be pretty to aspirate a chunk...    but that part aside, these are great tasting, 95% organic, and provide a good boost when you need it. 

Now... on to the giveaway!  One winner will receive two (2) bottles of Nuun Active Hydration, and two (2) packages of Clif Bloks (random flavors)

 Participation:


6-2-12 WINNER Update: Congrats Laura on your comment being randomly selected as the winner!!

To participate, please leave a comment below confirming  EACH of the actions completed in each comment (don't summarize in one post).  The more you do, the more entries in the contest! (Up to 6 entries per person) NOTE: If you choose to post anonymously, please leave your name or first name and last initial, and then make sure you click on my profile and email me with contact info so that I can contact you if you win.. thanks) Also, contest limited to folks in the U.S and Canada.. thanks.

1.  Leave a comment below and tell me about your how you hydrate and fuel for longer runs.

2.  Share this blogpost for the contest to your Facebook page (links at bottom), and leave me a comment that you shared it.

3. "Follow" or subscribe to this blog (link to the right), and leave me a comment to that effect.

4.  "Like" Barefoot Inclined on Facebook (click, or see link to the right), and leave a comment that you have "liked" it.

5.  Share this blogpost for the contest on Twitter (see links below) and leave a comment letting me know.

6. "Like" Clif Bar  and Nuun on Facebook and leave me a comment letting me know.

After the contest closes on Saturday June 2nd, at 8pm MST, I will be using Random.org to generate sequence numbers for all comments received, and  determine a winner.  I will contact winners via the email addresses provided when commenting (but not shown or shared).

Happy Trails!

Jeff
http://barefootinclined.blogspot.com/