Let me start by saying Sam is one amazing dude--in body and spirit-- and all of us at phix feel incredibly honored and blessed to know him. For real.
The post on his blog is pretty long (you get a lot of time to think on a 400 mile run!) so I thought I'd share some choice quotes:
"My goal in this was to become one with this amazing trail and truly enjoy being a small speck on the incredible palette of God’s immense creation as I made my way through the incredible landscapes and pushed my own body to its absolute farthest limits."
"This was without a doubt the hardest thing I have done to date, and the hardest I have ever pushed my body, and I am continually amazed by what the human body is capable of and how perceived limits are quite far from reality."
"phix provided me extra octane and power throughout this expedition. I was drinking 6-10 phix stix each day, and feel like it gave me a really nice extra boost in energy levels, as well as helping maintain healthy vitamin levels in my body."
Sam, from all of your teammates at phix, I'd just like to say thanks for reminding us yet again to "put one foot in front of the other on the great expedition of life."
In case you were wondering, our Sam came up 70 miles short of his goal of running the Colorado Trail. Sam had all the strength and energy he needed to complete the task in record time, but his support vehicle got swamped during a river crossing, bringing an end to the adventure. Sam is safe and sound back in Seattle, and more confident than ever that he can set a new speed record for the Colorado Trail. He'll be back!
OK, so I apologize for the stupid title, but it was hard to resist. Here's another of our team of phixies who gained some serious altitude this summer. (We already told you about Sam--see my previous post.) This is Lynea Schultz-Ela, at 14,269 feet, getting a little 'roof' on Mount Antero in the Sawatch Mountains of Central Colorado.
So it is probably just a coincidence that so many on our team like to get high (in the mountainous sense) but it is true that phix Energy is ideally suited for high altitude pursuits. That's because it takes a lot of energy to climb mountains (duh) and because fluid loss increases dramatically in the cold, dry air found at high altitudes.
For starters, phix is tasty, so it helps you drink more water. And phix was formulated with water soluble vitamins and electrolytes to help your body maintain its energy levels, and also to offset any fluid loss that might result from caffeine use.
There's a lot of debate about whether caffeine really does cause dehydration. (It sure makes me have to pee.) Research suggests that consuming less than 300mg a day is probably not a problem. (One serving of phix has 85mg of caffeine.) All that peeing? It's apparently as much the water as the caffeine.
We love this nifty little study, published in a European scientific journal, which found that mountain climbers on Everest who drank lots of tea didn't get dehydrated, and reported more positive feelings during their climb. (You're probably thinking the researchers were British but actually they were Canadian. Funny, eh?) Just imagine if they were drinking maté...
Anyway, whether it's the electrolytes, the water soluble vitamins, the caffeine or the extra fluids, we sure do find that phix is helping us enjoy some incredible views. Check back later this week for a snapshot of another phixie getting seriously high....
You can learn more about fellow Seattleite Matt Harding by clicking here. And let me know if any of you brilliant phix phans come up with any fun phix related ideas that we could use to help spread the word. Thanks and Be Well. -Will
So if you were feeling at all low on energy, the following post will make you feel downright sloth-like.
phix’s own Sam Thompson is running across the state of Colorado this week. That’s right, from Denver to Durango, more or less, in a little over a week as he attempts to set a new speed record for the 484-mile long Colorado Trail.
Did I mention that most of the trail is above 10,000 feet? And the highest point is over 13,000 feet? And that most people take six weeks to hike the whole thing!?!
Not your ordinary summer vacation, but Sam’s not your ordinary ultra-running guy: He once ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. He amuses the rest of the phix team by going out for 3-hour runs in the morning, and then coming back to go for a run with one of us.
Sam just started yesterday, and so far the fun stuff he's encountered includes extreme heat, thunderstorms and hail! You can follow along day by day here at Sam’s website.
We're so proud of Sam, and we know that he's going to put phix to a pretty special test, since he's only sleeping about 3 hours at night at this point.
Run, Sam, run!
p.s. Think Sam's crazy? Check out the life accomplishments of Suprabha Beckhord, the only person to finish every edition of the Self-Transcendence 3100-mile race-- which is competed on a 1/2 mile track.
Let's start with artificial sweeteners. There is a long history of health controversies related to artificial sweeteners, although with the exception of cyclamates they are all still approved by the FDA.
But if you read the National Cancer Institute's position on artificial sweeteners, you could summarize it like this: Almost every artificial sweetener out there is really, really bad for rats. But we haven't proven that it's bad for humans yet, so what the heck, pour it in.
I stopped consuming artificial sweeteners after reading an amazing article in The New Yorker magazine (summarized here). Unfortunately the full text of the article is not available online, but the author interviewed a chemist who invented one of the main artificial sweeteners. The author asked the chemist if he ever consumed the stuff, and the guy's response was like, "No way! Are you kidding me? Once you know what it's made of you'd never eat it!"
Fun fact: Did you know Donald Rumsfeld (yes, that Donald Rumsfeld) was the CEO of GD Searle Company when the company got NutraSweet approved by the FDA? Now that's scary.
Phix shares the love with the US Olympic Women's Water Polo team!
This past Thursday evening, the US Olympic Women's Water Polo team played the Australian Olympic team in an exhibition tune-up match at Stanford University. As if that's not exciting enough, phix was a sponsor of the event and we were on site doing sampling with the huge adoring crowd! This was the best attended women's water polo event ever on record with nearly 3,000 screaming fans there to support the team! It was an incredible match, and these two teams have quite a history built up. After a showdown for the gold medal match in the 2000 Syndey Olympics with Australia edging the US, they have had a healthy and exciting rivalry since. After a hard-fought battle by both teams, team USA came through big and brought home victory with a very close 7-5 win.
Phix was honored to be a part of such a special event, and we'll definitely be pulling for Team USA in Beijing in just a few weeks! The crowd and team were both very supportive of phix as well, and we had a great evening of sampling. All were really excited to learn about all the benefits of phix and the delicious healthy energy it provides! Go Team USA!!!
With a plethora of energy drinks out there on the market, and probably a whole extra room in his house piled up with backlogged energy drinks to try, the Energy Guru found the time to try our phix Teaberry flavor recently. After incredible reviews of both our citron and tropic flavors, the Energy Guru found his very favorite phix flavor in Teaberry.
Still impressed by the premium all-natural ingredients in phix, the Energy Guru loved the blend of natural berry flavors in Teaberry, and wrote a phantastic review of our Teaberry flavor. Some great tidbits from the review are;
"...burst of blueberry and raspberry flavors... mixes (with) a little tea and citrus on the back end to give a cohesive and refreshing flavor"
"...ton of fruitflavor, but not a lot of distracting sweetness or tartness."
"healthiness and portability"
"The boost is natural and jitter free giving you solid stamina and waking up your mental faculties."
We're so excited to read yet another amazing review of phix, and hope you all are as excited as we are! So tear open a Teaberry stik, and let's toast to another glowing review from our friend the Energy Guru!
My name is Jax and I am part of the Phix team. I wanted to post some fun facts today about our premium Phix ingredients.
So you may be asking yourself, as I was, what are all of these special ingredients in Phix?
Here are some fun facts:
Yerba Maté
Known as the ancient drink of health and friendship. Yerba Maté is pronounced “yerba mahtay”. It is a medical and cultural drink of ancient cultures that was introduced by the Guarani Indians of South America. Yerba Maté can help to energize the body, stimulate mental alertness, and relieve stress.
NADH
NADH (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is extremely important to good health. It is an active coenzyme form of vitamin B3 and plays an essential role in the energy production of every human cell. NADH is involved in the synthesis of ATP, the body’s primary intracellular energy source. Every energy-consuming reaction requires ATP, so the more NADH a cell has available, the more energy it can produce. It’s also interesting to note that NADH is one of the only things that has shown efficacy in treating people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. You probably haven’t seen or heard much about that though as it costs close to $5000 a pound. Given how great it is for you we thought it was really important to include it in Phix.
Eleuthero
Eleuthero has been most frequently nicknamed Siberian ginseng in the USA. Eleuthero is native to the Taiga region of the Far East. It is known to provide people with energy and vitality as well as stamina and endurance. Many in eastern Asia use it to enhance overall well-being.
Thanks to the help of world-class naturopathic physicians and licensed dietitians that recommended the addition of the above ingredients to our mix, we can enjoy an immediate, yet sustained pick-me-up, without the spike and crash!
How cool is that!
Lately, phix has been my savior! It seems right around 2 pm every day I feel that low and am looking for a phix to help give me a sustained lift for the 2nd half of the day. Personally, I love knowing that phix is all-natural and that all of the ingredients in it are so good for my body.
Wow. So I just read this article on CNN (click here to read) about the large quantities of caffeine that mom's across the country are drinking in order to stay energized enough to make it through the day. Here are a couple of quotes:
"I need about four energy drinks, three cups of coffee and a six-pack of soda every day."
"I usually drink two to three pots of coffee a day. I am sure this is not good for me, but how do you keep up?"
The root of problem is that, "We have crammed lives. We work full time, our kids our busier than ever, and we are finding ourselves always on the go." So first of all it's about trying to find some balance in your life. We all tend to overdo it and really need to find more time to exercise, read, get involved with good causes, and spend time with friends and family. Given the nature of starting a business I'm not always great at this, but I have been trying to find a healthier balance. And second, all of these energy drinks, sodas and highly sweetened coffees puts an incredible stress on your organs and really need to be consumed in moderation if at all.
One real world example that hit close to home was from from a Phix Phan here in Seattle who wrote me after they got sick with a kidney infection. Their doctors believed the infection came for two things. One, the medication they were taking in January and February and second, diet. One of the key diet problems was the 2 energy drinks they were having every day. Those drinks had 70 grams of sugar each (Vitamin Water has ~2x that). So he was having 140 grams a day, which created a lot strain on their body. I'm happy to report that they've made the switch to Phix and have been healthy and infection free since.
We know everyone needs help keeping their energy levels high. Try Phix in conjunction with exercise and good dietary habits and we know you'll not only be feeling good, but you'll be doing some good stuff for your body.
