NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO BUY: ALL THE GOOD GEAR

PILLAR PERFORMANCE SPORTS MICRONUTRITION

REVIEWER: KATE DZIENIS

Sports nutrition is a bit of a personal thing. Whether you consider yourself a professional athlete or not, most humans need a little bit of help when it comes to vitamins and minerals – aka micronutrients. Crucial for a variety of activities in the body, including turning food into energy and keeping your joints stable, you may find it interesting to note that there are some which can affect how well you perform on the trails. Let’s face it – as we get older, we tend to start lacking particular micronutrients, so it’s key to point out that deficiencies are likely to happen. Case in point, I’m vegetarian and to avoid anemia and nervous system damage I need to get my hands on a high quality vitamin B supplement; none of that other stuff found at local pharmacies that has goodness knows what else in them. And here’s where Pillar Performance comes in. I’ve always been hard pressed to find a supplement that caters to the combination of diet and high impact exercise, but in waltzed Pillar Performance at the right time with their Ultra B Active Peak Performance tablet and BOOM. I’ve found an incredible formulation for my needs with vitamin B2, B6 and B12 all in the one hit. Not only have I been indulging in the potent-strength vitamin B formulation (which is vegan, by the way and perfectly capped at 60 capsules) I’ve also started testing out Pillar Performance’s Motion Armour Joint Longevity tablets (60 of those too) as well as their Triple Magnesium Professional Recovery powder (200g). I will admit, my knee joints are starting to get hit a bit hard, but within one week of taking the Motion Armour I already began to feel a significant difference in joint relief. It’s important to note here too that the ingredient formulation in the Motion Armour actually allows Pillar Performance to claim the product as one that can prevent cartilage breakdown, which is massive news for trail runners.

Damien Fitzpatrick is the founder of Pillar Performance. Name sound familiar? If you’re a rugby fan it should. He’s a recently retired NSW Waratah who has now turned his attention to sports micronutrition in a bid to provide athletes with the best supplement nutrition possible. Working together with former World No. 1 triathlete and chair of the AFL Sports Dietitians Association Pip Taylor, they’ve developed a high end range of micronutrition products to ensure optimal performance across everyone’s athletic calendar. They noticed micronutrition was missing within the sports nutrition market, which tends to have a primary focus on macronutrients – carbs, fats and protein. And now, having launched in mid2021, evidence-based company Pillar Performance provides everything from the three products I’ve been trialling (Ultra B Active, Motion Armour and deliciously berry tasting Triple Magnesium powder) to supplements in calcium, vitamin C, omega 3, zinc and a unique high strength vitamin D3 formulation. Their presentation and pride in the product is insanely impressive. Delivered straight to my door in a sleek black box with black shredded paper, and each black jar wrapped to the nines in black tissue paper, right off the bat I could tell this was a brand that takes pride in its merchandise. I also received a smooth as silk black travel tin in my package, ideal to pop a few capsules in if I ever have to leave town for a bit.

So after two months of taking my micronutrition, I have to say that I’m immensely pleased with the results I’ve been getting. The tasty recovery drink I make with the magnesium power (not too sweet, not too bland) is something I look forward to at the end of my long runs and strength training days, and the tablets are a great size too – no gagging or choking here.

Overall, Pillar Performance is a young start-up but they’re already lining up to be a frontrunner sports micronutrition name bound to make headway in the trail and ultra running world. If you’re keen to address your joint health, immunity, recovery and energy-support, give Pillar Performance a try.

VITALS

AUSTRALIA

RRP Triple Magnesium Powder $34.99 AUD RRP Motion Armour Joint Longevity $49.99 AUD RRP Ultra B Active Peak Performance $34.99 AUD All other products range between $20.99 - $52.99 AUD

NEW ZEALAND

Pillar Performance is available in sports nutrition stores across NZ. Items can be purchased online via the Australian website with a flat shipping rate to NZ of $14.90 AUD.

www.pillarperformance.com.au

HUAWEI GT 2 PRO

REVIEWER: SARAH DYER

Two-week battery life!

Not knowing too much about electronics or the inner workings of such, I tend to just go with the flow and adopt the Garmin brand as most trail runners gravitate to. The new Huawei GT 2 Pro is a great starting point for a sports watch with some amazing new features built upon its predecessors – and not Huawei’s primary market or area of electronic expertise.

GPS connectivity and support is one of the biggest must-haves for trail runners. Not only for safety but accuracy and tracking purposes. The least you expect is to track a semi-accurate course, distance and pace – and all of the other metrics are irrelevant.

Trail runners don’t mind the zig-zag as much as roadrunners, but also expect that the course tracked by GPS not be gravitational. The GT 2 Pro is comparable with GPS support when compared to other watches I’ve used but similarly runs into trouble in valleys, under tree cover, and in more remote locations. If the watch can’t see the satellites, it’s always going to have trouble.

There is a start-run delay for approximation and GPS connectivity for the GT 2 Pro, and despite having connectivity, track and pace are a little off for the first kilometre or so. The RouteBack feature is a great addition and one of safety – when the GPS signal becomes too weak the GT 2 Pro sends an alert and you can select your recorded travel route to guide you home.

The Huawei GT 2 Pro includes a variety of sensors to get you started including an accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic, optimal heart rate and air pressure sensors. These sensors appear on all accounts to be accurate and are super useful for those who are just getting back into running. Similarly to the excess use of GPS, the sensors are an added drain on the battery life of any device. Huawei even discloses the typical usage scenarios of a ‘two-week battery life’ is based on the user’s habits and usage frequency.

Music is another big addition – with both speaker and microphone supported. For those who love their tunes while running, this is an added feature, however I always prefer the sounds of nature. There is 4GB of storage in the smartwatch, so plenty of room for MP3 and some necessary files on the go. There are no Spotify or online options though, so you would have to upload your MP3s.

The display on the watch itself is a 1.39in AMOLED 454 x 454 HD touch screen. Yes, a touch screen!

There are new features, built upon the previous version of the GT Pro – one can enjoy the ‘Secrets of Nature’ by just raising your wrist and your watch will tell you the times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset to best prepare you for all your adventures.

The display for the watch face also has 200+ choices, so the GT 2 Pro can always match your style – on the trails or the track.

The GT 2 Pro also has a vast variety of sports and exercise programs built-in – notably for runners there are exercisecoached interval sets, pace guided runs, and zone threshold programs. There are 10 running courses in total that coach you throughout voice guidance – making suggestions for better training – great for beginners and those seeking to improve specific goals with their runs.

I do have a couple of dislikes regarding the GT 2 Pro. The watch has a delightfulto-the-eye Grey Brown (deemed ‘Nebula Grey’) leather strap which gets hot and sticky once you are running. And the overall size and weight of the watch is quite cumbersome in comparison to others on the market (52g without the strap attached), despite the titanium build trying to keep the weight of the watch down.

Another gripe is that the touch screen itself can be touchy and no runner ever wants to stop tracking or pause their activity accidentally by brushing the screen against something. And I didn’t have time to figure out how to turn the voice guidance off during my runs – the voiceover provides feedback on your average pace and threshold zone every 500m. Which on long runs or out on the trails threw me off, as I often go and find my zone.

The interoperability with the Huawei Health app downloaded to your linked smartphone is seamless. And the app provides quality feedback on your Sleep Quality, SPO2 (Oxygen Saturation), Heart Rate and VO2 max to list a few.

One of the nicest features of the Huawei GT 2 Pro is that it comes with a wireless charging station, and offers the option of 5 minutes of wireless quick charge and reverse charging from your smartphone when the charger port isn’t around. Overall, the Huawei GT 2 Pro watch is not just a beginner runner’s watch – it’s useful for mountain climbers, cyclists, hikers, and anyone with a sense of adventure, and just for everyday use as a wellness device.

Is this watch for you, though? If you hate battery charging, like the idea of run coaching inbuilt on your wrist, or just have a love for nature – then the Huawei GT 2 Pro is a perfect smart-watch to start with.

VITALS RRP $499 AUD / $520.40 NZD

https://consumer.huawei.com/au/wearables/watch-gt2-pro/

TAILWIND NUTRITION, MATCHA FLAVOUR

REVIEWER: KATE DZIENIS

I’ve always been a stickler for Tailwind. In fact, from the moment I began running longer distances and needed to give my body the right nutrition, I’ve pretty much stuck with Tailwind Endurance Fuel in the Naked flavouring.

Gels were never my thing. The first taste would be satisfyingly sweet, but then by the second, all of my gag reflexes would kick in and my stomach would churn in all sorts of directions. Whatever race I was running became a race to get to the nearest toilet – and on the trails, it’s hard to find a good bush without all the other runners peering over at you oddly. Or better yet, yelling over at you asking if you want some toilet paper so everyone can hear but running off with a bit of a laugh (ah, good times).

So when a mate of mine suggested I try a couple scoops of her Naked flavoured Tailwind many moons ago, I took it with gusto. It didn’t bother me that gels took up less room in my hydration pack; when something begins working for you, you make it work, am I right? So whilst training in the lead up the 6 Inch Ultra Marathon in Dwellingup, Western Australia back in 2017, I made sure I always had my two 500ml body bottles strapped to the front of my vest filled to the brim with my Tailwind.

Really, the Naked flavour Endurance Fuel was the only Tailwind I’d ever bought and tried, but when I was told the company was this year releasing a Matcha flavour in the caffeinated range, I thought why not give it a go and see how my body would react.

Made by people who simply ‘get it’, Tailwind Matcha Caffeinated (810g) is effective and flavoursome without overloading delicate tastebuds.

Using it on one of my long runs, I was pleasantly surprised after finding the flavouring quite subtle and not having a lot of residual after-taste. One of the best things about Tailwind as a whole is that it’s complete energy, and its light, clean taste means you can get on with the physical aspects of running and not worry about what’s happening to your gut mid-way through a 50km event. Already filled with electrolytes to mimic the composition and proportions of sweat, Tailwind Matcha is perfect for endurance nutrition.

Not one to skimp out on quality, Tailwind is considered by many to be part of their discipline when it comes to training because nutrition can, in the end, make you or break you on race day. Personally, I’ve never found myself facing a GI issue when on Tailwind, and I feel great knowing that their new Matcha flavour is easy on my gut and has a light, clean taste.

Matcha Endurance Fuel by Tailwind comes in 3 sizes with a 54g stick sachet providing 1 hour of fuel, a 810g bag for 15 hours of fuel, and a 1350g bag with 25 hours of fuel – all equalling 200 calories per hour.

Please note that this new delicious flavour will be available to the general public in the first quarter of 2022, yet with international shipping delays there is no concrete date so keep your eyes peeled for the Matcha release – you simply have to try it!

Tailwind also provides bundles for serious athletes, including a Complete Starter Pack, Ultra Pack, Tailwind Challenge Pack and a Recovery Pack so you’re bound to find something to cater to your training.

VITALS Matcha Stick Pack RRP $6 AUD / $5.75 NZD Matcha 810g Bag RRP $65 AUD / $65 NZD Matcha 1350g Bag RRP $87 AUD / $88 NZD

www.tailwindnutrition.co.nz www.tailwindnutrition.com.au