Smoothies: An Endurance Manifesto

“Why do chicks dig smoothies?”

“They’re not just for chicks, dude, and pretty much every endurance athlete I know digs smoothies.”

“Yeah, but why not just eat your food and spare yourself cleaning up a blender?”

My brother actually had a good point, and our exchange incited me to consider specifically why most of we endurance athletes are smoothie obsessed. I’m personally a devout consumer of Fieldwork Nutrition Company®, so I asked CEO and founder Casey Weaver why he created and espouses his stuff. “With our product, it’s important to blend due to the whole food ingredients, as well as fats and fibers, which require a bit more than just ‘shaking.’ We look at Primo Smoothie not as just a nutritious food in itself, but moreover as a vehicle for delivering daily nutrition. I compare how many fewer fruits and veggies I eat on days I don’t have a smoothie and it’s shocking and sad!” 

Inspired by his words, my own experience, and polling Campers from our recent CBCG Camp in Bend, Oregon, I’ve concluded these chief benefits to practicing recovery fueling via the wonder that is smoothies:

• Palatability - Have you ever crossed the line at an iron-distance race and walked the pizza gauntlet about to barf? We don’t always feel like putting down Real People Food aprés racing or training, so smoothies can thwart the risk of blowing off eating and drinking. I have come home from several five+ hour runs, revoltingly disinterested in chewing anything. Powders and bananas are hella better cloaked as a peanut butter-chocolate drinkable cocktail you can take into the shower. Just like hiding vegetables from toddlers in the sauce of Spaghetti Oh’s®, we can trick our stomachs into imbibing key nutrients and protein while we feel like we’re relishing an In-and-Out® milkshake.  
• Digestibility - Packing in said amalgamation of nutrients in a fluid beverage accelerates absorption and, ergo, the recovery process.
• Convenience - While some argue that it’s less convenient to assemble your ingredients, bust out the blender, and clean it later, there’s no arguing with the reliability of ingredients you can control, the concentrated power of powders (see next bullet), and the ability to grab your drink and go to the car/shower/floor/Timbers game. One athlete pre-makes a cauldron for the rest of the week (see below). 
• Powders - Premium product like Fieldwork pack-in invaluable sources of proteins, combinations of viteys, and types of nutrients relevant for athletes that only a mad scientist (see: Casey Weaver) could amalgamate. You’re hard-pressed to get all these beneficial ingredients by grazing from your cabinets aprés workout.  Fieldwork, in particular, packs-in clean protein from grass fed whey, healthy fats and omega-3s, vitamins D, E, C, magnesium and iron, curcumin from turmeric and probiotics. 

At our recent annual CBCG Camp in Bend, Oregon, 25 athletes endured five days of long and intense swimming, cycling, and running, enjoying the tremendous boon of Fieldwork Nutrition Company® as an official Camp sponsor. A horrifying amount of blending and Fieldwork consumption ensued, rendering our kitchen a massacre site for all things blendable, with five (!) blenders blazing at a time. 

Our personal Camp Chef Aaron Vinten of The Athletes Table® procured an array of gourmet ingredients to add to our Fieldwork, including pumpkin seeds, dates (pitted by CBCG coach Molly Balfe), organic berries, flax and pumpkins seeds, spices, natural sweeteners, alternative milks, and much more. Aggregating my data for my pressing question about why we love smoothies, I asked for testimonials from a few Campers:

• “I’m always coming up short on time to make and eat nutrition, particularly after training. I can pack all the protein, carbohydrates and nutrients I need after a workout into six smoothies on a Sunday, and then drink them in the car between locations throughout the week. Plus, I get some extra hydration as a bonus.” - CBCG athlete Sebastian Pastore, coached by Donna Phelan
• “For me, smoothies minimize my recovery time to maximize my next training session. It’s a matter of both time and ease. My coach plans my workouts to just barely squeeze into my busy schedule, so I don’t have time to plan ahead for a meal of ideal nutrients. Way more convenient.” - CBCG athlete Roman Gratteri, coached by Chris Boudreaux  
• “I drink smoothies for the quick recovery intake of all the essential nutrients after a long or hard workout. Plus it's a great way to get my two-year-old, Cooper, all the fruits and veggies he needs!” - CBCG athlete Greg Dufour, coached by Chris Bagg
• “I always have a smoothie immediately following any workout over two hours. My coach taught me, and I trust and follow.” - CBCG athlete Doris Steere, coached by Chris Bagg
• “When I first started drinking smoothies for breakfast it was because I could put a good dent in my daily allowance of fruits and veggies, stay satiated through my morning workout, and sustain plenty of energy well into the day. I’m a huge fan!” - Maureen Callahan, coached by CBCG coach Donna Phelan

Camper Bridget Freudenberger of New Hampshire was utterly converted at Camp, seen below assembling her potion with Fieldwork Primo Smoothie, dates, greens, banana, blueberries, strawberries, peanut butter, flax, almonds, and milk.  She raves, “Generally, I didn’t care for smoothies because I really love food, but this one was so good!  It didn’t taste like artificial sweeteners and it was filling. I placed an order on my way back from Camp, and am currently using Fieldwork as my recovery meal after my morning training.”  

Sing it, Bridget.  ‘Nuff said.