Tailwind Nutrition Review - Two Thumbs Up!

A few months ago I listened to a podcast on Trail Runner Nation with Jeff Vierling who designed Tailwind Nutrition. You can click here to listen to it. After listening to the interview I was intrigued by what I heard about Tailwind.

I was interested about these prospects:

1) Tailwind is a drink mix you add to water to fuel your ultra or endurance event.

2) It contains the needed amount of calories, sugar, sodium, and potassium so you don't need to fuel with gels or bars.

3) Supposedly the taste wasn't overly sweet like most sports drinks.

At the most recent Javelina Jundred 100 miler my stomach was demolished and I couldn’t eat another Gu if my life depended on it. I couldn’t get in any calories and eventually ran out of steam resulting in a DNF. I loved the idea of getting all my calories from liquid and not needing to eat any Gu.

Tailwind sent me a trial pack including all four flavors: Mandarin Orange, Berry, Lemon, and Naked Unflavored. I really loved each of the flavors. What I liked most is that they are not overpowering and super sweet. The taste is mild with just the slightest taste of salt. I’ve heard their flavor described as “savory”.

Finally, it was time for the rubber to meet the road. I used Tailwind as my primary fuel source for an 35 miler, a 20 miler, and a 30 miler. I added six scoops (100 calories each scoop) to my 2-liter UltrAspire pack and just made sure I kept drinking. I liked having a more consistent stream of calories and my stomach never got queasy or sick of the flavor. I never lacked energy to get in a few trail jumps.

I was so impressed with this product that I bought more from their website and will definitely be using it in my training and upcoming races. I see myself using this as my primary fuel source for ultras and then supplement it with food if I feel hungry at aid stations.

In addition to a great product, I was also very impressed with Tailwind's customer service. Email responses were quick, they added some little notes with each package, and they personalize each bag they sell. Very cool.

I bought the Tailwind Challenge - four bags with 50 servings (100 calories) each. This costs $125 which seems like a lot.....until you realize that a 100 calorie Gu packet costs $1.25 each. I did the math and Tailwind costs HALF the price. Sold. 

I want to emphasize - Tailwind is not giving me anything for this endorsement. I'm telling you, it's a great product. Aside from trying their samples, I bought these bags myself. If you have any stomach issues or hate the thought of eating a gel every half hour during training or racing, I’d definitely suggest trying Tailwind. CLICK HERE to visit their website. After you try their stuff, you'll be glad you did.