The F List

Here are some goodies that I recommend:

1. Naked Juice: Protein Juice Smoothie:

Filled with all-natural apple, banana, pineapple juices, coconut milk, whey and soy proteins. Rarely do I recommend a food product that comes out of a package, but this is one I love. At 500 calories a bottle, this is not the best dieter-food, but for the two-a-day triathlete, it's a delicious, nutritious, easy to swallow calorie boost. No added sugars and no preservatives.

2. Trigger Point Therapy's Footballer:

I have only owned this one for 2 days, and it has already made my F list. It's a self-massage tool for working the soleus muscle and the plantar fascia, among other body parts. All I know is that I can start using it with a tight calf and a sore lower heel area, but when I finish, I feel loose and pain-free. I roll my lower-calf and the sole of my foot across this, all the while relaxing the muscles and breathing deeply. While still a devoted fan of self-massage using the tennis ball and the foam roller, this adds another tool to the recovery-kit. They make a quad-baller, and a massage ball, too, though I can't speak for the effectiveness of these.

3. Garmin Legend CX:

This is one of the best add-ons I have purchased for my bikes. It's a hand-held navigation system - a smaller version of the turn-by-turn things in your fancy car. It can be attached to the handlebars of a bicycle. I pre-program turn by turn directions for a bike course on my computer, download these directions to the CX, then I just go along for the ride as this little tool tells me where to turn. It also tracks speed, distance, elevation, and many other stats. You can upload the data from your ride to your computer to see where you went fast, where you got wussy, where you did a lot of climbing, etc. It takes the anxiety away from getting lost in the middle of a farm field. I also own the garmin forerunner 305 for tracking physiological stats during workouts.

4. Icon Orthotics:

These have healed my Achilles tendinitis. Icon claims it's orthotics differ from other companies, because only theirs are 'full-contact'. This means that the orthotic fully supports your foot's neutral position. I don't know enough about orthotics to say if these are different from other companies or not, and maybe I would have had as much success with any old orthotic, but these have worked wonders. I bought them from Dr. Marc Klein in Boca Raton, and he's earned my full endorsement. He's knowledgeable, down-to-earth, easy to get an appointment with.

5. Spectrum Custom Bicycle:

Made by the bike grand-master, Tom Kellogg. This is simply a perfect machine, top to bottom. If you're in the market for a top-end titanium bicycle, a beautiful steel ride, a one of a kind tandem, a championship quality track bike, or anything in between, this is the only place to go. And, to top it off, he's a killer painter.