” I just finished the Marathon Des Sables It’s a 6 day 150 mile foot race across the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. Aside from water rations each day, competitors are completely self-sufficient and unsupported which means if you want it during the week, you carry it on your back from day 1, food, gear, everything. Nutrition is a major key to success in this race. There is no way to carry the amount of food necessary to replace all the calories lost each day and still maintain a light enough pack to stay competitive in the race. While caloric deficiency is inevitable, athletes have to find the fine balance between energy from natural fat stores and the amount of extra calories needed to propel them at maximum effort through the final finish line. The food you choose to carry has to give you the biggest “bang for your buck.” Also, your appetite for solid food diminishes in temperatures of 120+ degrees, making it difficult to even maintain a depleted state of energy.

Herbalife Prolong was absolutely essential to my success in the desert and I would never go back without it. Prolong doesn’t have much taste and it isn’t chalky so it’s an easy way to take in calories and you barely notice you’re doing it. Other competitors found their products from other companies hard to stomach out there. I felt like I was simply drinking water from my bottles, yet every bottle contained 250 calories with 58 grams of consistent carbohydrates and over 850 milligrams of electrolytes. I never felt too full or bloated, I did not cramp, and I had consistent energy while running through each stage – even the long stage that took 15 hours of running through rock and soft sand. When you are able to take in calories for energy your body uses less of its natural stores and breaks down less which left me feeling better and more recovered each morning of the race. I carried my Prolong in a Ziploc bag; it was lightweight and easy to drop 2 scoops into my bottles at check points during the race. Prolong carried me through one of the toughest endurance running races on the planet and I will never race without it ” Ryan Liskas