Triathlete Alden Basmajian loves to run. He believes in training smart, living healthy and having fun. One critical lesson he’s learned is that a fine line exists between effective training and overtraining. Every race cannot be a new personal best, but each race is an exercise in improving a skill or technique while building to the ultimate goals of the season. Here, he shares his story of how HOTSHOT has helped him achieve his ultimate goals with strong outcomes.
I love to do anything that involves moving and exercising. Naturally, that pointed me in the direction of triathlons, and in 2012 I completed my first Ironman distance event and was hooked.
As the years went on, the same thing kept coming up as the distances increased. I would reach the run and my calves just would not cooperate and I would be on the verge of or in full out cramps.
Calf cramps are brutal and it didn’t matter what I was doing. Whether racing, working out on the bike, swimming, or simply hanging out on the couch and even sleeping, the calf cramps would come. Depending on how bad they were, I would feel the lingering effects of the grapefruit sized knots for days. Fatigue and muscle weakness hampered workouts and effectiveness of training and racing.
Then came HOTSHOT and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. This year was about IRONMAN racing and having the race that the training warranted. IM Chattanooga and IM Arizona were my goal races for the year and HOTSHOT played a big role in the outcomes. The plan was simple: HOTSHOT pre-race to ward off the swim cramp issues, one 75% through the ride and then a third about midway through the run. Despite brutal race conditions in Chattanooga and a mechanical issue on the bike, the cramps never came. Then, 8 weeks later, same plan and a huge breakthrough performance at IM Arizona. After cruising through the bike course in 4:43, I hit the run and completed the marathon in 3:14. No calf cramps, no other muscle cramps! IM Arizona was a 52-minute PR and I crossed in 9:08 to finish on the podium in a crazy competitive age group.
Treating your body well is the best way to ensure success and continued growth through the training process. I’m happy to have discovered and integrated HOTSHOT into mine! — Alden Basmajian
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