Hemp Fuelled Athletes

Check out these athletes who’ve incorporated hemp foods into their training and active lifestyle.

Kristina Valjas, Team Canada Beach Volleyball

Kristina discovered Hemp Hearts about a year ago and has been a great addition to her life! As a high performance athlete, she’s very away what she puts in her body. She maintains a healthy diet that provides her enough energy for her daily training as well as sticking to foods that offer plenty of nutrients to keep her fit and healthy.

Here’s what Kristina had to say: “After reading about all the benefits Hemp Hearts have to offer, I wish I had discovered this super food earlier! It's such an easy way to boost the value of any meal or snack. They have become a staple ingredient in my smoothies and salads, and I've recently started adding Hemp Hearts to other snacks such as banana bread and guacamole. The shelf life is fantastic which allows me to pack Hemp Hearts along when I'm traveling around the world to different competitions. I’m definitely a big fan! Thanks Manitoba Harvest!” Follow Kristina: http://kristinavaljas.blogspot.com/

Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference & Adam Mcquaid, NHL hockey players for the Boston Bruins

These guys love our hemp foods and oils! In fact, they even stopped by the facility for a tour of our hemp manufacturer plant when they were in town to play our Winnipeg Jets. They made sure to leave stocked up and fuelled up for their upcoming events!

Jason Kruk, Climber

Manitoba Harvest athlete Jason Kruk had a fantastic end to 2011 and start to 2012! He went down to Patagonia for a two month climbing extravaganza with Hayden Kennedy. During their first few weeks, they climbed the Patagonia classics Exocet (Aguja Standhardt), Chiaro di Luna (Aguja St. Exupery) as 'warm ups' and then completed successful ascents of both Torre Egger and Punta Herron. Not satisfied with repeating those classic and difficult lines, and only a day after climbing Torre Egger and Punta Herron, they climbed a new route on the amazing south face of Aguja de le Silla which they called "Gentlemen's Club".

Here’s what Jason had to say: “Crucial to my diet this year during an expedition to Argentine Patagonia was Manitoba Harvest hemp products. I used Hemp Hearts extensively to replace animal proteins while alpine climbing. At 25g and 140 calories each, the single serve packets were the perfect tool for quick nutrition. At base camp, Hemp Pro 70 was great for recovery and mixing into ‘alpine smoothies’. My partner Hayden Kennedy and I had the climbing season of a lifetime, compiling a list of ascents that make up the dreams of alpinists around the world. The highlight was our successful ascent of one of the great undone challenges of Patagonian climbing: the first fair means ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Cerro Torre. Thanks to Manitoba Harvest for being an integral part of my climbing!”

Kyle Jones, Triathlete

Kyle Jones is in pursuit of one of the Canadian Olympic spots for triathlon for the Summer Olympics 2012. In January 2012 he traveled to La Paz, Argentina for the Pan American Championships where he placed third, inching his way closer to securing a spot on the starting line in London. Kyle’s increased training load means longer days and in turn places a much higher importance on nutrition. Most days consist of anywhere between 3-6 hours of training spread out over 3-4 sessions.

Here’s what Kyle had to say: “In order to get high quality proteins and omega fats in my diet I often turn to Manitoba Harvest products. I add hemp hearts to just about everything. With a busy training schedule I generally consume many small meals throughout the day and it’s so quick and easy to incorporate them into any meal. In the mornings I often sprinkle some on eggs, yogurt, oatmeal and cereals. They can also be a nice addition to any salads, much like hemp oil, which I also use in post workout shakes and smoothies. With the use of these products I know I’m putting in the best possible fuel for my body, and best of all, they make my food taste better!”

Scott Hartnell & Danny Briere, NHL hockey players for the Philadelphia Flyers

These pictures were sent in to us from the Philadelphia Flyers. Here is Scott Hartnell (left) and Danny Briere (right) at their gym in the Wells Fargo Center. They've recently turned to hemp to charge their workouts and they love it.

Jen Segger, Endurance Athlete & Coach

Jen hails from the great mountains and terrain of Squamish, BC and is an ultra runner, adventure racer, mountain biker and stand up paddle boarder. She has been racing with team nuun-Sport Multi for over seven years, enjoying the team dynamics and adventures that have enabled them to travel the globe.

Jen's career highlights include being the youngest female to have ever run the Badwater 135 through the scorching heat of Death Valley, CA and finishing top 5 for females. She is the only person to have ever run/biked the entire length of Vancouver Island via off road terrain in a non-stop fashion, covering a distance of 750km while linking up the Island's best trail networks. This past year, Jen raced in her first ever 'triathlon' and won the hardest on-road tri known as Ultraman Canada (a 10km swim, 270km bike and 84km run.).

Hemp foods and oils have been a part of her training and racing success for many years. The body cannot be asked to push for days on end without proper fueling and recovery foods in place.

Jen uses the Certified Organic Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder  in her daily smoothie and often makes peanut butter Hemp Heart energy bars for long training days! More information on Jen, as both an athlete and coach, can be found at:
www.jensegger.com or www.challengebychoice.ca

Heather Wurtele, IronMan Athlete

As a professional athlete who trains for an endurance sport like Long-Distance (IronMan) Triathlons, getting enough healthy calories in a training day can be a real challenge. Hemp foods from Manitoba Harvest are a key component to Heather’s daily diet and an essential part of her health and athletic success.

Here’s what Heather had to say: “I remember buying Hemp Hearts from a health food store in Victoria BC, when they first came out on the market. With an ideal ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids, and highly digestible, high quality, plant-based protein, I was sold right away. I start every morning with Hemp Hearts added to my diet in a variety of ways: Sprinkled (well dumped, really) on cereal, poured over fruit salad, added to nut butter and banana on (gluten free) toast or thrown in a smoothie with hemp protein. Because triathlon involves three different disciplines, I often have multiple training sessions in a given day. Fueling properly after one, and being ready to start another, becomes a nutritional art. I may be famished after a long swim, but if I need to do a hard run a couple hours later, a large meal isn't in the cards. Being low on calories is no good, either. A smoothie with hemp protein and Hemp Hearts is my in-between workout lifesaver! A great source of energy and no stomach upset. I have no doubt that hemp foods and oils have helped me become a 4x IronMan Champion, and that their inclusion in a healthy, primarily plant based diet will keep me competing at my best for many years to come!”

Hélène Fournier, Tri-Athlete

As a vegetarian tri-athlete, Hélène depends on and benefits from Manitoba Harvest’s hemp products to give her the strength and endurance she needs. During their 15-day cross-Canada ride, everyone from the three teams of National Riders benefited from Manitoba Harvest’s hemp seeds and hemp protein. Some put hemp seeds in their morning cereal or sandwiches at noon; others used HEMP PRO 70 in their recovery drinks. Hélène said, “I took a handful of hemp seeds in a Ziploc bag with me on the bike almost every day. It was enough to give me that extra boost of energy I needed to get up those Northern Ontario hills!”