As an extreme endurance athlete I am always looking for my physical and mental limits. They are both very much related. But one thing is for sure, if you take the wrong fuel at the wrong time you will literally and figuratively get shit. As a mountain and expedition climber I know how important it is to take the right nutrients in time. But I also know how difficult it is to eat or take in energy at extreme altitudes such as the Himalayas. There is simply not enough oxygen for the stomach to digest the food normally. And yet you want to take in energy. Then it has to be very easily digestible, easy to chew, quickly absorbed and preferably with minimal liquid drink. An expedition is planned for next year to the Kanchenjunga (8586m), the third highest mountain in the world! For the energy, nutritional values, boost and recovery I want to take VOOM. But of course I wanted to test it properly with my 'normal training' first.
I first tried VOOM during the CorsicaRaid 2021 last June. An extreme adventure team race (3 men) spread over 5 days with gruelling day and night stages in which trail running, MTB, kayaking, canyoning, coastal running, sea swimming and navigation are central. And that at temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius. A really nice event to see how my body would react to VOOM.
I knew what to expect because in the 2019 edition I got dehydrated, got a headache, got injured more or less, but I managed to complete the race with my team. This year we wanted to achieve a good ranking and we had prepared ourselves extremely well. I had already informed myself about the various VOOM products and how and when I could best use them.
There is no accounting for taste and not all four bars may be equally tasty, but one thing is for sure; I completed the race this year with the bars without any problems and was still remarkably fit after this exhausting battle! This in contrast to my two (younger) teammates who actually did not use the VOOM bars. (because they did not really like the taste. My position was: “Too bad! As long as it works!” , and it did!). Unfortunately not the desired top 3 positioning, due to an eminent navigation error….
As a thank you for being able to use and test VOOM, I offered my CorsicaRaid '21 shirt (see photos) to TeamVOOM Netherlands for the office!
Of course, after this experience I continued to use VOOM products.
The bar that I get the most out of is the (Green) PocketRocket ElectroEnergy in combination with the Electrolyte Smart Shake lemon & lime. I use these products during my weekly (running, MTB, skating and swimming) (endurance) training.
I also used the Electrolyte Shake and the VOOM PocketRocket bars during my Stelvio for Life XXL in Italy -130 km, 3550 meters of elevation- with success. And with VOOM I completed the 'Rob Harmeling Monstertocht' for the St Maartenskliniek and reached the finish in the 'Bart Brentjens Challenge' in Limburg -90 km, 1500 meters of elevation- in high spirits. And of course recover quickly after each challenge with the (black) Protein RecoverFudge. Really good!
Of course I will also test VOOM at altitude soon, but I am sure that VOOM and I will experience many more adventures together under the motto: Passion to Perform and Dream, Dare, Share, DO!
People sometimes ask me what my secret is; Train hard, live healthy and above all persevere! VOOM is no secret! In fact; I would heartily recommend VOOM to every athlete. Even if you don't climb mountains, have to complete the CorsicaRaid or the Stelvio XXL on your bike!!
More information about Wilco van Rooijen? See: www.teamwilco.nl
