When I first wrote about nuun, it was March.  While spring where I live can be warm, it pales in comparison to the brutality of July and August.  I liked nuun back then and wanted to write a quick update on how my opinion of the product in the spring has held up during the summer.

I didn't keep all of the samples to myself.  nuun sent me enough that I thought spreading it around would help provide a broader base of opinion.  The athletes I shared them with came up with opinions very similar to mine - I'd call it an unscientific form of validation, for whatever that's worth.  I also went back and read my initial review again and here's what I think.

Today, I would write a similar review.  As the heat increased, the product continued to do what it was supposed to.  I think it is a good way to obtain needed electrolytes during endurance activity.  I still enjoy the taste and "feeling" of nuun and believe it is a good addition to my nutrition, supplementation and electrolyte replacement equation. 

I primarily use nuun two different ways.  First, on short (less than an hour and a half) workouts at low to moderate intensity, I head out with nuun in the water bottles and a flask of gel.  These are often workouts where the intensity is low enough that I may not use the gel at all when I'm try to remove a few unwanted pounds or fully empty my energy stores.  Of course, sometimes those workouts turn into more than one anticipates and the beauty of separating hydration/electrolytes and fuel become apparent and I can fall back on the flask of gel.

The second use nuun works well is on long workouts.  As I mentioned in my initial review, there comes a time in a long workout that I really crave something clean and crisp to wash out the powder and gel funk from my mouth.  I suppose it's a synthetic endurance fuel palate cleansing and before nuun, I would satisfy it with water.  Of course, that meant that fluid was going in without electrolytes.  nuun hits that spot just right with the added and important advantage of providing electrolytes. 

One additional way I've used nuun is while doing yard work.  Sounds odd I know on a site for reviewing triathlon gear, but yard work, as much as I hate it, puts similar demands on our bodies.  I don't, however, generally want calories while I'm cutting and edging so nuun makes a lot of sense.  Yard work isn't overly taxing and the slight flavor in nuun stimulates my desire to drink and replaces electrolytes.  Often when we just drink water, it becomes difficult to keep drinking and a little flavor goes a long way to stimulate the desire to drink and keep us hydrating. 

Finally, I upped the value rating from my initial impression (from 5 to 7) which was only based on the price representing an "average" value compared to other electrolyte replacements.  However, after living with nuun for some time, I can tell you that the packaging (I will admit to using empty containers to carry other stuff in) adds to the value of nuun as a product.  I appreciate good packaging, think about it the next time you are filling your zip locks.

So, I still think nuun is a well packaged, palatable and effective tool for fighting off the effects of heat and dehydration and I recommend you give it a try.

Mark