Trever Townsend is an endurance athlete who thrives in harsh conditions. In his 20-plus year career, he has reached the podium for marathons, adventure races, triathlons, trail-running ultras, and ski mountaineering. He specializes in strenuous, multi-sport activities that require specific skill sets, such as 24-hour obstacle course racing, stage racing, multi-day mountain bike races, and more recently, the Tactical Games. He sums it up as, “Anything that pushes my limits mentally and physically, that’s where I like to go”.
The Mental Battle of Endurance Sports
At the age of 43, Trever is also one of the oldest male members of the Spartan Pro Team, which he describes as a “unique challenge” that has made him more particular about his diet and training methods.
“It’s less about sprints, and more about pushing my mind to see how hard I can push my body and survive that situation. To me, that’s the most rewarding. Of course, I want to win and place well, but to me, endurance sports are more a battle with yourself and a chance to grow within. Training is all mental, especially with mountain sports and endurance sports. If you don’t have the mindset straight, the body’s never going to follow.”
Powering Up
Trever was introduced to PurePower products by fellow OCR athlete and Spartan Pro teammate Robert Killian. “I went to train with Robert Killian for a few days, and he was like ‘try these.’ I don’t usually like to use pre-workouts, but he told me to try the Power Up and that was just like lighting a fuse for me. I was like ‘this stuff is awesome!’”
Trever initially liked Power Up for the instant gratification of feeling able to train harder. “I love Power Up even just for the mental aspect of it. If you’re going to go for a several-hour mountain run, or bike ride, or climb, you take it, you feel stronger, and then you just smash it. It’s not the same as a bunch of caffeine and chemicals when you get this tingling feeling. It’s more of this overall ‘sky’s the limit’ feeling where you just GO!”
The Secret to Better Sleep
Then, Robert introduced Trever to Power Down, and he started to see immediate positive effects. “When I started taking Power Down, it was like a life-changing event for me. I went from these erratic sleep behaviors to much more consistent sleep.”
Having struggled with sleep and stress for a long time, being able to start getting consistent, deep sleep seemed to be the missing piece in Trever’s training routine. “I noticed in training I could really see all my metrics improving dramatically: my pace was going up, my heart rate was going down… I think that’s the sleep really, because I hadn’t changed anything else.”
Becoming Bulletproof
Now, Trever takes the full PurePower System, and for him, it’s all about bringing things back to center. “The huge help for me has been avoiding the hills and valleys in training and in my mood. Getting consistent sleep, consistent training, consistent mood – that’s where you get the PRs. That’s why I call it ‘bulletproof,’ because it feels like nothing’s going to stop you. It’s a great feeling for training or a race, like, ‘I’m at my best from here on out, nothing’s going to stop me. Come on, bring on the competition, I’m ready to go!’”
The benefits that Trever enjoys from the PurePower system transfer into his work, play, family and friends too. “My friends definitely notice my mood being stable more consistently. I think it’s a really well-rounded product that has lots of benefits, not just for athletes, but for day-to-day life. That’s why I like it.”
He sums it up as a feeling of synchronicity. “When you have great sleep, when your mind is focused and your body is healing and there’s no inflammation and you’re recovered – every day? That’s amazing! You’re getting your PRs. Of course you still have your down days, but even then you’re coping better in work and in play.”
As the 2021 racing season gets underway, we’re excited to see what the summer holds for Trever and his bulletproof mentality!
