Advocare 24-Day Challenge

About a year ago Meghan and I were visiting with some friends one evening and the conversation turned to exercise and weight loss.  Anyone who has known me for more than a few years know that I lost a significant amount of weight from 2005-2007, but have had a hard time keeping the weight back off.  I never gained back the full amount, instead I have had a hard time breaking back through the 200-pound plateau...which is frustrating to say the least.  Well, as the conversation continued the couple we were meeting with introduced us to a company called Advocare, that specializes in health and wellness supplements.  As we listened to what they were telling us my skepticism turned to interest as they described the science behind the products and how they, personally, had felt while using the products.  We decided that we wanted to try one of the products they told us about called “Spark”.  The best way to describe “Spark” is that it is a sugar-free energy drink that enhances workout stamina, brain focus, and overall energy levels.  The great thing about “Spark” is that it is not a product that you feel like you’re going “on-and-off” of, but rather you feel the benefits of the product, until you don’t, no crash involved.  This is where I thought the story for Advocare would end for us, we would use this one product and live happily ever after, however, a year later things began to change.

As I said earlier, I have been struggling to break through and maintain my 200-pound plateau.  I have been able to get below 200 pounds in the last year, but it came at the expense of a lot of stress and very little food intake...it was definitely something that was not healthy or that I could maintain.  At the onset of Spring 2012 I decided that it was time to be very serious about getting below 200 pounds again, and this time doing it in a way that I could maintain for a lifetime.  I didn’t look far before I found a program within Advocare called the “24-Day Challenge”.  The “24-Day Challenge” includes both an herbal cleanse and a metabolic supplement system that, coupled with a healthy diet and exercise, had been shown to provide great and, more importantly, healthy results.

When I started the “24-Day Challenge” I weighed 209 pounds.  I was not entirely unhappy with my body or the way I looked, but I was still self conscious in some of the clothes I own and that in itself was an awful feeling.  Before I started the challenge I was running about 12 miles a week, on average, if I was running at all.  I didn’t ever feel like I had a lot of energy to dedicate to running and so most of the time I just wouldn’t run.  Finally, at the beginning of the challenge I was drinking an unhealthy amount of diet coke,  between 40-64 ounces a day!  Yikes!

The first 10 days of the challenge are dedicated to cleaning out your system by having you go through an herbal cleanse.  The cleanse consists of all natural ingredients including psyllium husk and wheat grass powder, which meant no sudden trips to the bathroom or harsh stomach pains.  The second part of the cleanse consisted of a metabolic kick start called MNS 3.  Basically, this part of the challenge involved the supplements that we need but do not get in our diet, much like what a multi-vitamin is there to do.  So, armed with these tools, I set out on my challenge.  I began to notice I had a great deal more energy throughout the day and was much less hungry than I had been leading up to the challenge.  One of the most noticeable outcomes from doing the challenge was that I went from running maybe 12 miles a week to running (and wanting to run) 20 miles a week.  Clothes began to fit better and I started to drink less-and-less diet coke throughout the day.  My results surprised me by the time I was done as I had lost 11 pounds and 10 inches total!  Now, I knew I didn’t have much weight to lose, but it felt great to see 198 pounds on the scale in under 30 days!

Let me close by saying this; I really loved doing this challenge.  It was a great way to jump start my weight loss going into summer and is something I am recommending to anyone who reads this who is frustrated by either being overweight or by not being able to lose those last 10-or-so pounds and keeping them off.  If you have any questions about my experience on the “24 Day Challenge”, or if you would like to do your own 24 Day Challenge please comment below or email me at jrb953@gmail.com.

ROCK THE PARKWAY HALF-MARATHON

The culmination of about six months of preparation came and went last Saturday as I participated in my first half marathon here in Kansas City. I thought it would be fun to do a mile-by-mile account of the day and how I felt through the whole thing and wrap it up with some positives and negatives from the day.

Before the race:
5:15 AM- The alarm goes off on my phone, but I am already awake. It was hard to sleep through the excitement I was feeling all night. I got up and out of bed and quickly changed into my outfit for the run. Some planning went into what I chose to wear for the day, but I will talk about that more later.
6:15 AM- Meghan and I are out the door and wheels rolling. We stop at the local QuickTrip so I could get a banana to eat on the drive, plus Meghan wanted to get a soda for her long day of meeting me along the run and taking pictures of my first half marathon.
7:00 AM- We arrive at the closest parking lot to the start/finish line so Meg could drop me off and go get to her first stop that was about a mile into the course. The excitement was building as I saw all the runners loosening up and talking about their strategies for the day. I had to use the bathroom at this point and knew a long line would meet me at the row of Porta-Potties so I got in line and waited...and waited...and waited. FINALLY, my turn.
7:25 AM- I decide to head down to the start and find the pace group I wanted to run with throughout the day. I loved that they provided this at this race. The basic idea is they have people holding poles with the total time they are going to run the race in, which allows you to, 1.) run with a group the entire time and 2.) Feel as comfortable as possible.
7:30 AM- The countdown begins and the race is underway! It takes about 5 minutes for our pace group to reach the start line, but as we cross it I start my Garmin GPS watch and click “PLAY” on my iPod. I had a mix made for the race which started with “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman. A nice calm song to get my mind set for the 13.1 miles ahead of me.

Race time:
 > 1 mile- There are a ton of people crammed together to start off the race! I kept having to bob-and-weave around people who, apparently, started off a little too quick and were already walking. I hopped up on the curb and ran down the grass alongside the road and even got over to the sidewalk to try and add some distance between me and some of the slower racers in our group.

Mile 1- WHOA...that came up quick! All the dodging in-and-out of traffic kept me busy and the first mile flew by! I feel great though! I am sweating a lot because of the humidity, but it’s overcast and about 65 degrees so I’m feeling pretty good! Before too long I see Meghan at her first stop! Energized by my wife cheering hard for me and holding her sign I smile and wave as I run by.

Miles 2-3- Still feeling great. First water station. Grab two waters and a Gatorade. I don’t like to stop running while a I hydrate which makes things difficult and, I’m sure, very entertaining to watch.

Mile 4- Passing by the Meyer Fountain and it’s time for my second GU of the race. I bought these the week before and tested them out on my 10 mile run earlier in the week. If I run over 5 miles I will ALWAYS bring these with me. They really don’t taste bad and the texture is not too bad either. Trust me, if you are running a long way GIVE THEM A SHOT! HEY...THERE’S MEGHAN! I wasn’t expecting her to be at the fountain on the way by the first time but there she is! I hand her my GU package (I was not okay with littering at this point in the race...this changed later on though haha) and off I went.

Miles 5-6- About to get off the parkway and head back into some neighborhoods. The scenery is another reason I loved this race. The neighborhoods that are located along this portion of Ward Parkway in Kansas City are where a lot of the 1% of Kansas City live, so you can imagine the kind of homes there are to look at through the race. As I pass by the 10k sign I feel very energized as this was the farthest I had previously run in a race setting...cross it off the list! It was in between mile 6 and 7 where i saw Meghan again too! She was cheering, taking pictures, and holding up another sign.

Mile 7- Oh dear...big hills.

Mile 8- Pushing through another wall and I take my third GU of the race...I definitely stopped caring, at this point, about not littering.

Mile 9- Passing by the Meyer Fountain again and there’s Meghan! This is her final spot on the course before the finish line and I am excited to see her because she is holding one of my fuel belt water bottles! She says, “IT’S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE!”, which wasn’t ENTIRELY correct but I’ll get to that later.

Mile 10- Passing by this marker on the course was such an awesome feeling. It marked the first time I had eclipsed 10 miles on a single run! That, mixed with the GU I had taken 20 minutes earlier, I felt a surge of energy to finish strong!

Mile 11- Okay so, in preparation for the race Meghan and I spent the Friday before covering the course in the car plus doing some research online. On the website for the race they had an elevation map which showed a steady downhill finish starting at mile 10...well when I passed by the 11 mile marker I was starring a hill directly in the face. I had been out in front of the 2:25 pace group up until this point, but by the time I had crested the hill they had overtaken me and I was now running in the group again. Still ahead of my original group, but was hoping/wishing for a 2:20 finish time...maybe next time! It was also at this point where i noticed the bottom of my feet were feeling the pain of running for 11 miles, but a song came across my iPod that once again, gave me a huge energy boost to finish!

Mile 12- Having been going downhill for about .5 mile now was locked in and focused on finishing! more and more spectators were starting to line the street and I could see Trader Joe’s which was a welcome sight knowing how far it was from the finish line! Looked down at my GPS and saw my pace was still where i wanted it, I pushed on.

Mile 13 - 13.1- Well here we come, down the final stretch! I see the 13 mile marker and just reach as deep as I can to finish strong. I pushed my legs hard and and breathed deep...I saw Meghan on the side of the road cheering me on and knew that finishing was going to feel so good! I see the line now and reach even deeper to get across. I raise my hands above my head and cross the line in 2:25 minutes! I am exhausted, overwhelmed with accomplishment, and extremely sweaty. It’s over...I slow to a walk, get my timing chip removed from my shoe, grab a mylar blanket, and get my finisher medal. Surprisingly, I don’t feel like I had just run 13.1 miles. Adrenaline is coursing through my veins and I just want to keep moving for my muscles sake. I meet Meghan celebrate with her and Sutton while we get our picture taken. Happy is all I could feel at that point.

Some things I would recommend after finishing the race:
1.) If you run I would 100% recommend you get a GPS watch to track your pace and mileage. This was absolutely crucial for me while running the half. I knew that it would not be too hard to overdo it at the beginning because of the nerves and adrenaline from starting the race, but my watch kept me in check. It also helped keep my head in the right place as I could see when I was eclipsing each half mile. It helped me avoid some mental walls that I could have otherwise succumb to during this run.

2.) Another recommendation I have for anyone who works out, runs, bikes, etc for any amount of time over 30 minutes, get yourself some energy gels. I bought GU brand chocolate flavor. Simply put they are fat, sugar, potassium and carbs to keep you going during the workout.

3.) Invest in some warm weather compression shirts. When I bought my first warm weather Under Armour shirt I found it hard to believe something that would cling to my body would keep me cool, but somehow the science works. Now on every run, so long as it’s above 55 degrees I wear one of these shirts. With the high humidity of the day, had I worn cotton anything or even a loose fitting running shirt I would have been miserable.

4.) Find a shoe you love. I used to get a new brand with every running shoe I bought. Over the past 6 years of running I have ran in Nike, New Balance, Saucony, Asics, and Brooks. This past Christmas was the first time I bought the same shoe to replace an old pair ever. I love the Brooks shoes I have now and encourage you to get fitted for the perfect shoe for you. It’s easy, any credible running store should be able to properly ft you, and the payoff is awesome. 

Things I wont do next year:
1.) Leave the race without checking out the booths. Apparently I missed out on free Chick-fil-A and didn’t get to buy my 13.1 sticker.

2.) I probably wont wear my fuel belt again. It was bulky and I’d rather just get one of the smaller running belts you can buy.

Once again, I absolutely loved running the Rock the Parkway half-marathon this year! It was a great course for a first timer and the people who put it on really knew what they were doing (Sharon Muir, I’m looking in your direction). I really didn’t think I was going to be able to run this race four months ago. From thinking my running days were over to crossing the finish line at 13.1 miles...what a feeling!

EXCITING NEWS

I wanted to take a minute and give just a brief update and share some exciting news! If you have been following this blog for even a short while you know about my everything with my knee...well I am very excited to report two things:

1.) I was able to run 3 miles today, which is the most I have run since the end of October.
2.) I ran with absolutely no pain in my knee for the entirety of those three miles!! This, also, was the first time since the end of October that I could say this!

I am much more excited about the second of the two because of the implications of what that could mean. I am glad that treatments are working and that I am progressing well! I feel God is glorified in this news, a well, as it exhibits how his creation can mend from injury and become strong once again.

That’s all for now....I was just too excited to keep this in!

NEVER GIVE UP

When I graduated from college the job market in Kansas City was...soft. I applied for a lot of different jobs in the area and the only place I heard back from was Caribou Coffee. It was March and I had graduated in January, so i took the job. I typically went in to work between 5-6 in the morning. This shift had a regular group of employees who worked it and we all got to know each other pretty well. A couple of the girls who worked this shift with me had attended a Christian college just outside Chicago and there were a lot of stories that were exchanged about different experiences we had either had personally, or knew about from someone else...this is one of those stories:

A missionary in Central Asia was just getting through his last phase of culture shock. He was becoming accustomed to his new neighbors, the new food, the new smells, and most of all the new people that had become a part of his everyday life. Part of his new life included daily trips to the market to get his food for the day. His route to the market would take him past the same house everyday and as time went on-and-on he began to feel the Lord pushing him to talk to the gentleman who live at the house. He put it off for awhile, but in time the push became too overwhelming and he decided he would step out in faith.

As he approached the house he was feeling extremely nervous. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say or how he was going to approach the man so he decided to pray for words. As he knocked on the door he still didn’t know what was going to come out. Suddenly, the door opened and there stood the man right in front of him. He opened his mouth and the only thing that came out initially was air, until he finally found his voice, “I walk past your house everyday and I have felt God telling me to share who Jesus is with you.” The man stood there and finally said back to him, “You need to get off my property.” and slammed the door. The missionary turned and walked away. Determined not to give up, he thought he would try again the next day. The next morning he once again walked up and knocked on the door. “I really want to share with you what Jesus has done in my life and what He could do for you.” This time the man was not so hospitable, “I told you yesterday that you need to get off my property, if you come back tomorrow I will kill you.” The missionary turned and and fled the property. He spent that night praying, asking God to give him strength to try one more time.

As morning broke the next day the missionary knew what he had to do. He got up and walked to the front door of the man’s house. With a huge lump in his throat and mustering every bit of courage he had he knocked...and knocked again. This time, though, the door crept open and instead of a grown man’s face, he was met by the face of a little girl. Staring at each other momentarily the missionary decided this was his one opportunity to share the Gospel with this household. “I have felt God pushing me to share about Jesus Christ with you. Jesus was the Son of God and came to earth and died for our sins. He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you...” at this moment the door flung open and there stood the man, this girl’s father, from the previous two days. “I told you I would kill you if you came back!” he yelled. As he went to grab the missionary the little girl shouted, “No daddy, he’s telling the truth!” The man stopped in his tracks, looked at the little girl, and fell to his knees weeping. He hugged his little and then looked at the missionary, who was in a bit of shock, and said, “My daughter had never said a word in her life until this moment. I want to know more about this Jesus.” That day the man, his daughter, and the rest of his family gave their lives over to Christ and were baptized.

This story brought tears to my eyes when I heard it for the first time. How many opportunities do we have each day to share the love of Christ with those around us? It doesn’t necessarily have to be as blunt and straightforward as this missionary was, but be perceptive tomorrow. How many times do you drive or walk by the same homeless man or woman begging for change? How often do you buy coffee or a soda from the same person each day and ask how they are doing? Trust me, people certainly do know us by our love, or lack their of. Be brave, be bold, and share that love with others!

TRAINING SCHEDULE

Printed my training schedule for my half in April...



Man with a plan...

PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT / TOOLS OF THE TRADE

I have some exciting news to share (exciting for me at least): This morning was the first time in about a month-and-a-half that I was able to run over a mile with no pain in my knee! I ran 2 miles at Macken Park in North Kansas City. I split the run into two separate runs with stretching in-between, but it was still an accomplishment! I am glad to know that the treatments I have been using are beginning to produce some results. There is still a long way to go, but so long as progress is being made.

As I talk with people about what I am doing to get better I thought it might be interesting to put up some pictures and explain some of the treatments that I have been using to help others. What I have learned is that ITBS can strike any runner, so getting out in front of it might help some of my runner friends out there.

These are the tools I have been using for the past two weeks in order to get relief.



Foam Roller- This is my biggest weapon to fight off the pain. The basic idea is this; lay the roller on the floor, lay my leg on its side on top of the roller and roll my leg up and down the outside part (where the IT Band is located). Depending on how tight the band is at the time this can be excruciatingly painful, but as it loosens relief comes.

IT Band Support- This elastic band wraps around my leg right above my knee when I run. The basic idea is that it keeps things in place and helps prevents the band from rubbing on the bones in my knee.

Voltaren Gel- This is an anti-inflammatory cream used by arthritis patients. It helps keeps the swelling down during and after the run. Very helpful.

Frozen Peas- Once again, this keeps the swelling down.

Like I said, the idea came to me that since this can flare up at any time with anyone I wanted to give some tips that you can use to stay out in front of this kind of injury. Stay tuned for more updates.

PS- Don’t worry, this blog is not just going to become a running update type blog...I’m just pretty pumped about the progress I am making!

ANNOUNCEMENT : HALF-MARATHON IN APRIL

If you read my post from a few weeks ago then you know I love running. Today, I finally took the plunge...I registered for my first half-marathon.

I have been nursing my injury and am confident that I will be in the proper shape by April to participate in and finish this race and have a blast doing it! The race is called the “Rock the Parkway Half-Marathon”. The course looks so awesome and it looks like an awesome race to participate in!

Here’s a link to the race:
http://www.rocktheparkway.com/index.php

Keep checking back as I update on my preparation!

SO EXCITED!