In about an hour I will head out for my run. Simple, average maybe even boring statement…until you know the backstory. See it’s been five months since I have been able to run and prior to that it’s been a decade of illness, personal strife and clawing myself back into the light. Between the several years of spending most of my days bedridden due to a genetic disease, financial hardship due to my health condition, a failed business and the demise of my family unit, life was challenging to say the least. Ironically, it was my belief that one day I would get healthy and be able to return to competitive athletics that kept me from wallowing in a well of depression and self-pity that I could have easily fallen victim to. I had once been one of the top-ranked distance runners in the world and I was determined to step back on the podium again!

So here I am and yep my BFF has been the eliptical trainer at World Gym in Pacific Beach, CA. We’ve had our ups and downs just as any relationship does. You know how it goes, “I’m so dedicated to you I will be here faithfully,” and of course the explanations “Well it was a holiday weekend so I had to take a little time away,” and who can leave out the “A little time apart will do us some good.” But all in all I spent an average of four days a week with my cross-training partner. Just 30 minutes a time to maintain my fitness (ummm….really my sanity because honestly who the hell can stand looking at those little flashing lights 27:12, 27:11, 27:10 for more than a half hour at a time before cocktail hour can’t come fast enough and you are using all your strength to prevent yourself from bludgeoning the guy next to you who insists on blurting out loud every word to Lady GaGa’s Born This Way!)

Yes I am VERY happy to be back on the roads!

I was, to say the least, a little sore the day after my first run. Yep walking down stairs was amusing but I thought things would be a little more trying than they were. I attribute my mini-victory to two things…

1) I used the five months to gather myself in all aspects of my life-emotional, physical, mental, financial…yep I cleaned house and over-hauled. Anything that wasn’t serving my higher good went out the window and I made room for the good things that were already in my life but were being suffocated by the lack of space.

2) Vitalyte-I faithfully used my electrolytes replacement drink, Tri-Phase endurance before my workouts and during and when it came time to hit the ground running again I had maintained my fitness and my body had a chance to recover. Honestly, those first few days back would’ve been a nightmare of epic proportion if it hadn’t been for Tri-Phase…I wasn’t crying or up pacing in the night due to lactic acid overload and muscle fatigue.

So as I get ready to head out down Harbor Drive for a little 40 minute run I think about how far I have come, in just a week and a half I am up to a 5.5 mile run. Hmmm, maybe there is something to this recovery thing after all. My mind, body and emotional self are less attached to what I can do physically and my priority lies on my entire self. It’s a lifestyle.

Follow my journey back to competitive running and join me in creating a healthy lifestyle. It’s what Vitalyte is all about, it’s what I’m all about and it’s about what’s best for you.

I don’t know about you, but after dragging myself to spin class or forcing myself to run as the sun comes up Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I am always pooped come Thursday and Friday! I love working out in the morning and it is always worth it to know that I don’t have my workout looming ahead of me all day at work, but I start to lose my momentum toward the end of the week. Here are some tips for keeping your energy up throughout the week:

·         Get moving! This is a given, but the more active you are, the more energy you will have. If you sit at a desk all day like I do, try to take frequent breaks to walk around and boost your circulation. Also, make sure to sit up straight to increase your oxygen intake.

·         This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but regular workouts help keep energy high.

·         Dehydration is an instant energy-zapper and gives this Vita Girl an instant headache.

·         Try something new! New experiences give you a rush of adrenaline. Have you always wanted to try kayaking? Rent one and hit the water. I usually spin and run but when I want to mix things up I try a yoga or Pilates class.

·         Speaking of yoga, a few deep breaths can give you a boost when you’re feeling zapped and need a pick me up.

·         Make sure your blood-sugar never dips too low. I eat small meals throughout the day and always keep Vitalyte Sticks in my bag to jazz up water when I am short on time.

·          Spend time outdoors! There’s a reason you feel relaxed when at the beach or in the woods, spending time outside lowers blood pressure and reduces stress hormones.

Hi there Vitalyte friends! Hope you had a great weekend. I always love weekends, because that means, no work! Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and all, but sitting at a desk for a good part of the day can be painful, literally. My back and shoulders tense up and I just can’t help but feel like I’ve aged ten years when I leave everyday.

Get this, according to a survey released by Staples, Inc., 86% of workers experience some discomfort from their office furniture and equipment. Geez… it’s honestly no wonder why so many people are grouchy at the end of the day.

First of all, if this sounds true to you, talk to your office management about having someone come in to make your workplace environment more ergonomic. This alone, will greatly reduce the potential for repetitive stress injuries to the eyes, neck, back, shoulders and wrists.

These injuries are caused by nerve compression, decreased circulation, muscle fatigue and tendonitis due to prolonged working in static and awkward positions. The body needs to be allowed to change and support itself properly and sitting at a desk just isn’t doing that.

Here’s some advice to help make your days a little better:
1. Eye strain and headaches - Make sure you rest your eyes every 20 minutes throughout the day when looking at a computer screen. Your eyes are naturally suited to see far away. When you look up close for long periods of time, the shape of your eye actually changes, thus making it difficult for you to see far away after a long period of time has elapsed.

2. Neck and back pain - Your monitor should be around 2 feet from your head, with the center of the screen about a 10 to 20 degree downward angle from your eyes.

3. Carpel Tunnel - Your forearms should be at a 90 degree angle to your upper arms when typing. Your shoulder also should not be hunched. Consider installing a keyboard tray to help with this.

Make sure in addition to this, you are sitting correctly. Like mother always said, stop slouching! You know what helps with posture? Yoga and other forms of exercise. Perhaps you should weave those in as well…

Until next time…

Just recently I found that my life had a striking and very pathetic similarity to Ron Livingston’s character in Office Space. The only real difference was that my job required me to be on the road 4 days a week sleeping in a Double Tree closest to whatever city I found myself in instead of working 9-5 in a cubicle. This small change, however,
wasn’t enough to distract me from the idea that my life existed to serve the needs of a corporation’s bottom line, and although I would consider myself a die hard capitalist, I found myself constantly questioning my place in the corporate world. I too had seven bosses,efficiency experts (or as we all like to call them; the Bobs) meetings with no point whatsoever, and of course the never ending barrage of stupid reports that needed to be filled out. Having been in charge of sales divisions for 7 years of my career, I found that nearly all my time was spent working. In the meantime my hair was graying a little, gym time became a luxury instead of a priority, friends would call me and tell me about the great party I missed while I was at some trade show in Houston, or Seattle or Salt Lake and I found that I was miserable. Something needed to change and since it wasn’t going to be corporate America, it would need to be me. As a result of my waning ambition and partly due to the collapse of the banking and lending market where I had worked for nearly a decade, my time in corporate America was coming to an end.

At 29 years old I found myself suffering from a severe case of “Peter Pan” syndrome. I was refusing to grow up. The idea of spending my week in sales meetings, writing action reports, traveling with the sales team that worked for me around the country had about the same appeal as a root canal. As my company began to fold in the wake of the mortgage meltdown, my time, which should have been spent worrying about what I was going to do, was instead spent on the slopes here in Colorado skiing.

One beautiful spring Tuesday I was sitting on the patio at the top of Winter Park drinking a beer and was struck with the profound realization that work truly is a support system for life, not the other way around. As the fates would have it, I was presented with an opportunity to help with sales at Vitalyte.

At first I was a little apprehensive but after getting to know the product and, more importantly, the people involved with the company I jumped at the opportunity. So know I have a new set of goals that Vitalyte and Timothy Ferris’ book The Four Hour Work Week ( A must read for everyone) helped me set.

Here they are:

Work hard, play hard, laugh more, love more and take more pictures. Pretty simple! This company likes to ask “What Vitalyte are you?” I like to ask “What Vitalyte are you today?”

Here’s my answer:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I’m a runner, a biker and a swimmer. Wednesday I’m a water-skier and wake boarder. Saturday I’m a mountain biker and golfer, and Sunday I’m at the lake again. Now I’m asking the question to all of you out there; What Vitalyte are you today?

Send me an e-mail and let me know. I would love to hear from all of you, especially if you’re a TPS kind of Vitalyte. Maybe we here can help you change that.