We ran a 5K race this weekend and my wife Jenda told the story much better than I could.  Enjoy!

–Matthew

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Several weeks ago, my family decided we would run a 5K together.  We invited some family friends to run with us, and they excitedly accepted the invitation.  As time drew nearer, the excitement of the run lessened, however, both families thought the other family wanted to run and didn’t want to back out.  So, there we were…all 9 of us, registered for a race that we weren’t really pumped about.  (Granted, as far as I know, no one dreaded the race, we just would not have registered had we not already committed.)

Race day came and everyone partnered with their “running buddy”.  The course was nice and flat and the weather was as nice as it could be for an Alabama summer morning.  I was so excited to have Matthew and the kids join me for a run.  I love to run and I love my family, so to have the two together was simply perfect for me!  I look forward to the time when Scott (my 3 year old) joins us too!

We all finished in great time!  We all had a great time!  It was so fun!  This was very possibly the best race I had ever run (probably because of my awesome running buddy)!  And to top it off, Emma Grace won 3rd place for female 0-9 years and Clay won 3rd place for male 0-9 years.  They both received medals!  This was soooo cool!  Ryan’s friend Dylan came in 4th for male 10-14 years and Ryan was close behind him in 5th place.   The race no one wanted to run quickly turned into the race we couldn’t wait to run again next year!

How about you?  Have you ever wanted to run and didn’t know where to start?  Do you think you’re too out of shape to run?  Have you just decided that you could never run any number of miles, so you aren’t even going to try?  Well, I am here to tell you that if I can do it, so can you!!!  When I first began training 3 years ago, I could barely run 1 minute.  Really!  I would run 1 minute and walk 3 minutes…and that 1 minute was extremely hard for me.

Here are some tips to help you get started!

Walk it out! – If you feel you are not ready to jog or run, you can walk.  Begin walking for 3 days each week for 20 (then 30) minutes, at a pace that gets your heart rate up.  Continue this step until you are able to maintain a fast pace walk for 30 minutes.

Walk/jog intervals – Once you are able to maintain a brisk walk for 30 minutes, you are ready to begin intervals.  Walk quickly for 5 minutes to get your heart rate up.  Then, jog 2 minutes and walk 3 minutes.  Repeat for 20 minutes, then slower the pace and walk 5 minutes to cool down.

Increase/Decrease intervals-  Decrease minutes walking by 1 and increase jogging by 2 minutes until you can comfortably jog 4 minutes and walk 1 minute for 30 minutes.  At this point, I believe you will be ready to begin the Couch to 5K running program.

Couch to 5K – This is a 12 week program that will prepare you to run 3.12 miles.  http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Anti-Aging secrets have been around for ages.  There have been stories and tales of a Fountain of Youth for thousands of years.  The most famous story is from the 16th century of Juan Ponce de Leon.  It has been to goal of countless generations to turn back the clock and reset the aging process.  The good news is I have found it!  I discovered it almost 3 years ago and since then my energy is in overdrive and I was even carded for buying Root Beer in the grocery store (True and Funny Story).

What is the Secret?

The secret is something everyone can do in there own home and only takes a few minutes each day.  The secret to Looking and Feeling years younger is easy to do but it is also easy NOT to do.  Our bodies are a bio-mechanic machine that needs movement to function properly.  So the secret to looking and feeling years younger is Daily Exercise!  Working the muscles of both the heart and the mind will transform the way your body looks and feels.  I got my start with P90X in January of 09 and never looked back.

Can’t I just take a Pill?

If we were created to live off of pills then show me the “pill tree”.  I know there are very legitimate medicines that save countless lives but there are several medical conditions that can be controlled with daily exercise.  Did you know that studies show it is possible to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes by exercising AND losing weight.  I choose to spend at least 30min 5 to 6 times week moving my body either my playing or a structured workout.

Can I still eat my daily hamburger and fries?

The short answer NO.  Your nutrition is also helps you look and feeling years younger and it’s simple.  The first thing is to remove the phrase “I’m on a diet!”  If you are ON a diet that infers that you will eventually go OFF the diet.  You want that youthful glow don’t you.  It takes constant daily choices in the way that we eat and again it does not have to be rocket science.  These are the basics to start.

• 1st week – Write down everything that you eat and snack on.
  (This alone brings awareness to what you are eating)
• 2nd week – Create a menu of this weeks meals and then create a shopping list
• 3rd week – Repeat week 2 and make all meat Fish, Chicken or Turkey
• 4th Week – Repeat week 3 and do not use food that comes in a BOX.

Following the above plan will get you started and be something you work on for years to come.  I do not expect you to grow and eat only your own vegetables and butcher your calf.  I have a very busy life with my 4 children so time can get away from me and it can be easier to just drive through to grab something at a fast food place.  When time is short or the cravings for junk is stronger I personally mix myself a Chocolate Shakeology.  I will also keep a protein bar with me to eat as a snack if I am driving back and forth between jobs.  These are the things I do but I would like to hear from you. Leave a comment on how you overcome these things.  I want to help you with a plan you can start with and grow into while changing your eating habits to healthier options.

The Proof

So to prove that I have been able to use these Anti-Aging techniques to look and feel years younger these are my before and after pictures.  The before Picture was taken January 5 2009 and the after picture was taken yesterday on my 35th Birthday.

Matthew Hillis is a father of four that was letting life go by while he laid on the couch until one day he decided to change.  He was able to lose 30lbs in his first 90 days of working out with P90X.  Matthew has kept that weight off for 2 years and has helped hundreds of people just like yourself to achieve their own fitness goals.  If your life is busy and you believe there is just no time to workout then allow Matthew to help tailor a fitness plan to you and your life.  Together we are better!

There is an epidemic in this country that I am sure you are aware off and that is the trend of obesity with our kids.  Yes the adult population has also grown in girth but the scary statistic is what is happening to our kids.  Think back to when you were a kid.  I am not blaming anything or anybody but ourselves.  Yes outside forces can have an impact on us and our kids but I am responsible for me and you are responsible for you.  Our kids however do look to us and our actions in how they learn to live and take responsibility.  So I want to give you some fun examples and ideas on how you can make activities for your kids fun.

This past weekend I ran my first individual duathlon.  A duathlon is were you run, bike, run.  This particular event I had to run 2.5 miles, bike 10 miles, and run 2.5 miles again.  While I was training for this event my oldest son Ryan (9) and his friend wanted to do the race too.  We learned that you can also enter a duathlon as a team.  So my wife Jenda jumped in as the bike leg of the event.  They were called the speedy 3 and even worked on t-shirts to wear while they ran.  They had a great time with all the excitement of the race actives and getting to cheer on the other members of the team.  Your child might not be ready to run 2.5 miles but there will be other local events you can all do as a family.  If you are looking for Duathlon’s and Triathlon’s in your area go to www.trifind.com

We ran the duathlon on Saturday and on Sunday I took my oldest boys Ryan and Clay to my favorite indoor rock climbing place in Birmingham 1st Ave Rocks.  I had purchased a livingsocial coupon a few months ago and it was going to expire today so we got in the car and drove down to have some fun.  The particular type of rock climbing is called bouldering.  I am by far no expert but I do know that is is a lot of fun.  I am amazed by how fast my boys can climb to the top before I even get my shoes on my feet.  Bouldering walls are only 12-14 feet and there are very large crash pads that you can fall on so there are no harnesses.  The challenge is to follow the colored tape to the target at the top without touching any other holds that might have different colors.  The difficulty levels go from climbing a ladder to turning sidewise upside-down while holding on by your pinky.  It is not a fast paced activity because everyone takes turns watching and helping others figure out how to best climb.  Look for a local indoor rock climbing gym in your area and give it a try.  It is so much fun.

Organized sports are great and I played them throughout my childhood but they were not my most memorable.  One game that I learned to play in College is called Ultimate Frisbee.  To play all you need a a frisbee and an open field.  The official rules call for a football sized field and each team to have 11 people.  You can also play with just 3 on 3 and make the field smaller if needed.  The rules are that  you have to pass the frisbee within 10 seconds of catching it and you cannot move while you hold the frisbee.  To score you will need to pass the frisbee to a person while they are in the endzone.  Ultimate Frisbee is like soccer and football thrown together with no tackling.

If you have very young kids like I do then just getting outside or going to a park to roll a beach-ball around is a lot of fun.  Kids know how to naturally just go outside and run.  Go with them and run and play like they do.  It is tiring to play as hard as a 2 or 3 year old but oh so fun.  It is ok to act like a kid again.  I figure as long as I play like a kid then that’s how I will feel.

Insanity:Asylum is the latest workout to come out from Beachbody and is the add on to the popular Insanity.  Asylum is only a 30 day workout series and is focused on Sports Performance.  I can honestly say that this is one of the best programs to use if you are training for most any kind of sport.  Asylum is not a program that you will lose 30 lbs in 30 days but you will see incredible gains in athletic performance.

There are 6 Workouts that come with this program and the reviews of each workout are listed below.

Speed & Agility

Strength

Back to Core

Vertical Plyo

Game Day & Overtime

The calendar for Asylum is not laid out in the typical 6 day or workouts and 1 day of rest.  Instead it has a schedule more familiar with a game schedule.  The workouts are so intense that at the beginning you will need the extra rest day.  What I am calling a rest day is actually a day when you do Relief but I look forward to this workout.  It is just a nice 20min routine of stetting which your body needs to recover.

When you start the program the first workout that you will do is the Performance assessment.  Here are my starting numbers and final numbers

Agility Heisman = 5/10 (got tangled up and I know I can do better)

In & Out Ab Progression = 28/45

Lat-Pushups = 13/22 (need to measure pullups which will be much lower)

Mountain Climber Switch Kicks = 45/80

Agility Shoulder Taps = 5.5/8

X Jumps = 25/35

Agility Lateral Shuffle = 3/13.5 (The first time my brain would not work

Agility Bear Crawl = 5/8

As you can see my numbers jumped from day one!

The Diet Guide.

I followed the guide and the recipes that were in the diet plan.  I was able to drop around 2% bodyfat over the 30 days while maintaining my weight of 190lbs.  The meals in the guide are very easy to prepare and the ingredients are easily found and any grocery store.  The program does have a higher carb intake due to the extreme card that is involved.

The Equipment

I purchased the basic set which comes with an Agility ladder and 2 strength bands, Red and Green.  The program does use a pullup bar but there is always a modification move if you do not have one so it is optional.  The other piece of equipment you will need is a band or dumbbell.  I highly recommend using the dumbbells for the Strength workout.  I started with 15lbs and ended the program using 30lb weights.

Final thought!

If you are an athlete or want to feel like an athlete then this is the program for you.  It is a short 30 day program but you will make progress with your athletic performance.  Asylum also gives you a suggested way to use Asylum with P90X and the original Insanity.

Memorial Day weekend is always a fun time for me and my family.  It is when we gather around the pool and grill up some food and just relax and hang out.  This year I decided to run in "The Cotton Row Run 5K."  I am not a runner but I do like a 5k run with a bunch of people running.  It is fun to run down the streets of downtown Huntsville and see the older homes.  This year I think there were well over 2000 people running either the 10K or the 5K. 

Just 2 days ago I ran a trail 5K in my new Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves (This is a great Review) and had a personal record of 26min 16 sec.  I know that is not record breaking but I was very proud and now I thought that I was on my way to having my best time at The Cotton Row race and boy was I wrong. 

Jenda left early Monday morning to go run her 10k that started at 7am and I stayed back to wait on my sister to come over and watch the kids.  My adrenaline was pumping from the excitement of the race approaching so I went out side to do a slight warmup.  My standard 5K warm-up is start walking for about 30 sec then increase to a jog.  I jog around for about 1-2 minutes to get the heart rate up then I will do short sprints to wake up the nervous system.  The sprints I have found are key to get my body ready for the feeling of running.

I went outside for this slight warmup while I waited on my sister and was smacked in the face with Alabama Summer.  It was HOT outside and it was just 7am.  I knew by the time my race started at 9am it was going to feel as Hot as Hades.  I made sure that I started drinking a lot of water but not so much to have to run to the Bathroom.  This is also a delicate balance for me.  I want to start off hydrated but there is nothing worse than starting a race and thinking I should have used the bathroom one more time. 

I made it to the starting line of my race and I had forgotten all the things that actually come before running the race.  It is about 10 minutes of announcements, songs & The Pledge of Allegiance.  I was in the middle of the crowd and my warm-up was not so long ago it was not doing me much good.  If at all possible a good warmup for a 5K should be about 5-10min and then you should start the race.  Even if you have to jog in place it is important to keep the muscles warm but in my case my schedule had been thrown out the window. 

The starting gun sounded and we were off and the lady in front of me started by walking.  I would spend the next 3 or 5 minutes navigating traffic.  I said before it is fun running with a lot of people with the exception of the start.  I like to jump out fast to get the pace right off but in this kind of crowd that is not possible. 

The Cotton Row is a fairly flat course with very small slops but nothing like the death hill in the 10K.  As I started I could feel the sun beating down on me.  It was pretty intense heat and the shade of the buildings were a welcome relief.  The water stations were a welcome sight as well but when I grabbed my first cup of water I could not drink it.  I ended up spitting it out, luckily no one was in front of me.  So the nest water stations I just poured the water on my head which felt heavenly.  I would also like to thank the nice people that turned their sprinkler into the road to spray the runner as we went by. 

I ended the race at 29:28 and had to walk a couple of times to not get over heated.  It was a brutal heat but I still enjoyed the race.  I think I prefer the fall 5K when the weather might get cold I can handle it better than the heat.

Have you ever thought about running a race like a 5K?

Look for a local race that supports a cause like UCP or Cancer Research and start training.

One of the best training programs that several of my friends used is called couch to 5K.  The goal when starting to train for a race is not to focus on the time to finish but to know that you can finish.  Most 5K races allow for 1 hour of running time.  If you walk at 4 miles per hour then you could walk the whole 5K in about 45min. 

Get a team together to run a race. 

This is a great way to have a reason to train and you will also have built in accountability partners.

Let me know what kind of outdoor activities that you like to do.  Post them on my Facebook wall at facebook.com/hillis

Matthew Hillis is a father of four that was letting life go by while he laid on the couch until one day he decided to change.  He was able to lose 30lbs in his first 90 days of working out with P90X.  Matthew has kept that weight off for 2 years and has helped hundreds of people just like yourself to achieve their own fitness goals.  If your life is busy and you believe there is just no time to workout then allow Matthew to help tailor a fitness plan to you and your life.  Together we are better!