For those of you out there unfamiliar with this device on my leg, it’s a muscle and tissue stimulator with a compression boot, which is part of my rehabilitation process for a near-journey ending injury I sustained about 25 miles into our run on the first day. It turns out that thousands of training miles and countless hours of workout prep settled right here in my shin and a quick MRI revealed the beginning of a stress fracture and significant tendon damage. While the specialist initially told me to stop the journey and rest for at least 10 weeks before even thinking about fitness, that was not going to stop me from staying committed to our goal, which is to propel ourselves across the country and show people everywhere that in spite of life’s unforeseen hurdles, there is always a way to keep moving
and win!
After battling with the specialists and powers that be, as long as I continued my therapy on the road with devices like this and the collective help of Kyle, my crew, and some of the top experts on the planet, for the first several weeks, I have been cleared to gently walk occasionally and continue moving forward with the help of a bike, Kyle’s shoulder, a unicycle, basically any mode of transportation that takes the pressure off of my shin, allows it to heal, and enables us to self-propel across the country. In a week or so, I’m going to start reintroducing faster walking and light running back into the day-to-day and I couldn’t be more grateful or excited. Whether we run, walk, bike, or crawl, we are going to make it across the country.
With that, I want to remind everyone that our mission was to cross the United States, visiting higi wellness kiosks, finding people doing extraordinary things, and never give up…that is the lesson, our commitment, and we couldn’t be more humbled by the incredible support on the road. We are not purporting to break any records, make any money, or pretending to be something we’re not. We are an example of two ordinary guys doing something extraordinary and hopefully, showing people that anything is possible if you make the choice and keep moving forward. While we sleep on the bus or roadside lodging when the bus needs attention, Kyle and I are propelling ourselves for every single mile of this journey and couldn’t have more gratitude.
Remember, even if your idea of fitness and wellness doesn’t look like perfection, just find your own rhythm, your own path, and keep moving forward. Thank you all!
SuperLife
While we’re out here in the desert, nothing has become more critical to survival than the fuel we’re putting into our bodies. Without the guidance of Darin Olien and his SuperLife team, we would already be roadkill. Between the Shakeology, veggie pucks, Baru Nuts, and his critical support, our minds and bodies would have parted ways long ago. Thank you, Darin – even though you spell your name wrong, you have been the key to our survival. Visit www.Superlife.com to learn more about his world, but if you want to genuinely live an awesome life, pickup his book “SuperLife” – life changing read for everyone.
Fitness Genes
One of the pieces of our fitness preparation that we haven’t shared enough about is the fact that Kyle and I had a huge piece of insight before we launched…an actual breakdown of our fitness and wellness strengths and weaknesses based on our unique genetic makeup. Our buddy Dr. Dan Reardon is not only awesome himself, but his company FitnessGenes was critical to our training and day to day strategy. Dan and his team analyzed 43 genes related to health and fitness, and prescribed an overall strategy to serve our exact needs. It is absolutely critical and mindblowing for everyone, not just 2 kooks propelling themselves across the country. Go to www.fitnessgenes.com now or win your own test on the Wheel Of Wins at Whatsmywin.com.
- #JourneyAcrossAmerica Update - May 10, 2017
- CNN Interview for my #RunAcrossAmerica - April 21, 2017
- #WhatsMyWin Training and Interview for my #RunAcrossAmerica - April 21, 2017
Darren is an accomplished TV personality, attorney, interventionist, keynote speaker, and 'misbehavior expert' who appears constantly on countless TV and radio shows.