WOW! what a response, one full day and 100+ likes. Thank you! This is our story. Growing up, I was always in fairly decent shape. My senior year in high school, 1992, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my future. I was offered and accepted a scholarship to Missouri Valley College to play football. I spent the summer vacation before fall semester getting into the best shape possible. While at MVC, I played on the scout team, and pledged a fraternity. The combination of the two put me in the best shape of my life. In Jan 1993, during Christmas break in San Antonio, I had a seizure, was rushed to the emergency room and after several tests, they decided to perform exploratory surgery on my brain, and removed a parasite that is usually 95% fatal. This ended my football career and pretty much all athletic activity for a long time. Fast forward several years, I’m married, have two kids, own my own business and decide I’d like to take control of my health and my fitness again. My 2011 New Year’s Resolution was to get in shape and this time I was SERIOUS! I started running, and was just beginning to lose some weight, I had even signed up for an obstacle race. One day after work some of my employees invited me to play a “friendly” game of football. I ended up destroying all but one of the ligaments in my knee and fracturing some bones. The ensuing surgeries left me lying in bed, depressed, unable to work or help my family. It was the lowest point of my life and we almost lost our business. After several months of struggling to recuperate, I decided I’d finally had enough. The only way to recover physically and mentally was to give it everything I had and change my entire lifestyle. At that time, I vowed to be in the best shape of my life by the time I turned forty, two years away. In December 2011 I ran into Sonny Wilson at HEB and asked what he was up to. He showed me a flyer and said “Come try my boot camp!” After a little indecision I decided to give it a shot. The first class was TORTURE and I threw up, but at the same time, I was hooked! My starting weight was 240 lbs, pants size 40, shirt size XXL. In May of 2012 I ran my first obstacle race, the Spartan Race. This race is designed to test your physical and mental abilities. It was one of the toughest things I have ever done. It took me more than 3 hours to complete the course, the best time that day was around 45 minutes. I had a long way to go. Six months later, I was down to 195 lbs, pants size 34, shirt size L. In April 2013, I ran the Bluebonnet 5k in our home town of Burnet. I came in first place for my age group and top ten over all. I had become a runner, and I was destined to continue running and racing. The next few months I concentrated on training for the race that had started it all, The Spartan Race. In May 2013 The Mad Dawg team was one of the largest teams to compete that day and I was one of them. Once again, it was one of the hardest things I had ever done. This time was different, though, it only took me 1:27 to complete it. I did not beat my goal time of 1 hour, but I had cut my time in half. I was on top of the world. I’ve continued to compete in 5k, 10k, and other fun runs. With the help of my friend Jeff Beyer I’ve started a running group, “Saturday Morning Breakfast Club”. On October 20th I will run my first half marathon and in December the Spartan Beast. I now weigh 185 lbs., pant size 32, shirt size M/L. I can’t say it’s been easy but I’ve been motivated and encouraged the whole way. In November 2013 I will turn forty. In celebration of my journey, on the November 9th, Sonny Wilson and I will be hosting the first of many MAX OUT events. We hope that everyone, no matter where you are in your fitness level goals, will come out and celebrate the chance we all have to get a little bit better each day. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. Come MAX OUT your journey with us! Max Cardenas
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:56:24 +0000
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