The Journey Begins!

Hello USANA family! I am about to board the plane for Dubai and like all of you, I never leave home without my HealthPak 100! I was just going to empty the paks into my bag. I can’t travel as much as I do without USANA on every trip!

I always up my Proflavanol 90 on long trips like this...helps a lot! It will be interesting to see if I get interesting looks as I take out my HealthPak during our fancy dinners. Should make for some interesting conversation...

Headed to Dubai

I am headed to Dubai today to participate in Festival of Thinkers, a “platform to foster and celebrate thinking, inspiring the youth of the region, and allowing thinkers from around the world to come together and share their ideas and thoughts.” Here is the incredible group.

I can’t wait to meet the “World Thinkers.” (still not sure how I got into this group...) My flight leaves SFO at 4:45pm — thankfully nonstop to Dubai. It’s a short 16-hour flight! I am excited to fly on Emirates Airlines as I have heard how nice the service is. I will send updates during the trip.

Setting a Goal and Achieving It

Last March I was recruited by 4 of my college teammates to run the Nike Half-Marathon in San Francisco. Although all living in different states, they decided we could train (remotely) together for the race in honor of our 20th anniversary of winning the NCAA Championship at Stanford.

As much as I enjoy running, I never run more than 40 minutes! A half-marathon is three times what I am used to! Not wanting to let my teammates down, I very reluctantly decided to commit.

The first step was to sign-up and pay the $100 entry fee. Step two was finding a good training plan. Step three: I followed the program. Step four: recording my workouts.

To my surprise, I enjoyed the training, pushing myself beyond what I thought were my limits. Following the roadmap was invaluable so I never had to “think” about what to do, I trusted the expert’s plan. The feeling of camaraderie and support from my teammates made all of the difference, especially on those days I did not feel like running!

On the morning of the run, I was a bit nervous, sort of like I used to feel before games. Could I really run 13 miles? Was I ready? We lined up in Union Square along with 20,000 other runners and the energy was unreal! I had to force myself not to start out too fast and lose steam! The energy of the event, the runners (and my adrenaline) helped the miles pass remarkably fast. There was music (including a gospel choir and bagpipes) and people cheering every couple of miles.

The run was absolutely breathtaking — a gorgeous loop around San Francisco, including Land’s End and Golden Gate Park, finishing at Ocean Beach.

It was a fabulous way to spend time with my teammates after all these years! And together we pushed each other to get in shape! We each had our own goals — Sonja Henning wanted to qualify for the NY Marathon and she did! Trisha Lamb wanted to beat 2 hours and she did! Ann Adkins wanted to complete her first half-marathon and she did!

And I wanted to run faster than an 8:30 pace and I did! I finished in 1:47!

Just finished!

Nick and Ann

Sonja

For anyone looking for motivation to exercise, I highly recommend getting a group of friends to commit to a race. It was just the motivation and accountability I needed to push myself. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Playing Tennis With Some Legends!

I had a blast yesterday at The Esurance Tennis Classic at Harbor Point in Mill Valley. Harbor Point is a spectacular location with a full view across the bay of San Francisco — gorgeous spot!

The tournament raises money for breast cancer and prostate cancer research. When I was invited to the event, I had no idea what I was in for! I had also just come off of a 10-day road trip, including events in both WNBA Finals cities.


Local resident Larry Goldfarb donated $50,000 to play with Steffi Graf against Andre Agassi — Andre won... The tennis was outstanding!!

Tracy Austin and Michael Chang had a team that competed against Andre and Steffi’s team. It was all fun and friendly! The players joked with the sold-out crowd and clearly had a great time.

Tennis legend Rosie Casals asked me to play next year. I told her I would need two or three lessons first. She said, “Well, Jennifer you will need a lot more than that!” Clearly I would play as a “celebrity” guest, not as a real player. My tennis game is much better than my golf game, but that’s not saying much.

I was also able to visit with Andre and Steffi. What impresses me most about them is how much they give to their communities. They use there celebrity to do amazing things, like Andre’s school in Las Vegas — Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy.

He lit up like a proud father when he told me that they had recently raised $8 million for the school and this year they graduated there first senior class and they are all going to college!!! Amazing! What a great day...

Here I am with tennis great Brad Gilbert.

Mom's Workout: 4-Week Update

I was in Salt Lake City for the weekend visiting my family and got the update on my Mom’s progress (here's the first blog).

Six weeks ago she had a routine blood test and her cholesterol was 285! She had two choices, medication or exercise. She chose exercise.

Five weeks ago, she committed to walking at least three times a week for at least 15-20 minutes. While that may not sound like a lot to some, it has made a big difference! She teaches school full time and it has been challenging to find the time and motivation at the end of a long day to walk.

I was able to join her on two walks and she is getting stronger and more fit each week! She will retest her cholesterol at Thanksgiving.

What a Celebration!

This may be a little late, but I wanted to share the experience with my blog readers. I really enjoyed the USANA DC Celebration!

This was my first USANA event in DC. Dave Delevante did a wonderful job as the local host of the event! I got to spend some time with Dr. Peter Rugg and his wife and enjoyed getting to know them better.

USANA attracts such wonderful people! It is truly a testament to the associates and our management team (well and of course the world’s best products!!!) that we can have a record-breaking quarter in the midst of a recession. To quote Aaron Dinh “When the economy is down, USANA is up and when the economy is up, USANA is up even more!”

I am really excited about what the next year has in store for us! Thanks to Kelly Branan for the great photos!