When I started 7 years ago I rarely if ever thought about nutrition. In reality my nutrition if I worked out was to reward myself with beer, pizza, cheese fries, or wings. I think you get the point. Anyway with shorter distances you really can make it on very little calories, and a lot of us take in more than we need so I really didn't feel I needed to worry about it.
When I started training longer distances I started to try some of the products my friends were using, and nothing seemed to work just right for me. Then I went to the 70.3 World Championships in Florida, and was prepared to have the race of my life. Not only was I racing the biggest race to date for me, but I was using it to raise money for Covenant Hospital to name the Cath Lab waiting room in honor of my Dad. So to say the least I had a lot of expectations for myself and from outside. The short story is that I had a great race going until my stomach started giving me problems on the run. Instantly my race goes from good to nothing short of torture. It was so bad at the end for me that I really wondered if I could race this distance.
A few months later I was in Dallas running a 13.1 race, and at the expo I get to talking to the Gu booth rep and explained to him what happened. Right off he tells me the sugars in the products I was using was probably what caused my problems. He asked me to try some of their products to see the difference. Even being skeptical of another sales pitch I was willing to try anything. So I started with Gu gels and electrolyte mix and everything felt good stomach wise and my energy stayed good. This last season I started using the Gu Roctane and the Gu Recovery mix, and really could see a difference in how I felt during and after workouts and racing. If you feel better you will race better.
So at the end of this last season I was ordering some more stuff from GU and noticed they had a sponsorship application that was due that week. So I decided why not? The worst they can say is no! In a few weeks I get the email that says that they can't offer me a full sponsorship, but because of my passion they want me to be part of their 2013 Pro Program.
I never expected to get any sponsorship, but to get a chance to be part of their Pro Program is a great honor for me. Those of us regular people that do this sport rarely if ever get any help, and nutrition is one of the things that is the first to go when things get tight. Then the fact that I can still remember the guy that was 50-60 lbs overweight, who smoked, and could barely run a block now has a company that wants to help me be better. The reality is even if this wouldn't have happened I would still be using and ordering everything Gu. To have this help I can't express my appreciation to Gu, and especially to you Debbie for giving me a chance. You won't regret it!
Sincerely,
Keebler
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