Running Inspiration featuring Kendrick from @KendrickFitness

I ran my first half-marathon, the Diva’s Half, in 2010.  As luck would have it Kendrick was and still is the official coach of the Diva’s Race Series and I was super excited to meet him at the expo.  We have kept in touch virtually over the years and when he first came out with his K-Fit 6 Challenge I knew it would be the perfect program for me!!!  I participated in the challenge myself this past May with amazing results (check them out here).  I am also happy to announce that I will be a support coach for this January’s K-Fit 6 Challenge!!!!  I have been so inspired by Kendrick and all his accomplishments I thought I would have him share his story here with you, check out the Q&A below: 

When did you start running?

I started running when I was in middle school. I would get up before school and jet out for a 3 mile loop. Even from an early age, it was a therapeutic activity for me. It also helped with conditioning for soccer which was my passion. In 8th grade, the track coach who was also our PE coach asked me to try track. I was hooked on the long distance events.

Why did you start Kendrick Fitness?

I actually never had plans to call the business Kendrick Fitness. I made a Facebook page back in 2008 and wanted to have a page where my clients could go and find recipes and fitness tips. I couldn’t think of a clever name when I signed up, so I just naturally went with my name. Then I signed up with the same name for every other social media. It’s now a page that’s more focused in providing runners with tips and support without all the fluff that you sometimes get from magazines. I’m kind of a science geek, so I’m always reading about research and sharing it via the K-Tips on the page.

What made you create the K-Fit 6 challenge.

I was fortunate enough to be selected as the Coach of the Divas Series where I had a chance to train many runners online. I started in 2010 and for the next couple of years I noticed a common trend among the runners. Many of them had goals of losing weight and getting stronger. Even though they had a running schedule to follow, many were not doing any cross training or strength training on the side. Some of them were actually gaining weight. That’s when I realized that I needed to provide something more than just a typical running schedule. I started putting together a realistic nutrition guide for runners; I changed my philosophy from quantity to quality mileage with more fat burning run workouts and I started putting together short 15-20 minute strength training workouts. The response was amazing and runners were finally getting what they were looking for. They were eating much healthier, they had daily goals they were accomplishing, and they were much stronger and faster. I decided to package the K-Fit 6 Challenge into a 6 week online coaching program and we launched it last year (2014) for the first time. We now have support coaches, an amazing private Facebook page and everything to get you on the right path to getting leaner, stronger and faster.

What is your favorite race and race distance?

My favorite distance is the half marathon. You can get into that flow zone and not totally wipe yourself out (like the marathon). Having said that, my favorite race was the NYC Marathon, and not so much for the distance, but the incredible energy of the crowd. It’s really unbelievable to run through all those neighborhoods and have that kind of support. It’s 50,000+ runners and 3 million spectators! Even when everything is locking up in the body, you find a way to dig deeper with that kind of crowd support.

What is your race day routine?

I used to get very nervous before races when I was younger. I would completely dehydrate myself from being so nervous. One time, during my sophomore year of high school, we got to a meet and I realized that I had a chance of winning my very first race. I got so nervous that I went to the bathroom 8 times within 30 minutes of the start of the race. It was ridiculous! It wasn’t until college that I started to have a race day routine. I basically eat the same foods I eat during training. I do about 2-3 minutes of breathing exercises as soon as I get up on race day and I do some visualization of me getting to the start line and going through the race. I do the hydration thing the day before, but then not much on race day. You can actually over hydrate and flush all the electrolytes from your body by drinking too much water, so I stick with sipping some electrolytes on race day.

What is your most favorite piece of running gear?

Foam Roller! It’s a love/hate relationship really. Pretty amazing that such a simple piece of equipment can hurt so much! Especially when rolling the IT bands. But it’s one of the only thing that can help loosen up those tight running muscles.

Do you follow any diet or take any specific supplements that complement your running?

I’m on the K-Fit 6 Diet of course! Although it’s definitely not a diet, just healthy habit changes. I stick with the 1:1 ratio of fruits to veggies; eating at least one serving of veggie for every fruit that I eat and I try to get 3 a day of each. Although I do love a tasty steak every once in a while, I’ve been trying to focus more on eating a plant based diet since it makes me feel more energized. I eat my power oatmeal every morning. It includes walnuts, apples, dried banana, Greek yogurt and cinnamon. It gets me going every day and prevents me from eating crappy the rest of the day. Having said that, I do enjoy treats on a regular basis–I’m actually eyeing some Holiday cookies right now! To keep everything in moderation, I train to maintain an 80/20 diet where I eat healthy (aiming to get all macronutrients) 80% of the time and enjoy the goodies the rest of the time. I don’t take any supplements other than a multi-vitamin and fish oils. I have not found a product that I absolutely can’t live without, so I stick with getting all my essential nutrients from food.

What advice would you give to a newbie runner?

Have a long term goal, but also put together daily goals. Something that you can do today. Even if it’s a 5 minute walk with a 1 minute jog on the last minute. Every little bit counts and it accumulates! One of the goals in designing the K-Fit 6 Program was that I wanted to breakdown the big goal into little goals…so I put together daily and weekly goals that are very attainable by everyone. I’ve had people that were able to lose weight just by sticking with their daily goals because the daily victories add up and turn into habits!

Also, don’t compare with others. Stick with what you can do and focus on improving yourself. Realize that not everyday is going to be a great running day and not every race will give you a PR, some days you’ll feel crappy and that’s ok. Look at running for the other amazing benefits it provides: healthier brain, therapeutic relief, alone time, etc. Focus on the good and everything will be alright.

Kendrick is the owner of Studio K-Fit in California.  You can also find him on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A big thanks to Kendrick for sharing his story and advice!!!!  Kendrick is starting a new K-Fit 6 Challenge this January and has asked me to be a support coach!!! I had an amazing experience with the challenge myself this past May (Check out my posts here) and I am so excited to now be able to help and support others during their challenge.  Check out the full details here.

How do you plan to challenge yourself this January??

Disclosure:  Links to the K-Fit Challenge are affiliate links.  This is a program I have participated in myself and 100% believe in!  If you sign up by clicking my link I do receive a commission which helps to support this blog.