JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 | FREE | VOL 2 NO 1 | INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM
™
THE VOICE OF THE NEW KANSAS CITY
FKTS IN
THE KCM
DID ASHTON LAMBIE’S RECORD RIDE USHER IN THE ERA OF THE FKT IN KANSAS CITY?
PLUS
THE SIMPLE SCIENCE OF AN EMPIRE BUILT ON JUICE
REBOOT -YOUR RUNNING
-YOUR OVEN -YOUR FINANCES INDIE EATS
QUESTLIKE BARS •1
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 | VOL. 2 NO. 1
Publisher
Christina Frazier
Managing Editor
DR G
Copy Editor
Ted Dace
Contributing Writers
Christina Frazier, Japhi Westerfield, Dr. G, Liz Weslander, Kristen Weigand, Pete Townley, Dave Greenbaum, Amanda Hemmingsen Contributing Photographers
4
FKTS IN THE KCM
Sarah Terranova, Andrew White Art and Production Design
Ashley Lane, Christina Frazier Advertising
Christina Frazier, Holly Grassy Circulation Director
Dr. G
The Voice of the new Kansas City
Hip, healthy, happy, fit: IndieFit Magazine is the Kansas City/Lawrence area’s first alt monthly dedicated to the health and fitness lifestyle, with an indie twist. Through engaging narratives that uncover the story behind the story, IndieFit takes a fun, personal, and sometimes edgy look at local health and fitness. We tell the stories of people who are interested in maximizing their health and performance through local, independent resources. We focus on lifestyle, food, motion, community, calendar. IndieFit is the only locally owned alt press publication in the Kansas City area. Distribution
IndieFit print reaches over 47,000 readers each month (with a combined January/ February issue each year) and is available free throughout the greater Kansas City and Lawrence areas. Readers are limited to one free copy, additional copies may be purchased for $5.00 each plus postage.
ON THE COVER
9
SIMPLE SCIENCE: AN EMPIRE BUILT ON JUICE CONTENTS 3 From the Publisher - Reboot 4 FKTs in the KCM 8 IndieFit Confidential 9 Simple Science Juices 13 Cue Up The Cold 14 Reboot Your Board 15 Death By 1000 Hidden Feeds 16 Indie Eats – Quest-Like Protein Bars
IndieFit may only be distributed by IndieFit’s authorized distributors. No person, without permission in writing from IndieFit, may take more than one copy. Mail subscriptions: $20.00 per year. Make check payable to Tallgrass Labs, LLC. Email feedback@indiefitmagazine.com for mailing instructions. To get IndieFit in your store, email feedback@indiefitmagazine.com.
Copyright
The contents of IndieFit Magazine are Copyright 2016 by Tallgrass Labs, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written permission of the publisher of IndieFit. Disclaimer
The opinions expressed are those of the authors. The articles and content of IndieFit are not meant to represent any form of medical care.
Contact Christina Frazier, christinaf@ indiefitmagazine.com, 913.908.0542 Letters to the Editor
2•
ANDREW WHITE
Email feedback@indiefitmagazine.com
We are
REBOOTING REFLECTOR THE
SOCIETY CHRISTINA FRAZIER
RECENTLY I WAS LISTENING TO A RADIO PROGRAM ABOUT THE MOVIES OF 2015. SEVERAL BLOCKBUSTER CONCUSSION , HOLIDAY FILMS – SPOTLIGHT , SUFFRAGETTE AND FREEHELD – CHRONICLE THE HISTORIES OF PEOPLE WITH STRONG MORAL COMPASSES WHO FOUGHT AGAINST ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE ODDS TO CREATE SOCIETAL CHANGE. This is a common theme in the movies, and since Hollywood is nothing if not a business intent on scoring hits that gross hundreds of millions of dollars, it proves there is more than a latent desire in the hearts and minds of the movie-going public to connect strongly with stories of people who keep moving forward despite the odds stacked against them. People root for positive change. It’s a measurable trend that Hollywood has learned to take to the bank. Movies are reflections, both literally and figuratively. They reflect back a story to us and in doing so help craft our collective memory of historical events. Modern movies use swelling music, sweeping panoramic cinematography, HD close-ups, and energetic editing to conduct our senses and emotions. When done well, after the credits roll and the screen goes to black, we feel like we’ve had an experience. We leave with the sights and sounds and emotion of the story infused in our thoughts and our conversations and maybe even our dreams, sometimes for days. But what really happened? We didn’t experience a real change: we reflected on one. More than 150 years ago, the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote about a “reflector society” where people are
sensible but devoid of passion, prone to strong swells of emotion that stir up quickly and then fizzle out into a pool of indifference, where change is stifled because intention never germinates into action. In contrast, Kierkegaard said, an age of passion is a time of societal disruption, when enough boats get rocked that the old ideas and motivations are tossed overboard, leaving enough space on deck for new ideas and convictions to take hold. January is a time for big ideas. If I could pick one aspect of society ripe for some serious boat rocking, it would be our food supply. We’ll be writing more about this in the pages of IndieFit in 2016, both from the big picture and little picture, with help from our friends both here in Kansas City and elsewhere across the nation and abroad. Make no mistake; what you eat is a political statement. It helps tip the balance in one direction or the other for your personal health and the health of the planet. Eating more nutritious food, eating local food, eating food produced in a safe, sustainable manner without poisons that come back to haunt you, shopping in well-curated local markets and connecting with your friends and neighbors while you do it is an antidote for most of what ails us both here in the KC metro and across the country. Kierkegaard was heavy. His most famous works were Fear and Trembling and The Sickness Unto Death. But his words ring true today. We have a lot of information coming at us in all directions about serious problems in our food supply. But so far we haven’t done enough. Our present age is similar to what Kierkegaard wrote, “a sensible, reflecting age, devoid of passion, flaring up in superficial, short-lived enthusiasm and prudentially relaxing in indolence.”
So I say, let’ all go see the movies and get inspired, but then let’s DO SOMETHING about it in 2016! Remember, change comes from the middle. We are not reflectors here in the Midwest. From our humble prairie beginnings sprung the Free State movement, emancipation, women’s suffrage, jazz, barbeque, the interstate highway system, heck, even EMO music. So don’t think we can’t have an impact. The seeds of change are perennially replanted in our rich prairyerths. The first step is to imagine change. The next step is to make it happen. In 2016 IndieFit will publish ten monthly issues and this combined January/February edition. Each will be devoted to covering the stories that make a difference in Kansas City. We’ll unearth the latest on food, health, and fitness, shining a light of positivity on the stories of local athletes, entrepreneurs, organizations, businesses, organic farms and CSAs, races, runs, cycling events, and everything else transforming the metro into a “new Kansas City.” So welcome to volume 2 of IndieFit Magazine. Thanks for making our launch in 2015 such a raging success. We appreciate the hundreds of emails, letters, texts, and social media messages from those of you who tell us that the stories in IndieFit make them feel good about Kansas City and where we’re headed as a community. The independent press can be a powerful tool for overcoming the Reflector Society. Be passionate in 2016. Please help support the IndieFit mission by liking us on Facebook, telling your friends about us, sending us selfies and weird recipes for kale chips, advertising with us, spreading the love. The revolution will not be televised. It will be published on newsprint! See you again in March. •3
FKTS
IN THE
KCM JAPHI WESTERFIELD
4•
PHOTOS BY ANDREW WHITE
TH E QU ES T FO R FA ST ES T KN OW N TI ME S GO ES LO CA L “DEAR JAPHI. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTER
of March 19th. I was interested to read that you had succeeded in counting up to one million in 494 days. I am sorry to say, however, that we have no information whatsoever regarding the time taken to count up to one million and I am unable to say whether you have created a record or not. This is the reason why there is no heading for such a record in Guinness Book of World Records.” I’ve always wanted to break a record. When I was ten, I counted to a million (in nightly sessions before I went to sleep and more on weekends, I’d record where I left off in my counting journal). An exercise in pure OCD? Maybe. But it was my exercise at least, and once I passed 999,999 and high-fived my little sister, I mailed off a summary of my accomplishment and all of my documentation to the definitive recordskeeping body of that era, the Guinness Book, which also certified the world’s wealthiest cat, the longest fingernails grown by a dude, and the planet’s largest collection of garden gnomes (2,010). Heady stuff. My record fell short on many fronts, including the fact that Guinness didn’t have a category for records on solo counting. They still don’t. There are many aspects to establishing, measuring, and publicizing human achievements and challenges. Somebody has to dream up the challenge in the first place. A governing body or some kind of organization has to create, track, and enforce the rules of the challenge, adjudicate disputes, and “record” results. Competitors have to discover the challenge, dream about taking it on, train, get discourage and injured, overcome hardship, and beg for time off work in order to take it on. So too, there are many different kinds of records. In athletic achievement alone there are school, state, and national records, world records, personal records (PRs), indoor versus outdoor records, amateur versus professional records. Recently, “fastest known times,” or FKTs, have become a new and increasingly popular classification of records. Different than course records set at group competitions, FKT attempts are typically solo affairs with or without a support team. The governing body for the rules of an FKT could be an old school sanctioning body or, increasingly, an online community or even a Wikipedia page. Recent highly publicized FKT pursuits have been followed by thousands on social media, including Scott Jurek’s FKT for a supported through-hike of the Appalachian Trail (46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes), Mike Wolfe and Hal Koerner’s FKT for the John Muir Trial in California, 64 year-old Diane Nyad’s super-human FKT – or OKT since it is the only known time – swimming from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark tank, and perhaps the most badass of all, Heather Anderson’s obliteration
of the FTK for unsupported through-hikes of both the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crestline Trail within a span of two years. FKTs haven’t hit the big time yet in Kansas City, but they might soon. In fact we could look back at 2015 as the year the FKT took root in the KCM. If so, local FKTers will have Lawrence cyclist and Nebraska native Ashton Lambie to thank. Lambie, who works at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike shop, possesses a serious road cycling pedigree, winning the Tour of Lawrence and placing well in previous Nebraska State Time Trail Championships and other USA Cycling Events. But after a few years of the USAC grind, Ashton started looking around for new challenges. He discovered a branch of distance cycling called “randonneuring” that has origins in French audaux cycling where cyclists take on courses of 220k or longer, more than a 100 miles, within a pre-defined time limit. “Think ultradistance cycling at a more leisurely pace,” said Lambie. “There’s no winning. You either finish or you don’t.” Distances range from 120 to 760 miles (200k to 1200k). Randonneurs pick a distance, plot a course, and try to finish under the cutoff time. For example, every 200k in the randonneuring world has a time limit of 8 hours. As Lambie said, “The local chapter or club might put on a 200k ‘event.’ They put it out there, and a lot of people will take on the challenge. The organizations have different awards. One of the big awards is a ‘P12,’ where you do that 200k route 12 months in a row. You can do the route on your own or as a group, so whether you do it as an event or on your own, if you finish you win the reward.” Lambie did some long rides as part of his randonneuring jag, once logging 370 miles in a single day in Colorado. He kept that in mind when he started poking around for his next challenge, an assault on an FKT. But where to look? Lambie wanted to take on a challenge that meant something to him. If you’re a runner in Colorado, you just look up. Hundreds of mountains in the Front Range and throughout the Rockies have FKTs and the list gets longer each summer. If you’re an open water swimmer near an iconic lake or a bay, you can have your pick of FKTs: Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf, the English Channel, even an FKT for a brine fly infested stretch of the Great Salt Lake near Antelope Island. I too wondered whether there were any wellknown local FKTs, cycling or otherwise. Paul Jackson rode the 231 mile KATY trail from Clinton, Missouri, to Saint Charles with an FKT of 12 hours 43 minutes in 2013, but other than that, I haven’t heard of any well-known FKT challenge in the KC area. One online clearinghouse for discussing, publicizing, and documenting FKTs is fastestknowntime.proboards. com. I looked in the Midwest section to see if there were FKTs for a complete circumnavigation of the
Indian Creek Bike Trail System or the Flint Hills Trail or the fastest kayak trip down Brush Creek after a thunderstorm or the fastest shovel ride down the east chute at Snow Creek. The boards didn’t have anything for Kansas City. Fastestknowntime.com does a good job of explaining the honor code of the FKT community. According to the site, the three most important rules are: (1) Announce your intentions in advance. Pay your respects to those who came before you, and tell them what you intend to attempt and when. (2) Be an open book. Invite anyone to come and watch or, better yet, participate. This makes your effort more fun and any result more believable. (3) Record your event. Write down everything immediately upon completion. Memory doesn’t count.
“ONCE I SET A GOAL LIKE THAT, IT’S JUST A MATTER OF GETTING IT DONE.” —ASHTON LAMBIE ON HIS ATTEMPT TO RIDE ACROSS KANSAS IN A SINGLE DAY
The sites lists three main categories of FKTs - supported, self-supported, and unsupported. According to the post http://fastestknowntime.proboards. com/thread/19/read-first, supported FKTs include a dedicated support team that travels with you for support and supplies, basically a sag team. This generally allows for the fastest, lightest trips, and for an element of camaraderie and safety, since someone always has your back. With Self-supported FKTs, you don’t carry everything you need from the start, but you also don’t have dedicated, pre-arranged people helping you. The site suggests that this is commonly done a couple different ways. You might put out stashes of supplies for yourself prior to the trip, or you might just use what’s out there, such as stores, people you meet along
the way, etc. Long distance backpackers are typically self-supported, since they resupply by mail drop or in stores. An Unsupported FTK means you have no external support of any kind. You have to carry all your supplies right from the start (except water that can be obtained along the way from natural sources). You aren’t even allowed to have a pacer. Lambie discovered his challenge while browsing the website of the Ultramarathon Cycling Association (www.ultracycling.com). They document almost every long distance cycling FKT in America. He read about the Kansas west-to-east record and thought it looked doable. Doable, that is, if you can ride like Lambie. The previous record, set back in the early nineties by Tim Parks of McPherson, was 29 hours, 52 minutes and change. The record had held for almost a quarter century even though border-to-border rides are not uncommon. •5
The annual Bike Across Kansas event has introduced thousands of cyclists to long distance rides that start in Colorado and finish in Missouri. But Bike Across Kansas takes seven days. To establish a new FKT, Lambie would have to pedal almost 430 miles across the wheat state in little more than a day at an average speed of almost 18 miles per hour while not falling asleep at the stem! He’d already done a bunch of races in 2015, so Lambie was buff riding-wise. He didn’t need to mix up his training to take on the FKT attempt; it was more a matter of schedule coordination with his support team. Lambie was humble and matter-of-fact about the attempt. “Once I set a goal like that, its just a matter of getting it done.” Oh, and filling out the paperwork. If you think taking on a challenge merely for the sense of accomplishment, without reward or recompense, would in turn be light on paperwork, you’ve never read the rules of the UMCA. It was like the drafters had flunked out of law school and, to avenge the slight, compensated by afflicting a contract so excruciating that only a lawyer (or several) could properly fill the darn thing out. Lambie
6•
painstakingly typed out more than 40 pages of agreements. It took almost a week. But on the upside, the UMCA has a flexible set of rules for scheduling the ride, which helps in a state with fickle weather like Kansas. As Lambie explained, “When you send that paperwork in to the UMCA you have to pick a day to make your attempt, and it has to be within 21 days of filling out your papers. The nice thing is you can either do it the day before or the day after your pick. I picked a Friday, so I could do it Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. I did it on Thursday morning. It was supposed to rain Friday night. So I nailed it.” His route started near Tribune on the Colorado line and followed Highway 96 at first. It finished near Louisburg. Lambie hadn’t ridden west of Great Bend before, but he’d done the last sections east of Emporia several times and felt comfortably familiar for what he knew would be the toughest segment of the ride, where he would fight not only physical fatigue but also potentially issues related to not sleeping for nearly 24 hours. Lambie started his steady eastward grind at 7 am Mountain Time. Even though the first two
hundred miles held to a steady one percent downhill gradient, he bucked a slight southeast wind of 10 to 15 mph which basically nullified the advantage of the descent across the high plains. He stopped a few times to go to the bathroom and let the pace car refuel. (According to the rules, the pace car has to remain anywhere between 100 and 500 feet behind the rider at all times,
so filling up meant Lambie had to break it down, which was especially frustrating at night near the end of the ride). Lambie said the ride across Kansas was similar to his other long ride in Colorado. “You get out of your head a little bit, especially at night. You really have to consciously make yourself focus.” When Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida in 2012, she said she hallucinated that she was following the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz. Kansas or no Kansas, Lambie had no similar hallucination, and like the machine that he is, crossed the state line into Missouri in 23 hours 53 minutes. He finished in less than day and broke the record by five hours. Does Lambie’s precedent signal the beginning of an upswell of FKT attempts in the Kansas City area? Only time will tell, but the chances are we’ll start to see local people begin to identify challenges that are worthy of official FKT attempts. I’m still trying to come up with my own Kansas City area challenge, although I’m pretty sure my only hope for an FKT – like my attempt all those years ago to count to a million – hinges on finding something nobody else wants to do. I’m still working on it. However, I do have one suggestion for area canoeists and kayakers. The last ten years has
brought a renewed interest in floating the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, complete with races like the Gritty Fitty, the Kawrnivore, and the crazy MR340 race from KC to Saint Louis. Kansas City was founded at the confluence of two mighty rivers. None of the experts I checked with knew if anybody had established an FKT for a through-float of the Kansas River from the point in Junction City where the Republican River meets the Smoky Hill to the mouth of the Kansas at Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kansas. Former Kansas Canoe Association president T.J. Hittle told me it should be possible to float the entire 171 miles of the river in less than two days at high water levels. If you decide to put your paddle in the puddle and give it a go, please do your homework on safety. The Kaw has several dangerous weirs and dams in Topeka, Lawrence, and near the I-435 Bridge. You’ll have to get your of your boat and portage around these obstructions. What other challenges await? If you find one, or make one up, please give us a yell here at IndieFit. We’ll see if local FKTs become a big thing in the KCM, or like marathon counting, never quite make it into a plan of record. FEEDBACK@ INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM
JOHN MORAN
AMANDA HEMMINGSEN
1800 DAYS OF ASHTANGA AND COUNTING
Born and Bred
KC native through and through. Current Digs
Prairie Village, a lovely neighborhood for raising a teenager. Alma Maters
JCCC, Vatterott College
Position: Teaching Yoga at Maya Yoga Studio in the Crossroads Arts District
John’s time is dedicated to deepening his practice, teaching others, and gaining “more exposure to some of the classic teachers.” He enjoys “hearing some of the differences” between Ashtanga teachers. “They’re varied just a little, so with each one you get a little bit of insight into postures and how to get deeper.” Diet is Like Politics
“People are going to have their own opinions on it. The yoga community is all about living a clean lifestyle.” Being part of that community means he gets to be exposed to more things, as people share knowledge, dietary concerns, product reviews etc. John places himself on the continuum as “more toward vegetarianism, if not raw, but I do not lock myself down to one or another.” From Adrenaline Junkie to Ashtanga Acolyte
“I was an adrenaline junky at first. I’ve always been hyperactive—I was one of the first test people on Ritalin. I’ve always had to fight with my mind, always been battling with my mind and myself.” Way back in the day, John, the avid cyclist, lover of century rides, finally ended up exacerbating his scoliosis. His chiropractor convinced him to try yoga. Me, a teacher?
“I completed a 200 hour teaching program through Kansas Siddhi Yoga and in the midst of training I tried Ashtanga with Wade and Kathleen, the original owners of Maya Studio.“I originally went for the 200 teaching hours at Kansas Siddhi Yoga just to deepen my own practice.” Wade and Kathleen encouraged John to take another teaching certificate and to come teach at Maya. When Life Hands you Lemons
Kathleen could tell something was up in his personal life when he started working with her shortly after his first teaching certification. She told him it was pretty typical as people became more engaged in yoga for their intimate relationships to go one of two ways: Either closer or not closer. Since his divorce, John’s yoga practice has only deepened. You Make Limoncello
“I look at it just as one day in my life. There will always be another day, this is not permanent. I’m thankful for what I have in my life.” Yoga has encouraged this positivity. “Through my practice, it has made me become closer to myself and my faith,” which he describes as akin to the Hindu idea that, “as long as you’re seeking God, you’re on the right path.”
Health-Wise
“I haven’t missed a day of yoga in 5 years.” Just breathe…
“I always knew the importance of 3 breaths,” recognizing his Irish temper led him to taking 3 breaths as a kid and seeing it be really useful for changing the direction of conflict toward a more positive solution. …and fall into the ebb and flow of life
“Yoga comes to people when they need it. The ones that stick around, it speaks to them and they need to see it. This system speaks differently than other forms of movement based system.” He mentioned several times that practicing 3x a week is when you really start to notice the effects of a yoga practice. Current Project
“Being a father. I think I’m a good dad. I think I’m raising a good daughter.” For John, triumph is “third party recognition of how my daughter is a polite, respectful and concerned individual.” Hey, Kansas City
“We have a lot of great people in KC. I meet people from all cultures, all lifestyles, and everybody’s good. I thought it was a milestone for our city that we had so many people downtown for the Royals parade and nothing bad happened.”
SALES HELP DO YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE IN SALES? PASSIONATE ABOUT HEALTH AND FITNESS? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. Email georgef@indiefitmagazine. com with your resume if you have strong organizational skills and love doing sales for a product you believe in. This is a great way to make substantial supplemental income while working with a new startup that’s going places. •7
SIMPLE
SCIENCE
JUICES
8•
THE RAW SCOOP ON ONE OF KC’S MOST INNOVATIVE FOOD STARTUPS LIZ WESLANDER
PHOTOS BY SARAH TERRANOVA
THE CENTERPIECE OF THE PRODUCTION KITCHEN AT SIMPLE SCIENCE JUICES IS A MACHINE THAT FEATURES A GIANT STEEL CYLINDER THAT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING YOU MIGHT USE TO LAUNCH ARTILLERY.
Fortunately, the only weapons being loaded into this piece of equipment, which is actually a Goodnature X-1 juicer, are fruits and vegetables, and the only battle being fought is the battle for optimal health. Simple Science Juices founder Steve Spangler, an accomplished athlete and budding entrepreneur, is no stranger to the struggle to feel good. In fact, Spangler’s journey from chronic illness to optimal health is what inspired him to start Simple Science Juices, a new Kansas City-based business that specializes in cold-pressed juice blends and also offers gluten- and dairy-free foods. Spangler’s business began as a juicedelivery service and quickly graduated to a stall at the Overland Park Farmer’s Market last summer. In July of 2015, Simple Science Juices opened its first storefront at 8126 Floyd Street, the space formerly occupied by the Villa Capri Italian restaurant in Overland Park. When talking with Spangler, his bright eyes, quick smile and upbeat attitude make it hard to believe he was ever a model of poor health. However, Spangler insists that he was a sickly, allergy-ridden child. Despite his health issues, Spangler played goalie for the Oregon State Beavers in college and was invited to play with Sporting KC during its 2012 preseason, but his health issues never went away. Spangler said he was struggling with asthma, chronic fatigue and taking up to 9 different medications while he was practicing with Sporting KC. “If I got through one month without being bed-ridden sick, then that was a great month,” he said. When Spangler returned home to Arizona during the off-season, his mother, who had stopped eating dairy and gluten with good results, convinced Spangler to undergo food allergy testing. When Spangler learned he was allergic to gluten, dairy, yeast and a number of other foods, he changed his
diet and immediately felt better. The inspiration to try juicing to further increase his health came after seeing the 2010 documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, about a man’s effort to reclaim his health through a diet of fruit and vegetable juices. Spangler was hooked. Today Spangler continues to follow a diet free of gluten, dairy, soy and yeast, and Simple Science Juices are, naturally, a part of his daily routine. However, he describes the last two and a half years of his life as “quite a journey” and said that kicking the cravings for foods that made him feel bad was tough. There were times he would eat something he shouldn’t, feel physically crummy as a result, and then be motivated to eat very clean again. Spangler said that cycle continued in one form or another until the desire to feel good finally trumped the cravings for food he shouldn’t eat. “Now if I have something that doesn’t agree with me, whether it takes form in mental fog, fatigue, or anything other than what I’m used to -- which is optimal performance -- I take note very quickly,” said Spangler. “I am to the point where I can listen to my body and understand its message, whereas before when I
was chronically ill, listening to my body didn’t make sense.” When talking about the mission of Simple Science Juices, Spangler emphasizes two things, promoting the concept of “food as medicine” from a scientific standpoint and making a “food as medicine” lifestyle more accessible and convenient to more people. “The media puts a spin on juicing and dietary changes as some hippie movement, but it’s not.” said Spangler. “There are years and years of anecdotal evidence and a lot of research and science behind why food is medicine. There are reasons why we put certain fruits and vegetable together in our juices. There are reasons why we are gluten-free and dairy free, and it’s not just because it’s a trend.” Before starting Simple Science Juices, Spangler visited numerous juice bars in Portland, Oregon, where you can find a juice bar around almost every corner. Although he borrowed a lot of concepts from what he saw there, he said there were some aspects he had to forgo in order to shake the “hippie” vibe of juicing. “You go into a juice bar in Portland and
the people who are making your juice have dreads and piercings everywhere and don’t have gloves on,” he said. “That works in Portland, but in my mind, it
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
•9
would not work anywhere else. They were using only organic produce -- their product was the highest quality -- but it was just in a horrible package.” Conversely, Spangler said he found that juicing businesses he’s visited in the Kansas City area have sleek exteriors but use ingredients such as non-organic produce and sugar-saturated peanut butter, which are not ideal for optimal health. “It’s a really, really nice package but not a very high quality product. With Simple Science I wanted to merge the two and have both a quality product and a nice package while also incorporating more science,” said Spangler, “this in one of the only places where you can have your typical Johnson County housewife and a raw foodist come in the door at the same time and be in the same place and get the same items.” One of the fundamental “simple science” concepts behind Spangler’s company is that juicing gives your body more nutrients more quickly because juicing removes the insoluble fiber from produce, leaving only water-soluble fiber. “Innovators in the nutrition world say that the water soluble fiber is what houses most of the nutrients,” said Spangler. “When we consume something, our body is breaking down the insoluble fiber in order to get to the water soluble fiber. With juices, you don’t have that breakdown occurrence, so basically your body is extracting nutrients straight from the juice.”
10 •
Simple Science juices are “cold pressed,” a method that also has a simple scientific explanation. Cold-press juicers extract juice from the pulp of fresh fruit and vegetables by applying a large amount of hydraulic pressure. The benefit of the cold-press process is that it involves no heat and minimal amounts
of oxygen, both of which can compromise the nutritional value of juices. Spangler explained that household juicers typically employ a centrifugal juicing method, which extracts juice from produce using a blade that spins at a high speed, which generates heat and oxidates nutrients, rendering the juice less pure.
Simple Science uses organic ingredients for their juices, and the 11 different prepackaged juice blends come with names like Electron, Molecule and Nucleus, which are in keeping with the science theme. Spangler said it takes between two and two and a half pounds
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
of produce to make one of their 16 ounce bottles, which sell for $8.50 each. The sheer amount of produce that goes into one serving of juice is part of the reason Spangler thinks Simple Science can make health more accessible and convenient for people. “Most don’t want to go to Whole Foods, buy all of the fresh ingredients for juicing and then prepare them at home. That just doesn’t work for people,” said Spangler. “There should be a juice bar or something healthy on every corner. If you have to drive by health every single day, there is no excuse for why health is not making its way into your lifestyle.” In order to maximize convenience, Simple Science offers delivery and is currently working on an efficient callahead pick up system. The company also recently signed a lease for a satellite store at 145th and State Line and hopes to finalize plans for stores in the Crossroads District, Brookside, Briarcliff and Lawrence in the near future. Spangler understands that juicing and a clean diet are only one part of wellness, and Simple Science fosters
an environment that encourages total wellness. The company has a community bulletin board filled with information on health and fitness resources in the area and has an onsite dietician available for people with questions about making long-term changes in their health. “If they just come to us and no one else, then it’s a diet and just a fad,” said Spangler. “But if they incorporate meditation and they incorporate fitness and they incorporate other modalities of health and fitness into their day to day, then it becomes a lifestyle.” As for the possibility that juicing is just a fad that will soon fall out of popularity, Spangler said he’s not concerned. “I can’t imagine a doctor coming out and saying that fruit and vegetables are bad for you, and that’s basically all juicing is,” said Spangler. “We’re going to be devastated if pizza comes out as the top nutritional choice of all doctors, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” FEEDBACK@ INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM
• 11
ContributE DOES YOUR PROSE SIZZLE? ARE YOU A KC FITNESS SUPER-CITIZEN
OR A BONAFIDE LOCALVORE?
to
THEN WRITE FOR US.
™
™
EMAIL GEORGEF@INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM WITH A BRIEF EMAIL INTRODUCTION AND SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK.
12 •
NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
WHEN THINGS GO VIRAL January’s here and you’re sick with the common cold, flu, or a viral infection. If you’ve got the flu, it’s too late for a flu shot, and unless you develop a secondary infection, antibiotics won’t help. To help empower your immune system with what it needs to fight back - an ample supply of nutrient-rich natural remedies - Natural Grocers provided IndieFit with the following nutritional
IMMUNE-ENHANCING NUTRIENTS N-ACETYLCYSTEINE (NAC)
This potent antioxidant aids the liver’s detoxification processes and helps regulate the immune response. Italian researchers gave 262 seniors either 600 mg of NAC or placebos twice daily over the cold and flu season. Of the people with laboratory-confirmed flu infections who were taking NAC, only 25 percent developed symptoms. In contrast, 79 percent of the men and women taking placeboes developed clear-cut flu symptoms, according to an article in the European Respiratory Journal. Other studies have confirmed the immune benefits of NAC. Take: 600 mg twice daily during the cold and flu season. On the first day of symptoms, increase the amount to 2,400 to 3,600 mg daily and continue until symptoms subside.
VITAMIN D
Researchers have noted that the wintertime increase in cold and flu infections appears directly related to less seasonal sun exposure and lower vitamin D production. Your body needs vitamin D to make a variety of germ-fighting factors, such as the important antimicrobial compound cathelicidin. Some research shows that the vitamin can reduce the risk of contracting the flu. Take: 5,000 IU daily for adults, and up to 1,200 IU daily for children. Adults can also boost their vitamin D intake to 10,000-20,000 IU daily for the first several days of a cold or flu, then resume a lower dose.
ZINC LOZENGES
Harri Hemila, Ph.D., of the University of Helsinki, Finland, crunched data from 199 patients
who took either zinc lozenges or placebos. Zinc lozenges led to significant decreases in all cold symptoms, including nasal discharge, congestion and hoarseness. Zinc lozenges eased symptoms and reduced cold length by one day, according to a separate analysis of 1,360 people. Take: Take one lozenge every two to four hours until symptoms subside. Zinc lozenges are most effective when started at the first sign of cold symptoms.
PROBIOTICS
From infancy on, our gut bacteria help program our immune systems. New research has shown that some specific types of probiotics can blunt cold and flu symptoms in both children and adults. Bifidobacterium bifidum eased cold and flu symptoms in stressed out college students. In a study of children in day care centers, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG reduced upper respiratory tract symptoms. Still other research has shown that Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus brevis can improve cold and flu symptoms. Take: What the label suggests. Any or all of the mentioned strains should provide preventive benefits when taken long term.
VITAMIN C
Although critics dismiss the benefits of vitamin C, the science supports its use in reducing cold and flu symptoms, but the key is taking enough. Vitamin C seems of particular benefit to people exposed to cold and snowy weather, otherwise known as winter. Other research has shown that it reduces cold and flu symptoms among stressed children and adults. You might wonder who isn’t stressed
supplementation cheat sheet developed by nutrition expert and author of the Nutrition Reporter, Jack Challem, to guide you through this winter season! For article references, you can find the entire guide at https://www.naturalgrocers.com/nutrition-and-health/nutritionlibrary/nutrition-article/beating-the-cold-and-flu-season.
these days—so the vitamin can benefit just about everyone. Take: Studies have found that the ideal wintertime dose of vitamin C is 2 to 6 grams (2,000 to 6,000 mg) daily, but much less for small children.
LYSINE
This amino acid got people’s attention decades ago when researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, found that it inhibited the growth of herpes simplex, a virus that causes cold sores. People taking lysine had fewer infections, shorter infections and faster healing. Other studies have been conflicting, but lysine is certainly worth a try when it comes to fighting cold sores—or the common cold itself. Take: 1,000 mg three times a day at the first onset of symptoms.
HERBAL RELIEF ECHINACEA
One of the most popular herbal remedies in Europe, echinacea (Echinacea spp.) works wonders when it comes to reducing the odds of catching a cold or flu, and it also seems to ease symptoms. An analysis of 14 human studies, published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, found that echinacea supplements slashed the odds of catching a cold by an impressive 58 percent. For people who did catch a cold, the herb cut its duration by a day and a half. Take: Follow label directions, but tinctures may be more effective than capsules.
ELDERBERRY
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) can quickly reduce the aches, pains and tired feeling that usually accompanies the flu. In one study, Israeli researchers found that 14 of 15 people taking elderberry extract
had a significant reduction in symptoms, including fever, after just two days, and 13 of the 15 patients were symptom free after three days. Most of the studies have used an elderberry syrup, not capsules. Take: Follow label directions for use, but opt for a sugar-free syrup.
AHCC
This mushroom extract, technically known as “active hexose correlated compound,” appears to boost the activity of a family of immune cells, known as natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells are among the most powerful of immune cells and specifically target virusinfected cells and tumor cells. Take: 1,000 mg daily.
PANAX GINSENG
Ginseng has for centuries been considered a tonic and rejuvenator in Asia. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has found that North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) can benefit people during the cold and flu season. The study involved 232 adults who frequently caught colds. The herb slashed the length of colds by onethird, and it slightly reduced the odds of catching a cold. Take: What the product label recommends.
ANDROGRAPHIS
Studies have found that this Chinese herb (Andrographis paniculata) can greatly reduce symptoms of upper respiratory infections, the very symptoms associated with the flu. Its benefits may be enhanced when combined with Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), which was originally known as Siberian ginseng. Take: Either or both of these herbs during a cold or flu, and then stop when symptoms are gone.
HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES OSCILLOCOCCINUM®
Of all the homeopathic remedies, oscillococcinum (pronounced os-sil-uh-cox-suh-num) has good evidence that it can reduce flu symptoms. Homeopathy uses minute doses of substances, with low doses having a greater effect than high doses. Although the theory might sound counter-intuitive, it does make sense from the point of view of molecular biology, in which trace amounts of substances can significantly affect cell function. A respected Cochrane Collaboration review described it as a “promising” remedy and noted that it “probably reduces the duration of illness in patients presenting with influenza symptoms.” Take: What the label suggests, starting on the first day of a cold or flu. Oscillococcinum contains extremely minute extracts of duck heart and liver, so it might not be suitable for vegetarians. Not every supplement will work the same way for every person, in part because of our genetic and lifestyle differences. Still, you’ve got a pretty broad choice of natural options to help you avoid catching a cold or flu this winter season,
NHC INFORMATION
Most Natural Grocers in the Kansas City metro are staffed with a trained Nutritional Health Coach (NHC). You can connect with an NHC through the many complimentary services he or she offers, including answering questions while you shop, presenting in-store nutrition classes and cooking demos, even offering one-on-one health coaching sessions. You can find out more at their website. living/nutrition-help/#sthash. DmRZLAOz.dpuf • 13
REBOOT YOUR RUNNING KRISTEN WEIGAND
Runners listen up. Sometimes you need to just sit still. FIRST THE EXCUSES. IT’S JANUARY.
It’s cold and dark. If the trails are covered over in ice or snow and you can’t stand being sentenced with a treadmill and a half hour of Ice Road Truckers, the excuses mount. And who are you kidding? You’re not going to PR for the trail 10k in January or February. Winter running has its own rhythms, and heavy-duty racing isn’t part of them. Maybe you’re burned out or just sore and banged up from your fall racing or suffering from nagging aches and pains. Hear me on this. It’s time to reboot your running. Now for the science. A break in running, or several breaks each year, will lengthen your career and increase the chance that running will be part of your life for a long time. If you want longevity in the sport of running, whether you’re a school athlete, an experienced racer, or just a plodder, a break in your running routine can help you avoid burnout and actually improve your running ability. If you’ve been really building up, it can help prevent Over Training Syndrome (OTS) or one of its milder brothers. OTS can happen if you don’t include sufficient rest in your routine and especially if you race a lot. Training beyond your body’s ability to recover can set the stage for
14 •
injury, emotional and physical burnout, or stagnation. Most non-elite athletes don’t need to worry about OTS in its most severe form. However, overreaching in your training could set you up for emotional burnout. So keep it fresh and schedule some quality time with the couch. Seriously. Taking anywhere from a week to a month off can rejuvenate you physically and mentally. You can finally allow that throbbing Achilles tendon to properly heal. (You always knew it was nothing serious, and you were right, but if you’d kept pushing, it could have turned into another story altogether). But I know. We’re runners. What the heck are we going to do without our daily dose of beautiful running mojo? I say embrace the downtime. If you can’t stand it, then cross train! I know this is surprising but there are other forms of exercise besides running. Give yoga or weightlifting a chance. Go see what cross fit is all about. Kansas City running guru and coach Eladio Valdez told me it’s “better to do something rather than nothing and having to start over from scratch” during down time from running. Remember that place called the gym? Take a class (they’re usually cheap or free for members). “The newness might
motivate you,” said Valdez. “The brain craves newness.” In the long run, using your body in different ways and letting it take a break from the constant high impact exercise of running will help you become a stronger, more injury proof runner. Use January to reflect on your gains from the previous year and set new goals. How did your races turn out? Did you meet your goals or at least make progress? Are your goals changing? Do you want to get faster next year or run more injury free? Do you want to toss speed in the river and just embrace long slow distance? How can you make improvements this year? Maybe it’s time to plan a half marathon or chase a new PR in your favorite distance. Now’s the time to plan. After you feel you’ve given your body adequate rest you’ll need to ease back into your running regimen. Start easy. Listen to your body. Don’t go right back to the same routine. Valdez suggests you should “shoot for two or three runs a week, three being golden.” Spring will be here before long and you’ll be sprinting into that new training schedule better, faster, stronger and ready to conquer your new training and race goals.
REBOOT YOUR BOARD
YOUR BOARD Overland Park’s Repair Shack is literally changing people’s lives via the green art of appliance control board repair.
INDIEFIT STAFF
LENEXA’S REPAIR SHACK IS ONE OF KANSAS CITY’S MOST INNOVATIVE INTERNET STARTUPS, so
bookmark this article. Someday, if you’re like me, you might leave a pot of boiling sweet corn on the stove, go take a nap, wake up to the blare of the smoke detector, make a mental note that, yes, the smoke detector actually works -- and then panic. Afterward you’ll discover your oven has become a conscientious objector and won’t heat up no matter how hard you press the broil button. That’s when you’ll remember this article, and it will save you one thousand, three hundred and fifty-seven dollars. Maybe more.
Since 2014, The Repair Shack has quietly waged a battle to finish first in Google searches for terms like “Whirlpool Range Control Board 308716,” a battle that’s beginning to pay off handsomely for the growing company, its founder Brandon Cady, and anybody who fries the electronics of a major household appliance. Cady studied business at K-State until he dropped out to become an entrepreneur. In 2009, he and a friend started a business in Wichita selling laptops (literally hustling them out of the trunk of their cars at first). He sold that company and transitioned into other endeavors, including a stint back in the world of day jobs at collegepro.com. Two years ago he threw all of his efforts into making the Repair Shack the go-to company for boardlevel device repair. The business model is extremely simple. For $99, the Repair Shack will refurbish the control board of almost any major appliance. Since 2014, Cady estimates he’s saved customers almost $2 million. “We live in a throwaway world,” he told IndieFit. “Manufacturers have done everything they can to drive the price of things down. The downside is everything becomes replaceable; it becomes cheaper to replace things than to fix them.” Not everything. After I cleaned up the mess in my kitchen and thanked the major deities that I hadn’t burned down our house, I discovered that even though my stove worked and my oven appeared structurally intact, no matter which control panel buttons I pushed, all I heard was a clicking noise. No broiler. No heat. No layered eggplant and zucchini lasagna. Because we have a now extinct drop-in oven and an older kitchen, I had four choices to get cooking again: burn almost two thousand bucks on a custom drop-in oven/ range to fit my 21” cabinets, cut a hole in the counters and slide in a stand-alone model that would jut out beyond the cabinets, finance a complete kitchen remodel, or somehow fix my comatose oven/range. I’m handy with electronics, so I knew the problem was in the control board, the “brain” of the oven that controls the temperature, cook time, automatic shutoff, timer, and clock. After I switched off the circuit and looked behind the display panel I could see melted components on the board. So I put on my reading glasses, carefully copied down the model number of the board, and Googled it. That’s how I found the Repair Shack. For $99.99 plus shipping they promised to completely refurbish the board, run diagnostic validations of their handiwork, and mail everything back to me via UPS. All I had to do was find someone to remove and
reinstall the unit. Cady indicated that some fairly serious electrical engineering goes on during board repair. “We get down pretty deep in some repairs, into some of the eprom chips. We get in there with a hex-level programming tool sometimes and twiddle bits in the software to get things working. We have our own bypasses we do for some boards that become nonrepairable. We can add, for example, our own microcontroller that we designed to emulate the functionality of those old controllers. It picks up where a portion of the original microcontroller has gone bad. It’s like attaching a prosthetic leg. We’re constantly learning more. It takes a pioneering spirit and a lot of reverse engineering for some of these fixes.” Even though 95% of their business comes from ecommerce and only 1% of their customers are from the states of Kansas or Missouri, Cady is dedicated to the local business community and wants the Repair Shack to expand their presence in the area. Toward that end they recently relocated to the new Lenexa facility. Their doors are open to the general public. My wife drove the damaged board to and from the shop, and four days later our oven was working again. I calculated that the electronic voodoo the Repair Shack guys unfurled on my corn fried board saved us $1375. Apparently I’m not the only one. When he first got into board level repair, Cady had no idea what impact it would have on people’s lives. A few months after the transition he started hearing from customers. “Last year at Christmas a woman sent me a hand-written letter. She and her family were gathered together for the holiday. She said they were able to have gifts for their children because they didn’t have to spend all of their Christmas money on an appliance.” Cady gets letters like this all the time. “I didn’t realize how much we were impacting people’s lives. It’s what really made me go full force into board level repair for appliances. For some people, we’re their last hope. It’s amazing.” I agree. You don’t often fine win-win situations like this in business, a win for the Repair Shack, its employees, and people like me who don’t want to toss out a perfectly good oven because they’re stupid enough to take a nap when the corn’s boiling. EMAIL: FEEDBACK@ INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM
THE REPAIR SHACK 14021 W 95TH STREET LENEXA, KANSAS 66215 WWW.THEREPAIRSHACK.COM (913) 732-0514
• 15
FIT academy
THIS
REALLY CAN BE
YOUR
YEAR PETER TOWNLEY
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, as a personal trainer I have a unique vantage point. I’m on the inside and privy to the heartfelt good intentions my clients bring to the new year – to lose weight, run a half marathon, master the dead-lift, or just make a change that sticks. But therein is the stickiest point. It’s hard to fully commit to promises we make to ourselves in the glow of early January. Why is that? In my fifteen plus years in the business I’ve noticed two important reasons, and the good news is, I’ve developed some adjustments that have helped my clients. They can help you too. Some people put a stake in the ground, declaring “this is my year!,” complete with a vision of charging forward with a Braveheartlike determination. They pick routines to match, and although these may include great exercises, they do too much too soon, starting at an advanced stage when they would be better off wading in slowly and giving themselves time to work up to the bigger workouts. But more than that, many people just starting out need to focus on structural balance before embarking on a high intensity weight program or high mileage running or cycling. No matter where you are skillwise, addressing your weaknesses and fixing structural issues first will set you up for success. Prepping your body before jumping into a full-bore training cycle seems like a no-brainer, but I can’t count how many times someone has come to me wanting to hit the ground running (literally!). I love that moxie, but a well-balanced body is less prone to injury, and can provide a foundation for a lifetime of functional capability. Think of your training as a pyramid. A pyramid with a large
16 •
base will reach the greatest heights, so the more we focus on the groundwork the better our chances to succeed. Some personal trainers are in the “bikini season” business, and forgo the bigger lessons that will help their clients build a program they can stick with for life. New Year’s resolutions should be no different. Taking steps now to prep your body for what’s coming in your fitness regime will help you stick with your goals and turn resolutions into results. The other key element many people miss is developing the correct mindset for success. I’ll get back to that in a minute. So how do you work on your structural balance? The following exercises are grounded in physical therapy and aim to create what we call “front to back” and “side to side” balance. These exercises include, L Laterals, ring rows, angled step ups and banded squats. Every person is different in their weaknesses.
There is never a “one size fits all” prescription of movements to create structural balance, so these are just examples. However, if you include these movements, in addition to large compound exercises like squats, deadlifts and presses, you’ll target stability in the muscle groups of your shoulders, hips and knees and provide a foundation to build upon as you gradually increase your workouts. Your personal trainer can work on the details with you, but remember to include movements for structural balance along with movements for growth, and you’ll be on the path. As far as the mindset goes finding a behavioral change model that works is my favorite part of any new program design. This is how “Ah Ha!” moments are born. The goal is to develop coping mechanism to overcome situations that are bound to develop in the course of training. Plan for these in advance! In the March issue I will write in depth on this
topic, so stay tuned. To increase your chances for success, your best bet is to seek the advice of a certified personal trainer who can help map out your plan for structural balance and make sure you have the right mixture of core movements no matter what your goals are. It’s January, and there’s no better time to begin than at the beginning. Enjoy the journey! Ensuring that this is the last year you have to promise yourself that “this is my year” will take some thought and planning, but if you do it right, at next New Year’s Eve you can toast, “this is my life!” PETE TOWNLEY, MS, CSCS , USAW, IS A SPORTS PERFORMANCE COACH AT NEXT LEVEL SPORTS. FEEDBACK AT PTOWN927@GMAIL.COM OR FEEDBACK@INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM.
CLEAN QUESTLIKE BARS INDIEFIT STAFF
Make your own protein bars and take control of what’s in your food!
Quest Nutrition Bars are one of America’s favorite protein bars. When they first hit the scene, their reputation as a clean, healthy option in a market of competitors with more nutritional similarities to Halloween candy than food that could fuel your fitness made them incredibly popular. VitaFiber was originally the key ingredient in the bars, a natural non-GMO fiber (Isomalto-Oligosaccharide or IMO). The original recipe also contained sucralose. By popular demand, in 2011 Quest tweaked the recipe and removed the sucralose. Sales continued to rise. Today the bar is generating controversy over nutritional labeling and questions about the “soluble corn fiber” that was used in place of the original VitaFiber and how that affects the calorie count of the new product. There is also controversy about how it affects the levels of blood sugar in the body. In a further tweak, Quest brought the sucralose back, we suspect, to sweeten sales. But Quest bars aren’t organic and they contain GMOs. This matters in a product that features whey protein and soluble corn fiber. Why waste your time and energy working out only to follow it up with a dose of Glysophate, animal growth hormones, and antibiotics if you don’t have to? Instead, try making these questlike bars. The IMO is the priciest ingredient in the mix but otherwise making these bars is surprisingly quick and easy. We think they taste like Quest bars.
HOMEMADE QUEST BARS:
COOKIES AND CREAM MAKES 3 BARS BASIC INGREDIENTS
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (whey and casein blend) • 2Tbs of blanched ground almonds • 2 organic Oreo style cookies • 1 tsp of vanilla • 1 pinch of salt to taste • 1/4 cup IMO or Vitafiber or FiberYum both non-GMO • Natural sweetener to taste • Water as needed
DIRECTIONS:
• In a large glass bowl, combine dry ingredients, crush up the Oreo and blend well by hand. I added a few tsp of natural sweeteners to the mix. This works well if your protein is sweetener-free or if you want to bump up the sweetness. • Heat up the IMO in a pan until the syrup is just starting to bubble. Do not overcook. • Mix the IMO in with the dry ingredients. If after working the mixture it seems too dry, add water one teaspoon at a time to make the dough mixture stick, being careful not to add too much water. • Scoop out the dough and divide into 3 balls, shape into bars and add to a sheet lined with parchment paper, refrigerate for 30-40 minutes to firm up. • 17
DEATH BY DAVE GREENBAUM
A THOUSAND
HIDDEN
FEES Reboot your bank account by noticing the little things
A NEW YEAR MEANS A NEW START ON YOUR FINANCES. WHILE MANY PEOPLE LOOK TO CUT BIG EXPENSES, SMALL BILLS AND MISCELLANEOUS FEES CAN ADD UP QUICKLY TO A BIG EXPENSE IN THEMSELVES. I RECENTLY SPOKE TO SOME PEOPLE IN THE AREA ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE DOING TO IMPROVE THEIR FINANCIAL STANDING IN 2016. THEY HAD SOME GREAT IDEAS. The best way to approach cutting out small hidden pocks against your pocket book is to look for the “olives and limes” in your life. This is how airlines save millions of cumulative dollars each year. American Airlines realized passengers weren’t eating olives on the salads they served. They removed the olives and saved $40,000 a year. Northwest Airlines saved $500,000 a year by cutting limes into 16ths instead of the standard 10ths. If anyone knows how to squeeze a few extra dollars out of life, it’s the airlines.
18 •
REDUCE
Alaina Lamphear of Kansas City put a stop to all those fees and has a growing bank account to prove it. Her strategy wasn’t that different than olives and limes. First, she saved $100 a month just by giving up soda. She realized those “value meals” were tricking her into spending more. Now she flavor her water and gets both financial and health benefits. If you can’t give up your daily habit entirely, you might be able to cut back a little. Move from a large to a small drink or even a medium. That little bit might make a big difference after a month. We all have some daily or weekly habits. If those habits involve spending, rethink it. Alaina sometimes needs a little extra cash, so she stops at a grocery store to buy something and get cash back. Eliminating that habit saved her the temptation of spending extra at the grocery store. Some habits are hard to break, so think of ways of shaking up your routine. If you pass by that coffee shop on the way to work, change your route. She also realized she was paying $35 for a storage unit at her apartment for stuff she wasn’t using. So she sold that stuff online or just gave it away. That saved her the monthly fee and she got a little extra cash. Web sites like Mint.com or AskTrim.com will look at your expenses and make suggestions for ways of trimming those annoying recurring costs. Some of these little expenses are automatic and you might not even see them. My bank was charging me $2.50 every month for a “statement fee.” I didn’t see that right away. The bank told me they gave me notice and would waive the fees if I changed to a different account.
RENEGOTIATE
Lawrence resident Tracy Adair Derning had a similar experience with her cable company. She was sick of her rate rising and tried to negotiate for a lower fee. When the customer service person didn’t budge, Tracy threatened to cancel her account. Those magic words saved her $60 a month. Most companies have retention reps or policies to give you a better rate to keep you as a customer. This trick works not just to change your monthly recurring charges but also to get late fees and penalties removed. When the company considers the cost of keeping you as a customer versus the cost of adding brand new customers, they’ll often work to keep you onboard. Any company that bills you every month or year is a good candidate for renegotiation. Media companies like magazines or newspapers are legendary for a bump after the first year. They’ll renew your subscription automatically at a much higher rate. When you see a charge on your credit card, compare it to the rate the previous year. If it went up, call the company and ask for the previous rate or threaten to cancel. Check online for special discounts and promotions and ask for them. If you attended college, ask for an alumni discount. Mobile phone companies often have these discounts, so ask the company for any specials when you call. The worst they can say is no, and that’s when you can decide whether to keep them or not.
REMOVE
Sometimes it’s better just to drop those fees altogether. Joe Davis of Kansas City, Kansas is one of a growing group of people “cutting the cord.” He stopped subscribing to cable TV and now saves $100 a month. He watches some shows online with his AppleTV. For other shows, he uses a digital antenna. Companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime let you share your account with trusted friends. Joe watches some sports by sharing a login for major networks with his Dad. If you want to cut the cord but not miss sports, try to find someone to share a login ID with. When you’re looking for these extra fees in your life, remember the three Rs: reduce, renegotiate and remove. All these little expenses are under your control. Start buying the stuff you want and stop paying more than you need to each month.
EMAIL: FEEDBACK@INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM
FRIDAY JANUARY 1
www.skisnowcreek. com
RUNNING.EVENTS BIKING.EVENTS Grote Prijs Commitment Day Fun Run Shawnee Life Time Fitness Part of Series60CX USAC Rules Timed 16851 West 90th St Rides Lenexa, KS
Herman Laird Park 10:00 am www.commitmentday. Shawnee, Kansas Between 10:30 – 3:30 com/kansas/lenexa for start times deHangover Half pending on category Marathon & 5K
Waterwalk Place 515 S. Main St Wichita, Kansas 9 am BIKING.EVENTS Lawrence Mountain Bike Club
New Year’s Ride Lawrence River Trails Lawrence, Kansas Noon www.lawrencemountainbikeclub.org/newyears-day-ride/ Tailwind Cyclists New Year’s Ride
Pittsburg, Kansas http://www.tailwindcyclists.com/events. html SUNDAY JANUARY 3 SNOW.EVENTS John L. Cassidy Winter Games Clinic
Snow Creek Weston, Missouri
THURSDAY JANUARY 7 TRIATHALON. EVENTS TriKC Big Spin Sessions
JCC Fitness and Sports Center Overland Park, Kansas www.trikc.org/events 7 pm FRIDAY JANUARY 8 SNOW.EVENTS World’s Largest Ski Lesson
#LargestSkiLesson Snow Creek Weston, Missouri www.skisnowcreek. com SATURDAY JANUARY 16
KANSAS INDOOR TRIATHLON COMPETITIONS
A TRIATHLON FOR THE IMPATIENT 10 MINUTE SWIM IN THE LAP POOL 30 MINUTE BIKE RIDE IN THE CYCLE STUDIO 20 MINUTE RUN ON THE TREADMILL THE WINNER COVERS THE MOST DISTANCE
SUNDAY JANUARY 3
AT THE LENEXA (16851 W 90TH ST) AND OVERLAND PARK (6800 W 138TH ST)
LIFETIME FITNESS LOCATIONS The Life Time Indoor Triathlon is a fun challenge that appeals to everyone — from seasoned triathletes to first-timers — because you set your own pace. And all the action takes place in one convenient, weatherproof location. And you can finish the entire event in less than an hour.
Register at http://www.indoortri.com/page/show/152658-kansas-indoor-triathlon
RUNNING.EVENTS Battle of the Bean 5k Run/Walk Topeka to Auburn Half Marathon Foo’s Fabulous Frozen
Indian Hills Elementary School 7445 SW 29th St Topeka, KS 10:00 am www.sunflowerstriders.org
Custard Ranch Mark Shopping Center 95th and Mission Rd Leawood, Kansas 8 am www.battleofthebean5k.com
SUNDAY JANUARY 17 SNOW.EVENTS John L. Cassidy
Winter Games Clinic Snow Creek Weston, Missouri www.skisnowcreek. com
Moonlight Ski
Snow Creek Weston, Missouri Weather Permitting 9 pm www.skisnowcreek. com
• 19
SATURDAY JANUARY 23 COMMUNITY. EVENTS Cultivate KC Annual Farmers & Friends Meeting
Kansas City, MO 8 am http://www.cultivatekc.org/events/annualmeeting
34TH ANNUAL TOPEKA TO AUBURN HALF MARATHON SATURDAY JANUARY 16, 10 AM TOPEKA TO AUBURN HALF MARATHON INDIAN HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 7445 SW 29TH ST TOPEKA, KS 10:00 AM If you enjoy town and country running and point-to-point courses, this winter half is worth the drive to Topeka. But make sure you train for the hills and dress for success, as some years there’s been over a foot of snow.
SKATETOWN, USA WINNWOOD SKATE CENTER
Roller Skating 4426 NE Winn Rd Kansas City, MO 64117 (816) 452-1171
CROWN CENTER ICE TERRACE
20 •
Outdoor Ice Skating 2425 Grand Blvd Kansas City, MO 64117
SUNDAY JANUARY 24 RUNNING. EVENTS Psychodelic 5K Trail Run Ice Edition
Wyandotte County Lake Kansas City, KS 9 am
Groundhog Run 5k & 10k
100% Underground! Hunt Midwest Subtropolis Kansas City, MO 8 am WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27 SNOW.EVENTS John L. Cassidy Winter Games
Snow Creek Weston, Missouri www.skisnowcreek. com COMMUNITY. EVENTS Hospital Hill Run Race Director Conference
Shook, Hardy, and Bacon 2555 Grand Blvd
Kansas City, MO 8:00am Must pre-register www.imathlete.com/ events/ HHRRaceDirectorConference THURSDAY JANUARY 28 SNOW.EVENTS John L. Cassidy Winter Games
Snow Creek Weston, Missouri www.skisnowcreek. com FRIDAY JANUARY 29 SNOW.EVENTS John L. Cassidy Winter Games
Snow Creek Weston, Missouri www.skisnowcreek. com
Roller skating may have peaked in the seventies, but in the dead of winter, hitting the roller rink is a great way to fight cabin fever, channel your inner sevvie, and convince yourself it’s finally time to break down and watch Patrick Swayze’s big-screen debut in Skatetown, USA (which also starred Scott Baio and Maureen McCormick from the Brady Bunch). If you’re more into Brian Boitano or Tanya Harding, we’ve got you covered there as well.
(816) 274-8411
LINE CREEK COMMUNITY CENTER
Indoor Ice Skating 5940 NW Waukomis Dr Kansas City, MO 64151 (816) 505-2244
KC ICE
Outdoor Ice Skating 6109 NW 63rd Ter Kansas City, MO 64151 (816) 249-2600
SKATE CITY ROLLER SKATING
9800 W 62nd Ter Merriam, KS 66203 (913) 262-0711
KC INDOOR SKATE PARK
Indoor Skate Park 9701 W 67th St Merriam, KS 66203 (913) 669-0323
THE ICE OUTDOOR SKATING
11565 Ash St Leawood, KS 66211 (913) 381-2229
LANDMARK 2 SKATE CENTER Roller Skating 701 SE Oldham Ct Lee’s Summit, MO 64081 (816) 524-2000
SKATE CITY OVERLAND PARK
Roller Skating 10440 Mastin St Overland Park, KS 66212 (913) 888-6668
WHO
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6 RUNNING. EVENTS Chocolate Rush 5K & Half
NEEDS
143rd & Mur-Len Olathe, KS 8 am
MOUNTAINS? MOUNTAINS?
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7 RUNNING. EVENTS The Kickoff Run 5K Run/Walk
Arrowhead Stadium One Arrowhead Way Kansas City, MO 9 am www.kickoff5k.com SATURDAY FEBRUARY 13 RUNNING. EVENTS Sweetheart Run 5K Run/Walk
Ritz Charles 9000 W 137th St Overland Park, KS 9 am Cupid’s Undie Run 1 Mile
McFadden’s in Power and Light 1330 Grand Blvd Kansas City, MO Midnight
WHEN WE’VE GOT PERFECTLY GOOD SLED HILLS RIGHT HERE IN KC. NOW IF IT WOULD ONLY SNOW… If the white stuff does make an appearance, try one of these local runs. But please, watch out for cottonwood trees, glacial rocks, KIA Sorentos, and drunk people as you near escape velocity.
2015
GROUNDHOG
RUN JANUARY 25, 8 AM 5K & 10K
100% UNDERGROUND! HUNT MIDWEST SUBTROPOLIS KANSAS CITY, MO Kansas City has more caves than you might imagine, but this race is one of a kind. Run through the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis and support the Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center and the special needs children they serve. With a consistent temperature of 65 to 68 degrees, the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis is the ideal venue for runners from all over the country to compete in this annual winter event.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20
RUNNING. EVENTS Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run
50k, 20-Mile, 10-Mile Wyandotte County Lake Kansas City, KS 8 am
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 28 RUNNING. EVENTS Steps for the Chest 5K
Lawrence, KS 10 am www.protectthechest.com
ON THE MISSOURI SIDE LOOSE PARK 55th & Wornall
SUICIDE HILL Brookside Park 56th & Brookside AVILA UNIVERSITY 119th & Wornall
KANSAS CITY MUSEUM HILL Gladstone Blvd.
BLUE VALLEY PARK E 23rd St & Topping Ave
ARLETA PARK 77th St & Prospect Ave WHITE OAK PARK 89th Street & Crescent
GILLHAM PARK Gillham Road, 39th to Brush Creek
SHEFFIELD PARK E 12th St & Winchester
ON THE KANSAS SIDE SAR-KO_PAR TRAILS PARK 87th & Greenway Lane in Lenexa LOWES SLED HILL 13750 S. Blackbob Rd
OLATHE SLEDDING HILL 119th Street and KC Rd
CORPORATE WOODS Sledding hill I-435 and Metcalf in Corporate Woods.
• 21
DAILY FIX
MONDAY
KCTC Cass County Intervals Hills and Intervals
Harrisonville, MO 5:30 pm https://www.facebook.com/ groups/kctcharrisonvillerunning KCTC Brookside Run Trolley Track Run All Paces Brookside Bar and Grill Kansas City, MO 6 pm
KCTC Ward Parkway Run Meet at Gary Gribbles Ward Parkway Center 8600 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 5:45 pm
Mud Babe Mondays Run Shawnee Mission Park Marina Parking Lot 7900 Renner Rd Shawnee, KS 6 pm
KCMBC Heritage Park Bike Ride Heritage Park 16050 Pflumm Road Olathe, KS Parking lot N side of lake 6:30 pm
TUESDAY
KC Running Company Speed Sessions 135th & Roe Leawood, KS 6 pm 22 •
Red Dog Days Community Workout
Liberty Run
Allen Fieldhouse 1651 Naismith Drive Lawrence, KS 6 am
Rock and Run 110 Kansas St. Liberty, MO 6 pm
Macken Park, west side Kansas City, MO 5:30 pm http://kctrack.org/northlandrunners KCMBC Brewery Bike Ride 75th Street Brewery 75th & Wornall Kansas City, MO 6:30 pm
135th & Antioch Overland Park, KS 6:30 pm
KCTC Northland Runners
KCMBC Coach’s Bike Ride
THURSDAY
KCMBC Blazing Saddles Ride
Buffalo Wild Wings Independence 1-70 & Little Blue Parkway Independence, MO 6 pm
KCMBC Blue Moose Bike Ride Blue Moose Ride 4160 W 71st St Prairie Village, KS 6:30 pm
KCTC Harrisonville Run Harrisonville City Park Harrisonville, MO 6 am
KCTC Saturday Morning Run Lee’s Summit 3390 SW Fascination Dr Lee’s Summit, MO 7 am
KCTC Saturday Morning Liberty Run
KCMBC Hen House Ride
1555 NE Douglas Street Lee’s Summit, MO 6 pm
Red Dog Days Community Workout
Liberty Golds 8620 North Ditzler Avenue Liberty, MO 8 am
KCMBC Hen House Bike Ride
KCMBC Blazing Saddles Ride
Allen Fieldhouse 1651 Naismith Drive Lawrence, KS 6 am
95th & Mission Leawood, KS 8:30 am
69th & Mission Rd Prairie Village Shopping Center Prairie Village, KS 8:00 am Buffalo Wild Wings Independence 1-70 & Little Blue Parkway Independence, MO 6 pm
WEDNESDAY KC Running Company Groupie Run 1555 NE Douglas St Lee’s Summit, MO 6 pm
Red Dog Days Community Workout Lawrence Sports Pavilion 100 Rock Chalk Ln Lawrence, KS 6 am
KC Running Company Groupie Run
Red Dog Days Community Workout
KCTC Northland Runners
Macken Park, west side Kansas City, MO 5:30 pm http://kctrack.org/northlandrunners KCTC Ward Parkway Run Meet at Gary Gribbles Ward Parkway Center 8600 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 6 pm
KCMBC Brookside Weekly Bike Ride The Roasterie Parking Lot North of 63rd Kansas City, MO 6:30 pm
FRIDAY Lawrence High School Track Lawrence, KS 6 am and 6 pm 69th & Mission 8 am
SATURDAY Red Dog Day’s Fun Run Downtown Parking Lot behind Kizer-Cummings NE Corner of 9th & Vermont Lawrence, KS 7:30 am
KCTC Saturday Morning Run at the Plaza
Open to all runners, also beginner’s class Aixois 55th St. and Brookside Blvd Kansas City, MO 7 am
KCMBC Bikesource Group Bike Ride
SUNDAY KC Running Company Groupie Run 1555 NE Douglas Street Lee’s Summit, MO 7 am
KC Running Company Groupie Run 135th & Roe Leawood, KS 7 am
KCTC Northland Runners Macken Park, west side Kansas City, MOholiday 8 am
Is your event IndieFit? Tell us about it: feedback@ indiefitmagazine.com
SUNDAY MARCH 6 RUNNING.EVENTS Great Plains 10k Longview
Longview Lake 9035 Pittenger Rd Kansas City, MO 9 am www.greatplains10K. com SATURDAY MARCH 12 RUNNING.EVENTS Big 12 5K/12K Run Power and Light
District 12th and Grand Kansas City, MO 10 am SUNDAY MARCH 13
COMMITMENT DAY
FUN RUN
RUNNING ON SOLID GROUND SERIES SARAH FAIRCASE FEBRUARY 9, 6:30 PM
KANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY 4801 MAIN ST KANSAS CITY, MO
RUNNING.EVENTS Whiskey Run 5k
135th and Oak St Martin City Kansas City, MO 8:30 am www.whiskeyrun5k. com SATURDAY MARCH 19
SUNDAY MARCH 20 RUNNING.EVENTS Great Plains 10k Kansas City
Kemper Arena 1800 Genessee St Kansas City, MO 9 am Wyandotte County Lake www.greatplains10K.com Kansas City, KS 9 am RUNNING.EVENTS Mrs. Robinson’s Romp 10k and 5k
Sarah Faircase beat breast cancer when she was 27 and came back to finish first in the Gritty Fitty canoe race in 2014. She’s finished four marathons, four century rides, and her bucket list is growing. At this talk, which is hosted by the Kansas City Track Club, Sarah will speak about her inspiring journey through physical pain and sickness. Free and open to the public.
SATURDAY MARCH 26 RUNNING.EVENTS Easter Egg 5K
SouthCreek Office Park 132nd and Metcalf Overland Park, KS 8 am IS YOUR EVENT INDIEFIT? TELL US ABOUT IT: FEEDBACK@ INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM
• 23
I
magine
the new Kansas City 24 •
INDIE FIT THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE NEW KC WWW.INDIEFITMAGAZINE.COM