salsa1877

By the way...thanks for the compliments on the run. I too am very proud of myself. Now...If I could just sleep! It is 2AM here!

Yeah I am sort of frightened of ebay! I have never purchased anything except text books from there, but I think I could spend WAAAAAAAY too much money. Fortunately I have a good 2 months before I am going to be doing much running. I may get to do some walking/jogging by the end of august, but the PS had me suspend gym priviledges until mid september. So...we will see. But I will definetly check them out when it comes time. I will be training for a marathon in May here, which is a good time for us. Still cool...not freaking HOT like it was yesterday. But where I live the winter season is BRUTALLY cold...so I will need something to keep me warm when I am training. I will most likely have to do most of my training in the gym, but I am hoping to still be able to get outside when there isn't a layer of ice on the ground!

Wow that sounds painful! Yikes. I did want to let you know that when I was training for the half I didn't do a lot of long runs. I would do 1 per week. I would run about 4-5 days a week (but you are much more advanced than I was). Anyways...I would run 10-12 miles on Sunday and then the rest of my runnings days would just be a 5K. That is the nice thing about the half-marathon is that you don't have to do so many long runs in a week. I didn't do half bad on my half-marathon. The official results are still not posted but according to my nike+ I was at 2:41:11 and that is with forgetting to stop it...and with some pretty major injuries. The swelling near my achilles tendon has gone down significantly thanks to a lot of icing and some VERY chilly ice baths. But now I have a spot on the opposite foot that I fear is a stress fracture. It is VERY localized unlike the tendonitis that I had earlier on. Thankfully with the upcoming surgery I have no choice but to rest! As for running clothes, I am going to have to invest in something after surgery. Right now I have a running skirt that I love, but I too am a cheapo and the ones that they sell at wal-mart are too big in the legs and I get major chaffing. There is no way that I am going to be able to spend that kind of money on running pants though...not after dropping 17000 on my lap band surgery and 10000 on PS. I think cheapo and chaffing are here to stay for a while!:thumbup:

I finished it in an unofficial 2:41:11 according to my i-pod. Race results have not been posted yet. I will update as soon as I have. The run did not go as I had planned. I was not able to run the entire thing due to a MAJOR injury at mile 8. My leg is quite swollen...but I pushed through the pain as much as I could and slow jogged as much as possible. The achilles tendon is very sore and yes...I shed tears on the course from the pain. I also ALMOST threw up from the pain. The couse was AWFUL. I don't know how you get a circular course to be almost all uphill... but they did. We also started late and the last 5 miles are in the open...no shade and it was 89 degrees by the time I finished. However, I am still thrilled with my results. My ultimate goal was to be under 2:30...but that was pretty farfetched. Had I not had an injury...I would have easily made it. For the first 8 miles I was averaging a 10:33 min/mile. I would have EASILY been in under the time. However, even with walking part and the injury...I still made it in under my reasonable goal of 2:45. As I said before...I don't have the official results yet and I forgot to turn off my ipod so the time should be more like 2:40 something. I am VERY pleased with the run. I was afraid that I would be disappointed in myself...but I am not...This is an AMAZING accomplishment. I am so proud of myself. I have not only overcome 105 extra pounds, but if you could feel the pain that I experienced through most of this run...you would understand why I couldnt' run the entire thing. The pain in my leg was so severe that at one point the aid station people suggested that they call a medic. Since my leg was not discolored or bruised I figured that the tendon had not torn and I was going to finish. I walked/limped as fast as I could and did run the last mile. That takes determination and guts. I did it...I did it...I did it!

I finished it in an unofficial 2:41:11 according to my i-pod. Race results have not been posted yet. I will update as soon as I have. The run did not go as I had planned. I was not able to run the entire thing due to a MAJOR injury at mile 8. My leg is quite swollen...but I pushed through the pain as much as I could and slow jogged as much as possible. The achilles tendon is very sore and yes...I shed tears on the course from the pain. I also ALMOST threw up from the pain. The couse was AWFUL. I don't know how you get a circular course to be almost all uphill... but they did. We also started late and the last 5 miles are in the open...no shade and it was 89 degrees by the time I finished. However, I am still thrilled with my results. My ultimate goal was to be under 2:30...but that was pretty farfetched. Had I not had an injury...I would have easily made it. For the first 8 miles I was averaging a 10:33 min/mile. I would have EASILY been in under the time. However, even with walking part and the injury...I still made it in under my reasonable goal of 2:45. As I said before...I don't have the official results yet and I forgot to turn off my ipod so the time should be more like 2:40 something. I am VERY pleased with the run. I was afraid that I would be disappointed in myself...but I am not...This is an AMAZING accomplishment. I am so proud of myself. I have not only overcome 105 extra pounds, but if you could feel the pain that I experienced through most of this run...you would understand why I couldnt' run the entire thing. The pain in my leg was so severe that at one point the aid station people suggested that they call a medic. Since my leg was not discolored or bruised I figured that the tendon had not torn and I was going to finish. I walked/limped as fast as I could and did run the last mile. That takes determination and guts. I did it...I did it...I did it!

I finished it in an unofficial 2:41:11 according to my i-pod. Race results have not been posted yet. I will update as soon as I have. The run did not go as I had planned. I was not able to run the entire thing due to a MAJOR injury at mile 8. My leg is quite swollen...but I pushed through the pain as much as I could and slow jogged as much as possible. The achilles tendon is very sore and yes...I shed tears on the course from the pain. I also ALMOST threw up from the pain. The couse was AWFUL. I don't know how you get a circular course to be almost all uphill... but they did. We also started late and the last 5 miles are in the open...no shade and it was 89 degrees by the time I finished. However, I am still thrilled with my results. My ultimate goal was to be under 2:30...but that was pretty farfetched. Had I not had an injury...I would have easily made it. For the first 8 miles I was averaging a 10:33 min/mile. I would have EASILY been in under the time. However, even with walking part and the injury...I still made it in under my reasonable goal of 2:45. As I said before...I don't have the official results yet and I forgot to turn off my ipod so the time should be more like 2:40 something. I am VERY pleased with the run. I was afraid that I would be disappointed in myself...but I am not...This is an AMAZING accomplishment. I am so proud of myself. I have not only overcome 105 extra pounds, but if you could feel the pain that I experienced through most of this run...you would understand why I couldnt' run the entire thing. The pain in my leg was so severe that at one point the aid station people suggested that they call a medic. Since my leg was not discolored or bruised I figured that the tendon had not torn and I was going to finish. I walked/limped as fast as I could and did run the last mile. That takes determination and guts. I did it...I did it...I did it!

I know that most PS do not like to do the anchor incision because of the visible scarring, but I don't care about scarring. My doc thinks that I am going to have amazing results. She was much more cautious about how good it would turn out at the consultation, but I have lost more fat out of the belly since then and now she is confident that I am going to be very happy with the outcome. I seriously have NO idea what I will look like...so I don't really have any expectations. I don't think it will be possible to come out looking worse! We did get the toilet seat riser. Actually I borrowed one from a lady at school. Her mom just had hip surgery so they bought one for her. I have been doing squats as well so hopefully coupled with running I will be okay. So excited for the half-marathon tomorrow. I just ran one mile tonight and it felt so good! Can't wait for tomorrow. Who would have thought that I would be excited to RUN for almost 3 hours?!?!?

There is definetly some stunning weight loss here. I updated my numbers as well!! Name: Frangipani Weight loss from day of surgery: 110 lbs Total weight loss: 116 lbs Name: Candle Weight loss from day of surgery: 102 lbs Total weight loss: 116 lbs Name: Salsa Weight loss from day of surgery: 105 lbs Total weight loss: 105 lbs Name: Pammycakes Weight loss from day of surgery: 94 lbs Total weight loss: 96 lbs Name: Ceradad Weight loss from day of surgery: 102 Total weight loss: 122 Name: KarenG. Weight loss from day of surgery: 85 Total weight loss: 85 Name: NanaRenan Weight loss from day of surgery: 52 Total weight loss: 72 Name: TexasBecky Weight loss from day of surgery: 111 Total weight loss: 121 Name: SPEBSQSAlady Weight loss from day of surgery: 57.8 Total weight loss: 57.8 Name: Brandottie01 Weight loss from day of surgery: 32 lbs Total weight loss: 32 lbs Name: Bergdorfblonde Weight loss from day of surgery: 32 lbs Total weight loss: 32 lbs Name: Gometros Weight loss from day of surgery: 52.9 lbs Total weight loss: 74.9 Name: Pizzicato66 Weight loss from day of surgery: 71.5 Total weight loss: 83.5 Name: Valstar Weight loss from day of surgery: 52 lbs Total weight loss: 57 lbs Name:Gweniper weight loss from day of surgery: 57 total weight loss: 91 Name: purplegirl1818 weightloss from day of surgery: 73.5lbs total weight loss: 90.5lbs Name: LessNLess weightloss from day of surgery: 63lbs total weight loss: 69lbs Name: JudiM weightloss from day of surgery: 62lbs total weight loss: ?? Name: hf2havefun Weight loss from day of surgery: 41 lbs Total weight loss: 56 lbs Name: Nikki S Weight loss from day of surgery: 102 Total weight loss: 102

I am going to miss Jabba the Hut as much as I miss my 105 lost pounds! I will be so excited the first time I get to run without the compression garments that I have to wear. They cause so much chaffing and are HOT! By this time tomorrow I should be icing my legs!

I am doing great. My half-marathon is tomorrow! It is supposed to be 97 degrees here. The race starts at 8AM so I should be done by 10:45 so hopefully it won't be too hot. Most of the course is in the shade. I haven't seen the last 5 miles though. As for the challenge, you should PM losingjusme and join our challenge. I already have 100+ miles logged, but I won't be able to do anything for a while. Everyone else has less than 30 logged so you should be able to catch up to them shortly. As for the surgery...I am not worried at all. I guess I have been worrying much more about the run...which was why I decided to run it. My birthday is on the 1st and then I guess I will have to worry about the surgery on the 2nd. I am glad that I kept myself busy before surgery. Not a lot of time to fret about it!

Wow...that is one of the nicest things anyone has said to me. That is a true compliment coming from one of the originals! Thank you. Have a good girls weekend. My birthday is Tuesday so we are waiting to do any celebrating until then!

Gosh...I knew there was something I needed to do next week!:hurray: I know I am so excited. I still am not focusing on that though. I really don't think too much about it except when I play with my belly flab. I keep pushing and pulling it to see what it might look like, but really...I have no idea what I am going to look like when I come out of surgery. I am not going to recognize my own belly!!! Less than 48 hours until the half marathon. My tendon has been giving me fits the last few days, but it seems to be on the mend for now. I am not doing much on it...just walked a few miles. I might run tonight if DH wants to go. Only for a mile though...he pansies out after that!:blushing: It is supposed to be 97 degrees the day of the half. Hopefully it will stay cool until 10:45, which is when I should finish. I will make sure to post everywhere about my results! There are 1137 people running in the half marathon:scared2:. Add on to that the 135 people running the marathon and there will be a lot of people on fairly narrow running paths. So I might end up finishing a little later due to crowding issues, but I don't really care about time...I just want to run the whole thing and finish!

I WANNA RUN!!!!! I am upset cause I can't run. I know...day after tomorrow I get to run for almost 3 hours...but I wanna run today!

No exercise yesterday...I am still babying my left leg. I am going to try and run a mile today and then walk a few more. I want to keep my legs moving but I don't want to push the leg too hard. 48 hours from now I will be in the middle of my half-marathon!

Congrats on the faster mile! That is fantastic! You are really booking it! How is your blister?

I've got ONE HOT MAMA!!!!

I would never have made it if I could only eat 2 oz of food. Once I got past the mushy food stage (weeks 3&4 for me) I ate 1 cup of food. I couldn't eat any more. If I ate much more than that I would start having terrible pains in my chest....believe me.. that makes the most seasoned eater stop eating! I ate about 1000 calories a day and did fairly low carb. I used a lot of ground chicken instead of hamburger. I would substitute Beans for Pasta and rice. I have found that even completely unfilled I can't do rice. I also became lactose intolerant so I have had to become creative with some of my foods. Believe me...I loved to eat too. I think most of us did. Not being a sweets eater is a good thing. Unfortunately most sweets go down very easy. meats and hearty grains will stay in your pouch longer and make you feel fuller longer. You have to believe in yourself though. My mom died at 53 from heart disease complicated by diabetes. I was 250 pounds when I had my surgery and I did lose 100 pounds in less than a year. It took a lot of dedication, hard work and rule following. It also took a lot of belief in myself and the realization that life after weight loss would be better than before. I didn't have any health problems prior to surgery either...and fortunately because of my lifestyle changes...I don't have any now! Good luck...you can do this.

My doc says that spicy foods can irritate some people but not others. It might make a difference when you are at your sweet spot. Considering that I never got there, I guess I can't say much about that. However, my doc does HIGHLY suggest that you go back to liquids after a PB episode because your stomach will swell and pushing more food down can cause further irritation and swelling. This is what happened the first time that I had to be completely unfilled!

Gahhh...you can take your hot weather....and mine too. It is supposed to be 95 degrees on the day that I run the half-marathon. Hopefully it won't get hot until later on in the afternoon. The race starts at 8AM and I should be done by 10:45. My leg is sore again so I am not going to be running until the day of the race. I will walk to keep my legs moving but I am going to rest my leg otherwise. I am sooooo not happy about this.

I didn't start running until I had lost over 50 pounds...probably closer to 60 pounds. If you knees are hurting, you probably need better shoes. The heavier you are the more crucial it is to have a GOOD pair of shoes. I found this out the hard way, but not with my knees, but rather with my foot. I had the worst case of tendonitis in my foot because I didn't have proper fitting shoes. I was in serious pain when I went to the running store to have the shoes fitted, and by the time I walked out of there in y new shoes...I had zero pain. Also...don't run everyday. Especially when you first start. When I first started running I started out very slowly...like .1 miles. I only did this 3 days per week. I did something else other days. Then I would gradually increase my running. I have been training for the half-marathon for a long time. I didn't get to running 12 miles overnight. Next...ice your legs. It will help with the pain. I am not good at this after short runs, but I always make sure to ice them after long runs. In reality you should ice them after EVERY run. Finally....take short steps. It sounds weird, but when you are first starting to run and you are heavy, the smaller the step the less pressure and pounding you are putting on your knees. It really does help. You aren't in the air as long so there is not as much momentum when you land which helps reduce the amount of pounding on the knees. Good luck with your journey...and remember...slow...slow...slow

I didn't call it Saturday when I stepped on the scale (DH had to give it back per plastic surgeon orders), but I saw it again yesterday and then again this morning. 145!!! OMG! I am not longer overweight. OMG!!! I am excited and frustrated all at the same time. I can't eat any more food!!! I have been terrible about getting my calories in. I have been under for the last 3 days, but I am just not hungry. I get stuck really easily if I eat when I am not hungry. Yes...you can still get stuck, pb and slime when you are completely unfilled...or at least I can. I just had to share my news...I am over the top excited. I wasn't even trying to get to this weight until after surgery.

Trudy, Thank you for posting. I too will be having the vertical incision and it is nice to finally see someone that has had it to. Now I know what to expect!

Becky, I think I remember LJM commenting that her waist was something like 5 inches bigger after surgery than it was before surgery. I am sure it is swelling, but thank you for mentioning this. My doc thinks that I am going to lose at least 1 size after surgery so I can just imagine the horror that I would have felt if I couldn't fit in my clothes now. Actually I just cleaned out my closet and I have 1 pair of pants and 2 shirts that fit. The last 2 weeks of school were not fun clothing wise. I looked like Bozo the clown!

I have been terrible at updating. Since running the volcano I did another 10 mile run on Thursday in which I was then sidelined for 2 days with tendonitis in my left achilles tendon. So I took Friday and Saturday off and didn't run at all. In fact...I didn't do anything. This morning I went and did 3.75 miles and it felt alright. I am not sure what I am going to be doing the rest of the week. I am just going to wing it. I have to make sure that this tendon is not going to cause me problems halfway through the half-marathon. I figure I can run through pain for about 5 miles, so I just have to make it 8 miles without pain.

Hey sometimes we have to push ourselves to see what we can do. Now you know that you can't quite do that much. But don't give up and don't cut way back. What was the longest that you ran at one time?? What I did when I first started was to figure out how far I could run at one time and then keep increasing that my .25 miles each week. I would run/walk 3-4 times per week which was just enough to get my legs adjusted to that distance. Then the next week I would go up. The second day was always the worst. The first time you try a new distance you have the adrenaline of trying to make it that helps you out. That is why I have never done the full half-marathon distance. I am waiting for that on the day of the race, because I know it will help motivate and push me to finish. Also...did you drink before you started running? The nausea and chest pain makes it sound like you were dehydrated. People say not to eat or drink before running, but if you go to races (5K's/marathons) you will see all the serious runners eating something small and drinking before any run. Race days and long run days are the only time I break the no eating/drinking together rule. I have to be able to do that or I won't make it.