11 months out and just ran a 26.2 mile marathon - with before & after pics

[NY Lou 204]

its been a little over 11 months since my sleeve surgery (march 19, 2013). yesterday I accomplished a goal that ive had since I was a teenager. im 50 years old now and just ran my first full 26.2 mile marathon! my goal was under 5 hours and I did it in 4 hours 51 minutes. ive been running ever since I started exercising after surgery and when I first started I couldn't run for more than 1 minute! after running a few 13.1 mile half marathons i started training 5 months ago for a full 26.2 mile marathon and now I can finally check that off my bucket list. today im at my lowest weight ever at 180.25 pounds. for the last 20 years before surgery I was always around 300 pounds. im so grateful for this surgery, but the truth is that if you don't use the surgery as a tool along with good food choices and exercise, it will be hard to achieve your long term goals. the surgery alone may have lost me 60 pounds, but believe me, the last 60 pounds is because of me using my new sleeve as part of an entire life style change that includes eating healthy, knowing when to say no when my sleeve is satisfied (not bursting) and dedicating myself to exercise 4x a week even when I don't feel like doing it. I never thought I would be a success story as that always happened to someone else, not me....well now its me and it can be you too! best of luck to everyone, post pre-surgery and post-surgery. just remember to stop making excuses and start making the changes to guarantee yourself success.

   

[webbRN78 72]

That's amazing and inspiring! What an accomplishment. Thanks for sharing. I gave running a go after surgery but didn't enjoy it. I'm always impressed by runners Great job!!

[scarlet333 386]

What a wonderful, inspirational story. That is an amazing accomplishment. I am still struggling with a 3 mile run 3x per week.

[Bobbi McGhee 17]

Fantastic job! Just had my sleeve last week (2/17) and am feeling great. Like yourself, my goal is to run. A marathon is a little ambitious for me, but that's just because I have had 3 major knee surgeries. But my 1st goal I've set for myself is a 10K in August. I start training in about 3 weeks. Your story is an inspiration to me, and just reiterates how important it is to use the sleeve as a tool, and to change your life! Thanks for sharing!

[butterfly2014 128]

That is truely Amaaaazing!!! Congrats on reaching ur goal! I also have a goal of doing marathons, cancer walks, etc. I have always wanted to do it and I know I will once I do the WLS and start losing sum weight.

Keep on running and fantastic job on ur journey!

[GriffinSabine 34]

Very impressive! You should be extremely proud!

[Steph W-O 75]

Incredible! Congratulations!!!

[abarta83 118]

That is so awesome! Any tips for me? I am doing the color run in March and the 5k mudrun with obstacles in may..I too started where I could only run 1 min.. even less sometimes..now I'm up to 10 minutes..I could use some help pushing through to that second mile:-)

[CoffeeGrinDR 148]

Awesome job! I signed up for a triathlon in September but it's a short one. The run part is only 3.1 miles (5k) and so I've started running. I can only do a few minutes at a time but it is more than I have ever done. I keep going for as long as I can and hope that the distance that I can run grows over time.

I plan to add in the 12mile bike leg in April (so about 6 weeks from now) and when the weather warms up a bit. And then I'll add the 1/2 mile swim into the rotation.

This has been a life goal for a while so even if I have to walk and even if I'm the slowest one in the group, I'm planning on finishing my triathlon on September 21st!

[onedaycloser 136]

Congratulations to you on all your accomplishments!!! Way to go!

That's a long way to run Forest! WOW!!!

[NY Lou 204]

thank you all for the kind words, theyre all sincerely appreciated. let me respond to a few of you below:

scarlet333: you should be very proud that you are attempting up to 3 miles. that shows progress and as more time passes that distance will become easier. stay with it and you will continue to improve and succeed.

Bobbie McGhee: congrats on shooting for a 10k run! just take the training seriously and put in the required mileage and youll do the 10k with no problem. its all about building up to the distance by slow training and taking baby steps along the way. good luck!

butterfly2014: I think its great you have goals to do marathons and walks. the only thing that I can suggest to you is that you can start walking now. you don't have to wait until after surgery to start. its the starting part that is hardest of all and if you can start walking now, even for 15 minutes, that's a bonus and a good start to getting some exercise into your life. best of luck to you.

abarta83: congrats on what youre already doing! you've started and that's the hard part. the best advice I can give you to increase your distance and get that 2nd mile in is to go slower and focus more on the distance first, not the speed or how fast you can do it. even if you have to run much slower, try to complete a longer distance. once your body becomes used to going longer distances, even though youre going slower, then you can try picking up the pace and doing it faster. but by going slower and completing a longer distance youre actually training your body/muscles to handle a longer distance and eventually the speed will catch up and increase as time goes by. good luck!

coffeeGrindDR: congrats on signing up for a triathlon! it doesn't matter how long or short it is, any triathlon is a great accomplishment. read my reply to albarta83 above as its good advice to increase your distance/speed. another good piece of advice to increase your distance is to do a mix of running/walking. you can run for a few minutes and then walk til you catch your breath and then run again a bit. by mixing it up this way youre actually conditioning your body to go longer. eventually the running parts will increase and the walking will decrease. you have about 7 months to train for your triathlon, so you've given yourself enough time to be fully prepared and I know you will do it. one last thing, it doesn't matter if you come in first, somewhere in the middle or last. youre not racing against the other competitors, youre racing against yourself and trying to finish and finishing is all that matters, not the time you finish in.

again, thank you everyone for the kind words and before I had my surgery I used to read this forum and a lot of posters inspired me. I never posted in this forum for a long time and was just a person reading the posts. but now that ive had the surgery I wanted to post and hopefully give others the same encouragement that I received when reading these posts pre-surgery. everyone can be successful with this surgery as long as youre willing to make the life style changes along with the surgery. the surgery alone can only take you so far, but a complete life style change including what you eat and exercise is the best formula for long term success and keeping the weight off permanently. best of luck to you all!