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.

   

[NancyintheNorth 112]

woooooooooooooohooooooooooooooo

WAY TO GO!

[Zoey716 98]

Fantastic!! Congrats on finishing the marathon!! What a GREAT accomplishment! You should be very proud of yourself!

[BKLYNgal87 503]

Lou,

You are AMAZING!!! I'm training for my very first 5k and you're now my inspiration! Congratulations on your amazing success!

[Carlotta1 401]

Amazing. Congrats on your weight loss and non weight loss victories. I also did the marathon when I turned 50. Of course after I finished the run is when I started putting on lots of weight because I stopped exercising cold turkey. So a word of advice.. Don't stop running like I did Anyhow.. U look fantastic. Keep up the great journey of health.

[thesmilos 144]

That's AWESOME! Thank you for sharing this…you have inspired me!

[HumanMerelyBeing 287]

Wow, this is really brilliant. Congrats.

[Oceana 40]

Awesome!

[ChavaBling 145]

OMG, AMAZING, AMAZING!! What a thrilling victory for you. From this side (pre-op), it's so hard to imagine success like yours...but we just have to keep believing it IS possible (with hard work, of course).

[skinnymo 1]

You are an inspiration! Congratulations!

[NY Lou 204]

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

BKLYNgal87: congrats on training for your first 5k! just put in the time and miles and on race day you will do great! just remember, it doesn't matter what place you come in. 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. best of luck to you and keep running!

Carlotta1: congrats on finishing a marathon, that is truly a great accomplishment! as you already know, running is a great exercise to stay fit and keep weight off, so theres no reason you cant start up again? you were able to finish a marathon, so you know what it takes to put in the time, effort and miles to be a runner. hit the pavement again, even if just for a bit and get back into it. you don't have to build up to run marathons, but just get out there and get some exercise in and youll feel great and youll see the scale moving down again. best of luck to you.

SaraChavaBlingstein: you said from your side (pre-op) its hard to imagine success. 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. just you being here in this forum is the first step. you can be successful too, just believe in yourself and you can achieve great things. like I said before, these success stories always happened to someone else, not me. well now its me and it can be you too!

again, thank you to everyone for the kinds words and best of luck to you all!

[kellysnyder 0]

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.

me jan 2013 291 lbs.JPG4.JPGmar me w medal.jpgmar me at end w hands raised.jpg

thanks for the words of hope im going to be there soon. i go in for my surgery on 3/6/2014, once again for showing me this works if you work it

[cushy 117]

You have so much to be proud of, congrats on your new life, fantastic job.

[luz1941 0]

Can we talk tomorrow when you get a chance

[livvsmum 2,369]

Awesome!!