I Completed My First Full Marathon!
November 2, 2013by Kelly AKA kellybelly333
On October 20, 2013 I had two reasons to celebrate. The first, my son turned 8-years-old. The second...I ran a full marathon! 26.2 miles, or 42.2 kilometres...whichever way you put it, it's a really long time to run.
4 hours, 31 minutes and 35 seconds to be exact.
Over two and a half years ago, this wouldn't have been possible. After many tried, and failed, diets and exercise routines, my GP said to me that she thought it was time I seriously looked into gastric bypass surgery. My Type 2 diabetes was getting to the point where Metformin was not going to work anymore and insulin would be looked at as a solution. My blood pressure was extremely high, my resting heart rate often sat at over 100 bpm. My sleep apnea was getting worse (my CPAP settings had changed a few times), my cholesterol was high, and depression plagued me. I was 37, with two young children. I was 96 pounds away from a normal BMI, coupled with medical conditions that would send me to an early grave. The decision was made and my RNY procedure was performed March 23, 2011. My father had passed away suddenly at 56, and was obese, and I did not want the same fate for me. In fact, I had promised him just a few months before his death, that I would work on getting healthy. This was the beginning of that promise to him.
I had always exercised with the secret hope that enough exercise would allow me to eat how and what I wanted. As we all know, this doesn't work. As I learned in the year or so of educational classes at Toronto Western Hospital, exercise was a very important role in the program. I intended on walking right from the get-go and planned on working harder when I could. At a month out I joined a sprint triathlon clinic. Yes, I had a dreams of racing from the beginning. I figured that a triathlon wouldn't be too tricky as I was always a great swimmer, I liked cycling, and well...I could walk the run part, because that I hated. In fact, the run portion of the clinic was often missed as I made excuse after excuse not to take part. As more weight came off, the more I could move...but I still neglected running. I did my first sprint triathlon in July of 2011. I passed out at the end as it was too soon after surgery to be doing such a race with the limited nutrition I was able to get in at the time. Rookie mistake.
But my heart for racing was there. I continued with spinning classes and some boot camp here and there. Life had changed and I went through a separation and then found new love. In the summer of 2012, I was at goal and my new love and I ventured out for a run. It was difficult and I had to stop after five minutes. He had no issues. I wondered why anyone would even bother running when spinning was much more fun. I ran a few more times and quickly realized that the more I ran, the further I could go without stopping. By the time September 2012 came around I ran my first 10k. I stopped many times, but I did the distance. I couldn't believe it. I cried. I thought there might just be a possibility that I could do a half-marathon. My running then turned from a form of exercise, to a goal of finishing a long-distance race...and hopefully a full marathon.
I started a training program using a guideline found on the internet. I wanted to run the full marathon in the Spring of 2013. But I gladly delayed this to have plastic surgery on my panni in January/2013. A few other health issues that were affecting my iron had to be dealt with as well. I signed up and paid for the Toronto Waterfont Marathon just after the surgery and my training continued. With my surgeon's approval, I went back to running four weeks after surgery and I completed a half-marathon in May. I completed this in two hours and 21 minutes (with a three minute bathroom break). I set up a Facebook page depicting the promise I had made to my father and to have people follow my progress to the completion of my first full marathon.
My training continued and my love for running grew. I always wanted to race but never in my wildest dreams thought I ever would. I doubted myself many times throughout my training. This was the first time in my life where I started something big and then saw it to completion.
A month before the race I started having problems with my knee. I thought I was not going to do the race. After many appointments with physiotherapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, sports doctors, and chiropractors, it was agreed that I had Acute IT Band Syndrome. Usually it takes months of rest and therapy to fix but I was determined to go through whatever lengths possible to be able to race. I used up all my benefits at work. Two days before the race my sports doctor wanted to see my shoes that I had been training in. He was shocked to see that I was advised by a specialty running store to purchase neutral (and natural, without support) shoes. This was the root cause of my pain. The day before the race, I changed shoes. Never recommended, but neither was running a full marathon in the shoes I had been sporting.
Race day was finally here and I was emotional from the get-go. My mother and partner would be cheering me on from the turnaround point at 29 kilometres, as well as my virtual cheerleaders on my Facebook page. The race began and I happily ran along with the others, taking it easy, not knowing how long my knee would hold out. My original goal of under four hours was not going to be possible and I was at peace with that as I made sure I went at a pace that would hopefully keep the pain away.
At the half-marathon point we were directed by which race we were doing (our bibs told us which we had signed up for). I lost 3/4 of the runners around me as they headed north to the finish line. Those runners cheered us on as we headed south east for another 21 kilometres. I felt suddenly alone...yet so proud. From then on I found that the cheerleaders in the crowd were different. The realization that I was in the middle of a feat that very little of the population even attempts started to amaze me. I got to 29 kilometres feeling wonderful. Both my partner and mother were crying as they saw me approaching...running and smiling. I handed off my running jacket as the temperature had warmed up slightly. I waved and smiled as people cheered me on by name. I cheered for myself. I stopped to walk briefly between 36-37 kilometres as I thought my heart rate was getting slightly high. I still felt wonderful, my knee was doing great, and I let the endorphins take over. With one kilometre to go, the emotions set in...and with a few tears and the knowledge that I was actually going to succeed overwhelmed me and made me a bit giddy. My legs were starting to hurt more but it wasn't terrible.
At 200 metres left...the crowd was huge and I decided to sprint to the the end. The runners were few and far between at that point and people were cheering my name as I sprinted by. Then I was at the end and the pride took over. I did it...I lost 105 pounds, said goodbye to obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea, depression, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and hello to being able to complete a full marathon and live a happy and healthy life.
And what now? Well, training for an Ironman of course!
Editor's Note: You can ready Kelly's original message board post about reaching her goal here.
On behalf of the ObesityHelp Team...Congratulations on reaching such an amazing goal Kelly!