Obese & Sedentary to Marathon Runner

I started MFP at 234lbs 11 months ago and lost 35 lbs between September through December. I lost it strictly by eating at a calorie deficit with no exercise or physical activity as I've done previously. Having lost and gained weight this way many (many) times in the past, I knew that if I wanted this time to be different, I obviously needed to do something different.

So I decided to become a runner.

Back in January before I ran my first steps, my goal was to run a 5k in August. I made a promise to myself that no matter what, I would commit to 3 days a week and do 5km each time until I could run the whole distance. The first week was awful. I would walk 5-10 minutes at a time and then run about 30 seconds. I hated it. I remember my legs and lungs burning from running that short distance and I also remember thinking "how the hell am I supposed to be able to do this for 30+ minutes straight?"

But then something happened. It was about my 3rd or 4th 'run' when I realized I was hitting 30 seconds pretty easily and making it closer to a minute. Then I realized I didn't need such long walking breaks. I also realized that my legs weren't actually going to fall out beneath me and my lungs weren't ACTUALLY going to burst. Everything then changed. I was soon able to run half a km and then a full km. By the end of January I was able to run a full 5km without stopping. I just accomplished something that seemed so impossible a month ago.

So I kept going. By March 1st I could run 10km and it was around that point I decided to see just how far I could go if I slowly kept increasing my distance every week. As it turns out, I was able to go pretty far! I had hopes for a half marathon at the back of my mind throughout this whole process, but once I hit that distance in April I decided to give it all I had and aim for a full marathon in August. It seemed SO ridiculous that I didn't really tell too many people until very recently. I was afraid they'd say I was going to injure myself, I should start with shorter races etc. But for some reason I really needed to prove something to myself.

I started marathon training in the spring and still only ran 3 days a week. Some days I deviated from my training and if something didn't feel right I wasn't afraid to take a few days off to recover. I did everything in my power to remain injury free. I don't know when exactly it happened, but somewhere in that time I fell in love with running.

On August 25th, just over 7 months after I started I ran and finished my very first full 42.2km marathon. The last 10km were very tough but I did it and it was worth every grueling step. My goal was to finish and run the whole thing and I finished in 5:11:49 which put me in 459th place out of 504 finishers and a total of over 600 runners. I never thought being in 459th place for anything would feel so good!

Oh I should also add that I've lost a grand total of 88lbs. I can honestly say I wouldn't have gotten to this point without running. It's helped realize I'm so much more than whatever the number is on the scale that day and it gave me a new appreciation for myself and what I'm capable of (something I've never had). My little boys suddenly want to run in races 'like mommy'. It's amazing.

If you got this far, thanks for reading my story! Here are a few before and after pics:

Before:





After: