RYAN! Now I have a question for you. How do you go from walk/running 30-40 minutes on a treadmill to actually running a marathon? How long was your marathon? What is the trick to getting to the point where you actually run the whole thing?
Thanks!
Nice family too . . . lucky man!
Thank you I am very blessed.
The transition was gradual. I could not run in the beginning because my own weight was hurting my knees. I lost most of my weight swimming and riding my bike, which did not really put much strain on my legs. Then after my hernia surgery, I was down to a point where it was not painful to run and I did not have much choice since the doctor said I could not swim with the incision.
Once I started running, my goal was not to run a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. It was just to continue to lose weight and stay healthy. As I said in the video, my sister was working toward one so I just had her tell me what she was doing each week and I tried to keep up. (She is in good shape so I was literally trying to keep up at that point).
Then something wonderful happened along the way. Someone told me I couldn't do it. That made me want to do it even more so I could say I told you so. I am kind of twisted that way. I am really motivated by someone telling me I cannot do something. Anyway, I did not set any speed records when I did it but I ran my marathon in December. It took me 4 hours and 18 minutes. Afterwards, I made it a point to say thank you to the people who did not think I could do it. I could not have done it without them lighting the fire under me.
My wife is doing the upcoming marathon with me and she does not plan on running the entire thing. She is working up from a walk/run so she can do it. This would be my suggestion for someone who wants to start running. Walk 10 minutes, run 5 minutes, walk half mile, run a quarter, etc. Just experiment with what is comfortable for you. Build on little successes and over time the endurance will build up. My wife's goal is the do the marathon half walk half run. (Update: Michelle signed up for her first 5k this coming Saturday 9/25/10. She will be using the 5k as a prep race for the marathon October 2nd)
Anyway, I hope this helps. Seriously, ask me all the questions you need to. I love to help when needed and enjoy sharing. One reason I like to share is that when I hear from people that they are having a bad day, weight is up, eating is bad, etc, I feel like many times that they are not looking for answers to the problem at hand.
Rather, they are looking for HOPE. Hope that if someone else who has been in their shoes can do it maybe they can too. By sharing my story, my goal is to give someone that hope they have been searching for.
Ryan
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