If one day you wake up and that yearning to complete a feat of endurance begins to overwhelm you, don’t ignore it anymore…
Don’t tell yourself you are too FAT…
AND don’t let anyone else tell you, that you can’t do it.
Once you’ve ignored those things just start taking your first steps towards achieving your goal. If you want it that much you REALLY CAN DO IT!
My eldest daughter Jess and I achieved something together we are both very proud of. On Sunday, we BOTH completed a Marathon at the 1st ever ALL WOMEN UK Marathon in aid of Cancer Research.
At 270 lbs I walked non-stop (except for peeing) for 8 hrs and 45 minutes to walk 26.2 miles. I started at 10 in the morning and finished LAST in the dark but I NEVER gave up.
Don’t EVER let anyone tell you that because you are a fat girl you can’t do something athletic. YOU CAN!!!
Just six months ago I could only walk 1/4 of a mile at a slow pace before having to sit down because of crushing back pain and general unfitness. This was because I weight had crept back up to 310 lbs.
One of my goals by the time I got to 50 years old (I’m now 49) was to do a Marathon. On the spur of the moment, without little thought I signed my daughter and myself up as it was not only a huge challenge but it was for Cancer Research, something we are passionate about.
I also signed my daughter and myself up to Pure Gym, we’ve spent more bonding time together which to be honest I’d missed.
As the weight started coming off the back pain got less, I was able to walk for longer on the treadmill.
First it was 10 minutes at 4 kmh, then after a few days 15 minutes then 20. As my muscles began to get stronger and confidence grew and my weight continued to drop my speed went up to 5 kmh then 5.5 kmh and then even 6 for short periods of time! Once I could walk on the treadmill for an hour at 5 kmh we began going for long walks in parks most weekends.
We started using free apps like Runkeeper and MapMyWalk on our phones to track our distance and pace. Walking outside is harder work than the treadmill as you encounter different types of terrain and undulations and it’s fascinating to see afterwards what you’ve achieved…. it’s really encouraging!
Going for one long walk at the weekends in addition to 3 treadmill sessions at the gym per week really helped us build up stamina and also really helped with losing weight (slowly but surely). It’s also a GREAT way to enjoy scenery by doing our walking in the various free parks we have in Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire, and an ideal opportunity to breath in fresh air and get happy and feel the sunshine on our skin!
Just 4 months into our training we managed to do a 15 mile walk in 4.5 hours and it was at that stage we dared to hope that we actually REALLY COULD achieve the Marathon goal..
Part 2 (coming soon) – Big person foot injuries and set backs and the day of the race!
Well done you!
well done!
Awesome! Inspiring effort.
Happy, Healthy, Passionate, Involved, Loving, Giving, Committed, Brave, Determined, Inspirational, and Successful… Congratulations to you both, Mother and Daughter, you have many supporters cheering you on, thank you for sharing your personal goal; yay to you both!
Congratulations, well done.
Good job!
What a fantastic achievement – well done! And that’s a fairly cracking pace given that you walked the entire way. I did the Women’s Mini-Marathon (10km) in Dublin this year and it was good to get back to walking after years of not doing much at all. It really is the best exercise.
Well Done both of you!
Excellent, well done! Feel proud of yourself, it is a wonderful achievement 🙂
YOU GO GIRL!
Congratulations!
I hope you’ve made a good recovery from a long day.
I walked 25 miles in a day once, but I was 25 years old then 🙂
Wow! First time visitor here and I’m so impressed! What an accomplishment and inspiration!!!
I just wanted to tell you that over this past weekend I read through your ENTIRE blog! It gives a person a different perspective, to look at entire five-year span over the course of a few days. I just wanted to tell you that, for what it is worth, I am very happy for you – that you have found a great guy, and that you are loving yourself again. Your struggles with weight loss are so similar to my own that I found myself feeling very frustrated for you when things were not going so well, and really proud when you got back on track (like you are now – way to go on the marathon)!
I think a lot of us ‘let life get in the way’ of our own health and happiness, and people who are nurturers and always taking care of others put EVERYONE before themselves. Just please remember that you are an amazing person who has impacted a lot of people through your words and actions, and you deserve to carve out some time to maintain your own health and happiness – and as I write this I realize I need to remember that for myself too. 🙂
Anyway, I enjoyed spending the weekend with you (lol), and look forward to trying some of your recipes. I just watched a PBS show you might enjoy – “Home Fires”, set on the home front in a country town in England during WWII. It was a little more drama- than detail-oriented, so I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t too bad!
Thank you for giving so much of yourself to the world. Make sure you hold something back just for you and your family. 🙂
Wow, wow, wow. You are such an inspiration!! What an incredible achievement.xxxxxx
And you look just as radiant at the end as at the beginning!
Congratulations on this amazing achievement and the continued weight loss!