On October 6th, 2018, I ran and finished my first and possibly only full Marathon. “I discovered that you can experience sheer joy while covering 26.2 miles in 4 hours 14 minutes” some may say, but not me. It was hard. But I’m so glad that I did it. The night before and morning leading up to crossing the starting line is exciting. But I can confidently say that ignorance is bliss!
How did we get here?
It’s a long road running a marathon. The road getting to the marathon and the marathon its self-are both uniquely long.
The road to a marathon…
Marathons are deceitful, and that’s how you get roped in. It all started with a bilateral inguinal hernia surgery on Presidents Day 2017 (February). Rewinding to a year earlier (Jan. 2016), I discovered that I had a
At that time I was about 80 pounds overweight, had to suck in air and hold it while I tied one shoe at a time, and couldn’t control my appetite. Discovering that I was pre-diabetic shifted my paradigm and was the kick in the pants that I needed to do something.
Yoga & Nutrition
There’s something to be said about having a paradigm shift. It turns your world upside down, sometimes. Paradigms are like wearing glasses that override your view of the world. Depending on the pair of paradigm glasses you have on, candy and sugar appear very alluring and irresistible, while a different pair of paradigm glasses make candy and sugar look like poison.
A healthy living paradigm shift is a life-transforming experience. With a new pair of paradigm glasses, I looked at food, sugar, water, yoga, and fitness with new eyes. Yes, I started doing yoga and not any kind of yoga, HOT YOGA!
Yoga came into my life when I met a dear friend, John Knocky. He owned a Bikram Yoga studio down the road. I asked him what it would take to cut 50 pounds in a year. He asked how my nutrition was and at this point, I made drastic changes, so it was good. I mentioned that even with the proper nutrition, I wasn’t seeing any changes in my weight. He said, come to yoga 3-5 times a week for a year.
Bikram Yoga is not easy. But I started going to 90-minute classes 3-5 times a week. With a pronounced hernia, proper nutrition, and yoga, I was able to cut over 50 pounds in a year, plus I discovered that I have a wicked backbend.
Hernia Surgery
Wait a minute, what do a hernia and yoga have to do with running for a marathon? For me, everything. We’re getting there.
In January 2016, I want was referred to a specialist who confirmed that I indeed had an inguinal hernia. She was old school. She said that she would perform the surgery but that she only did open surgery, and would slice me open, shove my guts back in and sew the hole(s) shut. I didn’t like the sounds of it.
She let me that I could go on for years with a hernia with no adverse effects, as long as I was able to shove it back up every time it popped out. The danger was if it got stuck and cut off the blood circulation.
I did some research, decided that I would rather get mesh, but also learned that I should cut weight first. I decided to cut 50 pounds before getting the surgery and finding a new surgeon.
A year later, February 2017, I had cut 50 pounds, the hernia was constantly popping out throughout the day. It’s kind of awkward placing your hand by your groined to shove it back in during business hours. A few times I thought it was stuck and I would have to lay down on my back, and lift my pelvis high in the air and shove really hard. Ohhh it hurt, but what a relief when my guts were back in their place.
Fortunately, there was a doctor who is awesome at mesh hernia surgery. She went over everything, made me feel really confident that I wouldn’t die during the surgery and that everything would be awesome. So on presidents day, I went under. You can see in the pictures Lydia and I right before they hit me with sleeping liquid and then a second picture of the aftermath.
Post Surgery
Disclaimer: With the last name Post, I need to clarify that when I say Post Surgery, what I really mean is Post Post Surgery.
Yoga hurts. It hurt before the hernia repair, and it hurt even more after. I followed the doctor’s orders and gave it a good month to heal, and then another 2 months of doing yoga while laying in Savasana on the positions that would cause any discomfort down there, but that was about half of the yoga poses. FYI: Savasana is just laying flat on your back, focusing on your breath.
It didn’t take very much time for me to put 15 pounds back on after the surgery. It was unacceptable and I wasn’t able to participate fully in yoga. I had to do something different. In June 2017, I was out for a walk and the thought, run, popped in my head.
Run?! I really don’t like running. Why would I run?
You know that whole paradigm shift thing? Well, it also affects physical activities. As I was walking, I downloaded the “Couch to 5k” running
The app started me out on interval training with long walks in between that gradually worked up to running for a minute without stopping, then two minutes, and three minutes. Every time I crossed a new threshold, it was exhilarating. In just under a month, I worked up to running a mile without stopping. My first, non-stop mile, took about 14 minutes.
What I did next is ludicrous, or so I’m told.
Part 2 coming soon!