Run My Story
July 2022 was the worst month of my life. I was in the process of going through a painful divorce, my mental and physical health were deteriorating rapidly, and I even had to begin using a sleeping medication just to get small amounts of sleep. I wasn’t eating or sleeping consistently for weeks, and I felt alone living in an empty house that used to be full. But I’ve been in bad places before, and I knew I didn’t want to go back to those really dark days. So the first thing I did was foster two puppies from the local animal shelter which helped with the liveliness in the house to say the least. I still felt the need to get out of the house at times, so I started walking in my neighborhood regularly.
I found that every time I reached the last hill back to my house my feet were killing me because my running shoes were worn and inadequate.
So, on Aug 30th, my birthday, I decided to treat myself to some new shoes. I walked into the local fitness apparel store and received great service from two very nice women who found me a pair of shoes and socks that made me feel like I was walking on clouds. And then one of the women dropped a bomb, and when I say bomb, I mean the mother of all bombs.
She said quietly and demurely, “you should sign up for our 12K training program.”
Immediately my internal thoughts gravitated to “this poor lady needs glasses or some of the same medicine I take, because I could NEVER complete a 12K, much less a 1K.” I told her “look at me, I don’t think I could do that.” She reassured me that there was a walking component to the 12K training and I could do it. Something about her calmed my internal thoughts, so I signed up.
On August 30th I weighed 340 lbs. I started training shortly after that, and at the 1st meeting I wrote my goal on the sheet passed out to the group: “reduce the effects of Type II Diabetes.”
I was in a bad place mentally, but I knew I wanted to live long enough and be healthy enough to see my granddaughter walk across some kind of stage in the future or pursue whatever dream she desired for herself. How could I do that if diabetes forced me into blindness or become an amputee, which is common for advanced diabetes patients who are morbidly obese?
So I suppressed my nervousness and completed my first walk with my walking coach, Kate. When we finished she told me that my pace was approximately 18 minutes/mile. I asked, “what pace do I need to complete the 12K?” and she replied “16 minutes/mile.” I didn’t think I could shave 2 minutes off of my pace because the 1st day was challenging by itself.
Then came the 1st Saturday of that week…strength training. After a long, challenging walk with Kate, the group proceeded to strength train with Sarah Nell, the strength coach. Everyone commented later that week how quiet I was during the workout, to which I replied “my internal thoughts were VERY loud,” meaning that I was silently looking for ways to quit.
But I persisted because this group was fun and different from the weight loss programs I’ve tried previously. I’ve had a failed lap-band surgery, tried
or shied away from countless diet/exercise programs, and then consigned myself to a lifetime of obesity. But after the 1st week of this program, I noticed that my weight was actually going down.
“Hmm, that’s interesting” I thought. As the weeks progressed, I started to have more and more fun walking with Kate, strength training on Saturdays, and even participating in much-needed yoga sessions.
I purchased a fancy Bluetooth-compatible weight scale because I wanted to make sure the numbers I was reading were accurate. I was actually losing weight at a steady pace week over week. I changed my eating habits to healthier alternatives primarily because they helped me get through the
training without feeling sick.
Then, in about the 4th week of training, I received some traumatic family news that prompted me to stop training.
In retrospect, the mental and physical benefits of the training program would have made that experience much easier to weather, but hindsight is always 20/20. As things settled down for me, I received a text from Allison just checking on me. That felt great because the only people “checking on me” at the time were a few of my closest friends and my healthcare team.
So I visited her shortly after, and she encouraged me to rejoin the training group. I rejoined, nervous that I had lost too much time, but the group welcomed me back, and I started setting personal records as my per/mile pace dropped steadily along with my weight.
By the time the 12K race was just around the corner I had lost 41 lbs, and my fasting blood glucose readings were consistently in the normal range each time I checked at three-day intervals.
Regarding the race, I knew one thing, all I had to do was stick with Kate during the race and I would make it to the finish line. So I overcame tremendous butterflies and began my 1st 12K race on November 13th 2022.
For the first 4.5 miles, I was setting personal records of approximately 15 minutes/mile. And then suddenly I started feeling light-headed, tired, and nervous. I told Kate, who was right by my side, what I was feeling, we slowed the pace a bit, and she said “look…there’s the finish line right there, you can see it.”
When I rounded the corner into Battleship Park towards the finish line, I was on autopilot, my energy completely spent. Suddenly, there were my teammates from the training program who finished before me coming back to encourage me through the finish line.
That was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever felt.
I finished the 12K, received a medal, drank copious amounts of water, devoured snacks to recover my energy, and Kate put the medal around my neck, an even deeper emotional experience.
So to recap, through a 10-week program that I began on a whim, my blood glucose readings became completely and consistently normal, I lost 41 lbs by race day and continue losing to this day as I continue my health journey, and I’m a part of a training group/family that, along with my puppies of course, have literally changed my life for the better.
We never know how long we’ll live, I or you could die today, life has its quirks. But I know one thing, I stand a better chance of seeing my two-year-old granddaughter achieve her dreams in the future than I did before beginning the program.
Thank you, Allison, Kate, the strength and yoga team, and my training group, especially those who were there to encourage me across the finish line. My medal resides on a wall in my office now where I can see it, and I’ve cleared space there for many medals to come. That’s my story.
Powerful testimony!
What an inspiration! I’m motivated! Best of luck on your continued journey. ❤ 🙏
You have me in tears. Thank you for bravely sharing your story. It is so encouraging!
I couldn’t love this story more ❤️
Wow!!! This is awesome! Such an inspiration!
My man! I see great things in your future. You’re such a great guy… humble and polite, but I see that dragon on the inside… keep letting him out to eat! I believe in you!🤘🤩🤘
Congratulations! Courage, grit and some truly dear humans have taken you to a wonderful place!