Test Update
First Thank You all for your kind words and encouragement. For those who don't know the POST has a written and physical aspect to it. I did well on the written and the physical has pushups, situps, sit&reach and the 1.5 mile run. I met the requirements on everything but the 13.30 minutes to complete the 1.5 mile run. No excuses, but the weather wasn't the greatest and I had a bit of a chest cold, but I just couldn't pick up the pace enough get there. I ran a 15.15 which is basically my plodding pace of 10 minute miles. There is some victory in knowing that a year ago I was nearly 500 pounds and couldn't have walked a quarter mile, but I was still disapointed. I will share with you that a gentleman whom I had met in support group also showed up for the testing. We partnered up to encourage each other. He had less weight to lose, but you would never know he had WLS. He looks great. He missed the time by 30 seconds, but he and another candidate turned back and ran back to me to cheer me on to finish strong. That was a pretty cool deal for them to do. The other victory is that even before becoming obese, distance running was not my thing. If I did not finish last, I was always one of the last ones. Well, I beat quite a few people this past Saturday, so I will take solace in that. After I left the facility, I went and purchased a running book. Should I be accepted into the training program, I will beat the 13.30 by May.
Thanks again for your kind words, as I was finishing on Saturday, Mike the other WLS person was yelling, "Come on, lets show them what former fat guys can do!" So, I thought of all of you and the others who had the courage to make a change, undergo a surgery, and I crossed the finish line. You should all stop and take a look in the mirror. Sometimes it is easy to forget how much has changed by looking how far you want to go. But you have to stop and smell the roses sometimes.
Thanks again.
Va 
281/175/150
BMI: 49.8/31.0 
Hey Ken;
I know that you're disappointed in falling just a bit short on your test, but you should be incredibly proud of what you have accomplished just the same. You refer to your "plodding pace" of 10 minute miles..... Last year, I doubt that any of us could have even walked a mile without lots of stops and forget about measuring the time in minutes!!! I'm in total awe of your accomplishments....YOU THE MAN!!!! The big thing is that you had the courage to go for it and make it to the finish. I have no doubt that you will achieve your goals very soon. Keep it up, you are an inspiration to us all!!
Mike
The bottom line is....YOU'RE AMAZING!! The test may not have turned out the way you wanted it to, but you've accomplished so much in this past year, and you have so much to be proud of. You've done things that some people can only dream about. Keep up the good work. I'm sure that whatever path you decide to take...will be a successful one.
Take care and be well..............Joan
Thanks again for your support. This community can be amazing. In anycase, the book I purchased on running has helped me already. Before I was just out there running, enjoying the fact that I could and I increased my distance over time. Now, I have a plan and I already seeing improvement in my time. I'm positive that should I be selected that I will beat that time of 13.30 the next time I have to run it. For now, I training to run in a big local road race on April 24th. I'm going to run the 5K, so I focused on that right now.
Thanks again for all of the great messages.
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