Running after WLS

I am very curious about something that I see with so many people here on OH.  After surgery and some weight loss, so many of you start running.  Were you athletic at all prior to surgery?  Did you ever run for exercise before?  or is it now because you aren't carrying the weight that you are able to run marathons, etc?  I really would like to know because even if I don't think I will be able to do that due to other health problems, I would like to know the answer to this.  I think it is a wonderful thing.

I never ran a day in my life before VSG.  I was never an athlete, in fact hated sports of all kinds.  

I knew that walking helped with the surgical gas pains after surgery, so I started walking.  Every day I'd walk a little more.  Then one day I got curious and decided to run.  I only managed about 10 seconds before I was doubled over, but kept doing it anyway.  I love to hike in the woods too - always want to see what's just around the next corner!

I'm still mostly a walker, but I do manage bursts of running in my walks.  I've done five 5Ks in the last year, and my next one is next weekend.  I slacked off a lot this winter, so I'll be walking it mostly.  But I'll keep trying, and my goal is to run a whole 5K by the end of summer.  I was very self conscious about my running; when I saw other people on the trail I'd stop, embarrassed for some reason.  Then a friend of mine (who is a real runner) said something important.  "If you run 15 seconds at a time or marathons, you're a runner."  Basically, she said I was in the club.  And sure enough, runners don't seem to judge, and they'll encourage you all the way.

So yes, I'm a runner.  At one time I managed 6 minutes at a time, now I'm back to 2 minutes, but I'm still a runner!

Hey, Sandy ...... Good on you!!!!!!

keep up the great work and train carefully in the Texas heat and humidity!!!

No worries Kath - I spend my summers in Minnesota, so right now it's more a worry about the cold and snow!

That's very encouraging!  Thanks for telling me this.  :)

When I decided to have surgery, I sat down with my husband and told him ... And I explaining my decision, I said , "I need to be able to run".

There was a sort of primal feeling in me .. That wanted to run.

Unfortunately, tendinitis in my ankle prevents me from doing much running, but I can walk and bike and spin and train with weights now.

Last Fall, we went to Spain and I hiked/walked 150 miles of the Camino de Santiago in 9 days.

I am so grateful for the mobility I do have ... Even if I can't actually run.

My wish for you is that you find a greater amount of mobility as well!!!

Thank you!  I doubt I will be able to run but if I can come close I will be happy.

I couldn't run if a tiger was chasing me, but that's because all the years of being SMO ruined my knees, hips, ankles, and feet. I so wish I COULD run---as a kid, even a fat kid, I ran everywhere I went.

I wish everyone who needs WLS could have it in their youth, before such damage is done.

Exactly where I am!  I was slender growing up until my teens but even then not bad.  But I was never an avid athlete.  Some cartwheels and flips, that sort of stuff.  Probably the beginning of my back injuries.  ;)

I am and always have been totally non-athletic. After losing all my excess weight, a friend suggested I join her in a 5k charity race. She intended to walk it. While drinking in the pub one night, a friend bet me I couldn't do t in under 40 minutes and said he would double his donation if I did. 

So I took the bet and, aged 58, did my first ever 5k in just under 35 minutes. And it felt so good!! So I did another! A bit faster! 

I don't run, I power walk. But I do it at 8k per hour which is faster than many joggers. 

I do have to be honest, I seem to have stopped. I don't know if it is my age (63) or what, but my energy levels have dropped this last year. But I would never in my life have believed I would have done race events, even when I was young and very slim!