Flying Pig Half Marathon: My Brother’s Weight Loss Journey

There’s quite a few things I feel the need to share with you so that you can fully grasp the magnitude of the race that was The Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon. If you recall, I signed up for this race for the sole purpose of seeing my brother run it.

I never, ever, ever, ever thought my brother would run a half marathon. It requires a lot of discipline, self-motivation, and commitment–all words I never associated with him.

My brother growing up was always in trouble. He was in trouble in school, at home, in his life and for as long as I can remember, he was always in some kind of mess.

It was difficult seeing my brother live his life this way but it was something we kinda just accepted. That was how he was.

He’d always been overweight, using food and alcohol as a means of comfort when there really wasn’t anything positive in his life. Eating and drinking made him happy. There were many times when I became concerned about his health; at 6’2, 300+ pounds, I knew there was no way he was healthy.

And then a few years ago, on his own, he began to change. He left behind old habits and found a good, steady job and was finally doing well. It was what we had all been waiting for. But it seemed maybe to cope and maybe even compensate for no longer having his previous vices, he turned to eating–even more. He visited me last Christmas and he was the heaviest I had ever seen him. He was happy–but it was difficult for him to move around, to get up off the couch, to walk short distances. I was worried when I saw him but it was another one of those things where I felt like even if I said something, it needed to come from him. He wouldn’t change if he didn’t want to change.

My brother's before pic

The “before” pic

I”m not sure if it was a combination of New Year’s, his birthday (it’s in early January), or something else all together, but he decided 2015 would be the year of change. It was finally coming from him. He signed up for a gym membership and began with walking on the treadmill and spending a few minutes on the elliptical. He’d send me a picture every few days of his workouts, “2 miles on the treadmill!” “30 minutes on the elliptical!” “I finally ran outside today!” and each text would make my day.

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He ran a 5k on St. Patrick’s day and was excited to gauge his progress (he’d run one last year–his first race–without any training). He blew us away killing his previous time and finishing with a 27:58!! Yes, you read that right. At that point, he had lost about 35 pounds and was proud of himself for how far he’d come. But he said he wasn’t finished.

With my sister after the 5k--they both PRd!

With my sister after the 5k–they both PRd!

Having done so well and maybe even perhaps still on his race high, he decided to sign up for the Flying Pig Half Marathon. I was so excited for him and knew having this goal would only help motivate him further.

But what he did next took me by complete surprise.

He got a training plan and committed himself to it entirely, sometimes even doing double workouts on days he was feeling good. He’d send me pictures of his mileage, “My first run over 5 miles!” “I did this all with the treadmill inclined!” He would send me post workout pics and on each one he’d have a huge smile, a proud workout done. He began sharing his journey on Facebook and his friends applauded his change–(that seemed to motivate him too, his friends seeing him do something positive for himself).

On of his double days

One of his double days

I remember showing my husband one of my brother’s pics and telling him how proud I was of my brother and how I wished I could be there to join him on his first half marathon. I rarely make it to Ohio as traveling with 2 small children isn’t exactly ideal both financially and mentally lol!

But my husband said, “You should be there!” and purchased a ticket for only me to go. He’d stay behind with our kids.

I was so grateful and so ridiculously excited that I would be able to witness firsthand and share that special day with my brother. At first, I wanted it to be a surprise and told my sister such as we planned out logistics. But as usual with surprises, they’re tough to keep and my brother soon knew that I would be there that day. He was so thankful and said that that would help him to train even harder knowing that I’d be there.

The day he ran his 10 miler, his first double digit run, I cried. I just couldn’t believe it. Who was this man who had transformed himself in such a short period of time? He was a dedicated, disciplined, motivated, definitely NOT lazy man who was working very hard to reach a goal. And doing it all on his own.

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This text. All the emotions.

He was ready. The day of the race he was 60 pounds lighter. Sixty. This was a different person toeing the start line. A completely different person.

And man, I couldn’t wait to see him cross the finish !!!

The "after" pic (for now :) )

And the “after” pic … (for now 🙂 )

Part II of my brother’s weightless journey to his first half marathon will be up soon. Let me just say, he crushed that race–I can’t wait to share it with you!!

❤ , helly

 

Running for Charity–Chicago Marathon Here I Come!!!

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So I didn’t get in.

And at first I was super bummed and quite honestly, sour grapes about the whole situation. It seemed that everyone I knew had gotten in–even my husband!! (This will be his first marathon 🙂 )

And then I started thinking.

Well, I could go and cheer my husband on for his first (knowing that I’d be back someday because I have to run Chicago) or he could decline and both of us try again next year….OR I could run for charity! Something I’ve been wanting to and planning on doing someday soon anyway 😀

After talking about it with my husband, we decided yes, this was the race and year for me to run for a charity. I knew I wanted to run for something important to me and there’s nothing more important to me than my kids. That was the focus point in choosing a charity–how can I help children. So I started looking at the list and it wasn’t long before I came across….

The Ronald McDonald House Charity

How perfect is that??

If you’ve been a reader for a while, then you know that I have a thing, an unhealthy thing, I know, for McDonald’s. Me and Ron are seriously BFFs.

Helly + Ron = <3

Helly + Ron = ❤

On a more serious note, I’ve mentioned before how I’ve been dedicating my miles for quite some time to a little boy who has an immune deficiency as part of the I Run 4 Program. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of charities specific to what he lives with. His parents often use a Ronald McDonald House when taking him or his brothers for doctor visits (in fact, they’re at one right now) and that’s a huge reason I chose this charity. It not only helps children, but parents as well. And sometimes we forget that they need help too

But I’m not going to lie–there are a few things that worry me.

Well, one thing.

I won’t make the fundraising amount.

And even though that is something that scares me, there are other things that make running for charity so appealing to me.

1.) It adds to the challenge. I mean, training for and then running 26.2 miles is already a difficult task and adding having to fundraise money ups the stress level for sure. But I’m up for the challenge. I feel like with each donation, I’ll be adding to my race’s purpose. I’ll be running for my charity but I’ll also be running for each person who contributed to my journey to get to Chicago. It’ll be fun. I can do hard things, right? 🙂

2.) It’ll be more than me. I think for me, running brings me a lot of self satisfaction. Like, I totally do it to make myself feel better, be healthier, be happy-all for me, me, me. Running for charity will mean that the race isn’t all about me, me, me but for others. For the kids who will benefit from my fundraising, for the parents who will forever be grateful for my help, for the people who donated–it will definitely be about them, not Helly.

3.) Motivation. I’ve talked about how bummed I was not being able to run Phoenix Marathon. I felt like I was so ready to nail that sub 4:30 I’ve been coveting for a while. I think adding running for charity to my training will motivate me to really push myself towards that goal in Chicago. I’m going to be pushing myself to raise money for my charity and not let those kids down and I will be putting that same effort in training for the big race and not let myself down.

4.) I’ll be part of a team. The kids that I’ll be running for will be my team. The people who will be fundraising with me will be my team (Hi Maxfitgirl!). All the people who contribute to my charity will be my team. I’m going to be surrounded by sooo much support. How freaking cool is that?

5.) A race day like no other. When I get to Chicago, having met my goal, I’ll already feel like a winner. Seriously. ❤

I hope everyone has a good weekend!! If you’d like to help get me to ChiTown,
click here for donation info. #helphelly begins NOW 😀

#TeamRMHC

#TeamRMHC

Thanks to the DC Trifecta ladies Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia for hosting the Friday Five Link up! You guys are awesome!

–Have you every ran a race for charity?

Happy Marathon Monday!!!

I was lucky enough to be able to see the Boston Marathon at work as my students had state testing that didn’t require me to proctor. So I did what anyone else woulda done 😀

When the kids are away, the teacher will play..er...watch the Boston Marathon. Same thing ;)

When the kids are away, the teacher will play..er…watch the Boston Marathon. Same thing 😉

More so today, but even on other big marathon days, I get the inkling and wishful thinking of training and attempting a BQ time. I’m ridiculously so far away from what I would need to do– but kinda like driving by your dream house, or test driving your dream car, it’s perfectly normal to dream a BQ, right?

Age Men Women
18-34 3:05 3:35
35-39 3:10 3:40
40-44 3:15 3:45
45-49 3:25 3:55
50-54 3:30 4:00
55-59 3:40 4:10
60-64 3:55 4:25
65-69 4:10 4:40
70-74 4:25 4:55
75-79 4:40 5:10
80+ 4:55 5:25

Anyway, I like to live vicariously through others and right now I’m living through Amber @Pb and Prs who’s running Boston as I type!

I’m also living vicariously through my BRF, Salt, who I know with all my being has a BQ race in her future. You better believe I’ll be on the sidelines on that big day to cheer her on ❤

I didn’t race this weekend but had a longish run that was much needed but not much wanting to do. (did that even make sense?) My legs have been feeling so heavy lately and I totally feel like I’m back at the very very beginning of running. After so many months of training, I feel like my body began to shut down and that’s when I got really sick. Now, I’m starting to finally feel better but I def feel like I’m starting over. Luckily, I don’t have anything huge I’m training for (except for a 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks!) that would cause me to stress–I find out about Chicago Marathon next week!

On Sunday, yesterday, I ran a 4.15 mile run for Boston with several local running groups. It was a fun run and my friend and I ran with a guy who ran while holding the American flag. He got a ton of honks and thumbs up along the way and it was such an enjoyable run in that respect.

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I needed more mileage so I ran right after with my local MRTT group and got in a 3.5er. I didn’t do the exact 8 I had planned but I was totally fine with what I’d done and really had no motivation to run more. I felt like the two runs were a lot harder than they needed to be and they kind of brought me down spirit wise. I know it’ll take a few weeks/months to get back into the swing of things and for my body to get used to mileage again. And I know things will be okay. Just need to be patient 🙂

My daughter had another race yesterday and unfortunately, any progress made beforehand was nowhere in sight. Prior to the start, my daughter said to me, “Mommy, I really don’t want to do this.” It about broke my heart–not because she didn’t want to run–but her having the courage to tell me she didn’t want to do it. I said it was okay, that she didn’t have to, and that we were going to stay and watch her friend J run his race. And we did. She was quiet as we cheered for him and when we were done, she turned to me and said, “Mommy, I’m ready now.” ❤ I told her that she’d have plenty of chances to run fast in the future. 🙂

She was back to all smiles when we went to our favorite burger shop afterwards!

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Did you watch the Boston Marathon?

Any BQ dreams of your own?