Episode 62 - The Road to Kerry Way Ultra | Week 5 of 20 | The Don't Die(t) Day #1,095

Summary: Three years ago today, me, as a morbidly obese man with debilitating health conditions, sat down to breakfast determined to save my own life on my own terms. Doctors had told me I wouldn’t live to see age 50 and wanted to medicate me for the rest of my life. Treating the symptoms but not addressing the cause. Not wanting to let my boy grow up without a father. Forever questioning why his dad ate himself to death I became my own front line health care worker. Was eating just a bowl of salad potatoes extreme? Probably. But a lot less extreme than laying on a surgery table after a potential stroke. A year to the day later I ran a marathon. From morbidly obese to marathon runner in one year. Running 13 laps of the hill of Tara. A lap for each hour my son Hank lived for. He died during the thirteenth hour of his life. The day after he was born. My love for Hank and Ike, his older brother compels me to continue. Last year I ran up to the hill of Tara for a victory lap. I didn’t feel like running a marathon that day as I was recovering from an ultra marathon. In my second year of running I became an ultra distance runner. Raising money for causes close to my heart. Today, three years to the day later I enter week 5 of a 20 week training plan that brings me to a 200km ultra distance race the weekend before my 50th birthday. The Kerry Way Ultra. I shared this story with @sileseoige today on her Ready to be Real podcast. Talking openly about a topic I bottled up for 7 years while slowly killing myself. Infant loss. And yes, it got real. I don’t share this to brag. I share this to show what is possible. I share this to show what can occur when you allow it. I share this to show that by offering oneself compassion that real profound change is possible. My love for my sons saved me. I share this to show that you have this ability too. It’s inside us all.   www.runningforhank.com www.workshedpod.com www.readytobereal.com