A year before his surgery Marcus had reached out to a trainer who had had great success with weight loss surgery. He made an appointment with him and started on a diet and exercise plan. He worked out a total of two times before finding it total misery and quit. While the exercise plan didn’t stick, what did stay with him was the success story the trainer told Marcus of his own journey with gastric bypass and his subsequent triathlons. This sparked Marcus’ interest and he began to think that maybe one day he would do that if he ever became healthy enough.
After Marcus had his gastric bypass surgery he reached back out to his old trainer. With clearance from his surgeon, Marcus began working out one month post-op. Initially he was exercising at the gym two times a week and slowly increasing cardio.
The next step in his journey involved surrounding himself with a team of people to help make his weight loss successful. One team member encouraged Marcus to start with setting a goal of walking 20 minutes a day for two weeks.
So, Marcus began walking 20 minutes every day. After the first week he bought an Apple watch to track his steps. At the end of the two weeks, a new goal was formed to walk a mile. His 28-minute mile gradually became 3 miles, then 5 miles. He is now running 10 miles.
Marcus wants to encourage everyone to start walking 20 minutes a day one month after surgery with their doctor’s approval. Once you begin this regular exercise routine, continually increase your duration and you will find your stamina and abilities will allow you to start running.
After the trainer helped him reached the 200lb mark for weight loss, they both felt it was time to move to a more serious training regimen. Marcus then sought out a coach that he had a relationship with in the triatholon world. That coach worked with him daily to achive the new goals that were setup to become an ironman.
To date, Marcus has completed 6 sprint triathlons, 2 Olympic distance triathlons, 4 Half Ironman race and 2 full Ironman. Along with his triathalon training he has completed multiple half marathons and 3 Marathons (2 being back to back)
Marcus believes the key to success begins with walking 20 minutes a day and finding a team of people to train, support, and encourage you. When you have moments when you’re not happy with the number you see on the scale or when you feel you’ve hit a plateau, don’t get discouraged. Just keep walking, keep running, keep training. Just keep going and keep doing something new every day.
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