Hannah’s Story
“WHO IS THIS PERSON? I wouldn’t have recognised myself 2 years ago and I would never have dreamed it was possible. ”
I had my OAGB surgery in November 2023. I had turned 40 in July 2023 and at that point in my life, it felt like the wheels had really fallen off in all aspects.
I was struggling to walk from my office to Court (where I work most days), a flat distance of about 10 minutes. Some days I would be seeing stars and have pains in my arms just from walking 10 mins and this is one of the reasons my husband supported my surgical journeydespite the financial cost and the other potential risks. I could barely do the physical parts of my mainly desk type job, let alone the demands of raising 3 kids, and I was always exhausted.
During my pre-op diet I started walking 20 mins or so on my lunch breaks and built up to about an hour. That would still have me sweaty! I can recall being so proud of just walking.
Once I had my surgery, my focus in the first week or so was to get out of my house and down my driveway to the letter box. By the end of December 2023, I was walking 5-7 km most days. I spent those walks listening to podcasts, a lot of Connie Stapleton’s bariatric podcasts and a lot of Brene Brown. This started to equip me with some mental tools, to think about what might motivate me long term. I had identified being active with my children as one of my “why” for surgery but I had to think long and hard about what that actually meant in action and how I was going to get there. From Connie I knew I could only control my input, not my outcome. I was in control of lacing up my shoes and taking each step. There wasn’t going to be any short cut to a place worth going to, but I wasn’t going to get there at all if I didn’t start.
At 6 weeks post-op in mid Jan 2024, I took up running. By taking up running, I mean I would run for a few minutes at a time. I had used the couch to 5km programme (there are many free apps or websites with this programme) before in my early 30s so I knew it would suck but it would be possible, it was just a matter of consistent effort. I was slow and I had no aspirations that I would ever run anything above a 5km.
By April 2024 I was ready for my first event, and I ran a 5km race at Karapiro. I felt so nervous being at the start line, like an absolute fraud, despite the fact that many of these events have first timers and there is every variety of body type and age you can imagine. The imposter syndrome was so loud in my head – telling me I had no place at that start line. The race was hard but I got to the end. After that, I just kept doing events.
In 2025 I did 12 races – which includes 2 road half marathons, 2 trail half marathons, a 25km trail run, and some trail and road races ranging from 5km – 15 km. I’m now training for a 52km trail race in Feb 2026.
WHO IS THIS PERSON? I wouldn’t have recognised myself 2 years ago and I would never have dreamed it was possible.
I do get asked a lot about how I managed to do this, because the change appears pretty damn drastic to anyone watching. I went from being a morbidly obese 40 year old to a healthy 42 year old running hours for fun!
The hack to the whole thing is I just literally took one step, then another. One run, then another. Even if it was slow or short, and even if it sucked. I just accepted that sometimes it would suck. I decided to embrace the whole “trust in the process” ethos.
In order to keep up the running, I had to do yoga because otherwise things hurt too much. And I had to do strength training because I’m not a spring chicken.
We live in the country side, I have a long commute (about 3 hours a day), I’m busy during my working day and often have kids activities in the city in the evening. Gym classes wouldn’t work for me. So we made a gym at home – just a basic set up with dumbbells, yoga mats, kettlebells and gym flooring. I got deals online and second hand. We built up more weights in our collection as I got stronger. I started using the tailor clinic bari fit cards. I now use Caroline Girvan’s you tube workouts online which are totally free and my husband usually joins me. Sometimes our kids come too. For yoga, I use Nike Training Club app, which is also free. I might only have 30 mins while dinner is cooking but I can pick a quick workout and just step out to the garage and do it. I’ve not set foot in a gym or a structured class but I’ve been able to meet all my fitness goals regardless.
My excuse for not running for years had been no time. And it’s too hot in the summer, too dark in the mornings, I can’t do it during the working day cause I can’t get all sweaty. As Connie would say, “stop listening to your own bullshit”.
I just started getting up earlier. I set my alarm. I put my gear out at night ready to go. I bought clothes I felt nice wearing, like cute running shorts and pink socks. I bought a head torch and a chest lamp. I just learned to deal with rain and wind and I will now run in pretty much any kind of weather (adventure run!).
I get up at 4.30 am so I can have a collagen coffee while I make the school lunches, then head out the door and be back in time to get kids ready to school and leave home at 7 am. I have some breakfasts meal prepped in the freezer that I can eat while I drive in case I’m late back from a run. At first that was really hard but now my brain wakes me up around 4 am and I look forward to it most of the time. Some days still suck, but I just go run anyway because that’s what I do. I go to bed super early and that’s cured another issue I had of working late in the evenings and being trapped in a stress cycle and unable to sleep. I enjoy early nights on Saturdays so I can do a long run on Sunday morning – another perk of my sober lifestyle is I’m never hung over on Sunday and instead I’m out in nature.
For a long time I had to repeat the mantra “because this is just what I do” whenever the alarm went off and I didn’t want to go. I treated it like a non-negotiable in life – I have to sleep, eat, drink water, poop and run. I would have to keep telling myself - It’s ok if we just run slow today or even walk, or we cut it short but we are getting out there. The first mile is a liar – we don’t judge a run until we’ve got the first mile done. After that I either feel out of whatever funk I was in, or I know it truly is a day to cut it short and turn back home.
I follow training programmes that are free as part of my Garmin account. There are many many free apps online, or programmes you can download. My training programme tells me what we are doing and off I go. I’ve had periods where the training ramps up and I might only have 3 non-running days in the month. And periods where I back off a little and I run 4 or 5 times a week. Some weeks I do more of my weight lifting workouts and other weeks I do less of that, but it does make a difference to keep incorporating strength and mobility.
I am passionate about running and I enjoy it but I absolutely do not enjoy it all the time. I don’t always get the buzz afterwards either. Some days just aren’t my day. But I go do what my programme says because I don’t really enjoy brushing my teeth either but that’s just what we do in life. I can totally understand that not all types of exercise suit everyone, but in terms of running don’t knock it until you try it and if you’re going to try it at least be prepared to ride out a period of complete “this is a terrible idea, I’ll never be able to do this” . There are also many many people who do the walking categories at running events – I actually hatewalking though!
In the middle of 2025 I decided I wanted to try an ultra (which is any distance above 42.2km) on a trail. I set out the things I would need to do in order to succeed – I would need to be a person who gives my body enough sleep and rest, I would need to be good at both listening to my body’s cues and also learning to push my body’s boundaries, I would need to be a person on top of my supplements and nutrients, I would need to be a person who pays attention to my macros so I am properly fuelled, I would need to strengthen my muscles, improve my mobility, of course I would need to train the actual miles in running and I would need to be a person who believes in myself and can keep going.
When I have a tough week – at home, at work, with my training – I just say this is the priority: sleep, fluid, good food, a bit of movement.
The revolution for my mindset has been to eat in order to fuel my exercise, rather than to exercise in order to lose weight. To train in order to perform better rather than to train in order to look thinner or look a certain way.
It has taken a radical change to one of self-love, rather than seeing exercise as a form of punishment. Don’t get me wrong, some runs are hard, some are punishing at the time, but I’m not doing them out of hatred for my body. I’m doing to celebrate what I can do now and to dream of what I think I might be able to do in the future.
I did suffer a speed bump when I had my gallbladder removed in August 2025. I was originally told I would need a couple weeks off work and to take it easy with running. I was itching to get back into things and probably launched back a bit too early. A tough lesson to learn as I was then struck with some complications and told to take another month off work and strenuous exercise. I worried that if I stopped, I wouldn’t be able to start again. I thought I would lose momentum. I just had to rely on the mental tools I had at the start – we take one step, then another. Some days it will suck. But we just keep going. Rest is part of the picture, it’s not a failure.
I get a lot of mental clarity from running, as it gives me some mindless down time to think things through. I often solve a work problem this way. But I also let myself be alone with myself, and enjoy my own company, and be curious about how I’m feeling about myself during a run. If I start thinking negative thoughts about my personality, my body, my particular run that day, I can check in with myself and be curious why I’m feeling that way, then I will have a little korero with myself about what other thoughts and feelings I could choose to have instead. I’ve got to know myself so much better in this process. After 42 years, I feel like a person I want to run towards, rather than run away from. I’ve quit taking as much crap from myself, which means I’m less likely to take crap from other people – and suddenly my personal and my work life is transformed.
I can kind of understand why many runners end up with almost religious experiences out on the trails because it truly is a way to transform your life, and you achieve it quite literally by just taking one little step after another.
When I run, I prove to myself I can do something hard. I send a message to my brain that I can do challenging things. When I train well and rest well and eat well I send a message to my body that she is safe. The little steps over time build up into a louder sound track of “I am a person who can do hard things. I can trust myself. Whatever happens next, I’ll find a way”
- Hannah