Tim’s Angel

So, I needed something to focus on, a goal. I decided I was going to run a race. I had never contemplated in my life running a race. Just the mere thought of running a race for me was quite an accomplishment to me. So in the summer of 2008 I was thinking about running a 5K race. I was reluctant but determined. I decided to pick a race at the end of August, 2008.

I had no idea how to train for it or run it. I had only been on a treadmill. When you’re obese, even when you exercise, you want to hide away from others because you’re embarrassed how you look. I bought a really good treadmill that could handle my weight, I put it in the basement when I started and consequently, when I worked out, I buried myself in my basement so no one would see me.

Several things had to occur for me to run this 5K race. One, I’d have to get away from my treadmill and actually go outside and have people watch me run, which was mentally a very difficult thing for me to do. Secondly, I’d have to learn how to train for a race.

I also had some fear I had to overcome. The first fear was, I didn’t want to embarrass myself. To me, embarrassing myself was like finishing last. The second thing I wanted to do was get the 3.2 miles in under 40 minutes. If I could accomplish those two things it would be pretty substantial for me. Third, was finishing. I wanted to finish the race. I did have some fear that I couldn’t do it.

I embarked in training for a month, the month of July. I remember going outside for the first time and discovering how difficult it was to run outside versus how easy it was to run on a treadmill. The first time I ran outside, I did about a half mile and I thought I was going to die! My legs were hurting, my lungs were burning, I couldn’t get air, and I couldn’t breathe. I figured this was going to be harder than I thought.

I stayed determined and committed to my goal and slowly started building up my stamina. I’d run a half mile, walk a little bit, run a half mile. Pretty soon it wasn’t long before I got to a mile, then two miles running at a time.

I did some research on the Internet, I had my race in my sights. I had a training regimen for the 4 weeks up to the race. I knew exactly what I was going to do each day for my training. I had run the distance. I knew I could do the distance and could make it in less than 40 minutes. I had no idea if I’d finish last or not.

I also knew I had to run the track, get used to the track and have a race plan. I went to the actual track that was going to be used for the race day, I walked it. Then I ran it. This track had quite a hill on it. It’s very steep and I’m not sure to this day I could even make that hill again, but I was consistently finishing the course around 42, 41 minutes.

I would go run that course at least twice a week for my workouts.

Race day comes. It was a warm, sunny August day. I had done all my research. I knew what I should eat and when to eat it. I took the afternoon off from work, relaxing and resting. My wife, daughter and friends were coming.

It was an evening race, on a warm Friday night on the East Coast. We all get in the car and head over to the race for the 7pm start. I get there about an hour early. I remember I had never been anywhere like this before. The place struck me because it was so full of energy and life. Everyone there was so healthy and so energetic and so alive it was just an amazing atmosphere for me to be in.

And, I was nervous. Boy was I nervous. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, I didn’t want to finish last. As the start was approaching, a friend of mine came over to me. He had come just for me. He’s a healthy guy and he came just to help me race and he came just to run with me and be supportive of me the entire race. To this day I will never, ever forget that act of friendship that my friend Jesse Bitter did for me. It was just an amazing appreciative gesture of friendship that I don’t think I could ever forget.

In between all the prerace stuff my wife had a little surprise for me. Our friends that lived through this journey with us every inch of the way had come to the race. My wife had gone out and bought “Team Liebmann” t-shirts. Everyone, my wife, my daughter, the two adults, their two children, my mother-in-law, all had Team Liebmann t-shirts with “Go Tim,” “Go Dad,” “Go Uncle Timmy” sayings on them and rooting me on.

So, I had Jesse running with me and my cheering section. As the race was about to begin my biggest fear about finishing last came up. I looked over and saw a very heavy set older gentleman. (Good for him!) I knew immediately I wasn’t finishing last. I lost that pressure as we started the race.

The race is about to start. I’ve got my ear buds in and I’m listening to my iPod and getting ready, getting psyched up. Jesse is standing next to me. I want my legs to feel strong, I want to breathe well. I’m really focused on wanting to get into a rhythm as soon as the race starts. I’m feeling pretty energized. I’m thinking to myself, “What a journey this has been over the last two years getting to a point where I could do this!”

I start reliving my whole adult life, being overweight and morbidly obese as I run the course. I remember the successes. I remember the difficulties as I run the course. It was a complete journey through my adult life as I ran these 3.2 miles - it was a journey through my adult life, of all the trials and tribulations, successes and failures of obesity. And, in a lot of ways, this became a page turner, a chapter changer in my life.

I lived the history of it in this race. It’s funny. As I would be running, focusing on my breathing, my legs, strength, rhythm, about this stuff and I’d get all emotional and my breathing would suffer and I’d start to feel like I was getting a cramp. It was constant throughout this entire race.

As I’m running this race I’m getting around and heading up the mountain, the steep hill I call Mt. Everest on this course, and I stopped and walked up the mountain and at the top we continued on our running. Jesse stayed with me every step of the way. He’s in such good shape and he could have finished the course in half the time but he never left my side. He was always encouraging me, “Come on! Let’s keep going!” What an amazing unselfish friend he is. I never knew until then these types of people could exist. He’s just a great guy.

We get to the turnaround point. We’re coming back around. I’m starting to think, “I’m really going to finish this!” It’s was just an emotional hodge-podge of feelings as I went through this.

I turned the last corner with maybe 500 yards to go and all I could think of was, “god, I hope that clock says less than 40 minutes!”

When I turned the corner and looked at the clock and it said 35:00 I knew I’d finish well under 40 minutes.

I looked up and my daughter was running towards me because she wanted to cross the finish line with me. And, all my family and all my friends were standing there and cheering me on. Words cannot describe how unbelievably emotional and how unbelievably accomplishing that felt to run across the finish line with my daughter in my arms and my friend next to me and everyone cheering me on.

My wife had told a few people in the crowd my story and they came across the finish line with me. It was in so many ways one of the greatest accomplishment of my life. That race was the symbol of me overcoming an adulthood of obesity.

I turned a page to the balance of my life being healthy, fit, energized. It was an incredible experience that I shall never forget.