Bruce Ure shares his remarkable story with Zeke. Ure tells Zeke that he lost 140
pounds from his once 315-pound frame through bariatric surgery and his strong
commitment to working out over the two-plus years since his surgery. Ure competed in
his first Ironman competition this year. "I always had trouble with weight," Ure explains.
"I would run for 6 to 8 months and lose 40 to 50 pounds. Then put it back on again. I
never addressed the underlying issue but I would get active and lose weight but then I
could not keep it off." The specific type of bariatric surgery Ure had was a sleeve
gastrectomy in which a vertical, tube-shaped stomach is created so there is less room
for food. "They remove a portion of your stomach making the area that keeps food
smaller, thus your appetite decreases," Ure explains to Zeke. "You begin to eat food
measured by handfuls, one or two handfuls four or five times a day. You tend to find
yourself gravitating toward food that will give you the energy you need. You need to
address your fitness and the eating disorder to have the right outcome for success.
After surgery, you lose 100 pounds or so in the first year or so ... the challenge is
keeping it off." Ure went to A Running Start in West Reading to get a good pair of
sneakers and wound up getting much more. He met Sorita Averill, who owns A Running
Start and became an Ironman competitor herself after undergoing three surgeries
involving a double mastectomy and breast implants. "I met people there who meet and
run weekly," Ure tells Zeke. "I met people training for all kinds of challenges. I met
people training for The Ironman and they inspired me." He began by competing in a
triathlon. He had been a runner on and off over the years. "I lived in Florida and am a
natural swimmer and am very comfortable in open water," Ure tells Zeke. "I borrowed a
bike, then got fitted for a new bike and started riding ... 30 miles became 50, then 60."
His first Ironman competition in Cambridge, MD was scheduled for a 2.4-mile swim, a
112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon run. The weather had different plans.
"Event day there were 20-mile-per-hour winds and drenching rain," Ure explains, "and
the swim was canceled." But there was plenty of water with parts of the route flooded.
Running and biking in all that rain and wind was grueling enough without the swim.
"Everything I thought I prepared for changed," Ure tells Zeke. "I completed the event in
14-and-a-half hours. Your desire to accomplish a goal is important and necessary for
the mental confidence needed to complete an Ironman." It is not uncommon for an
Ironman event to have the open-water swim event canceled due to rough
weather but Ure's goal is to complete an Ironman that includes the swim. But his post sleeve
gastrectomy and fitness-centric lifestyle is much more than Ironman
competitions. "It’s a gift you give back to your family -- be healthy," Ure tells Zeke.
