Run Forrest Run!

A friend of mine commented on my FB post to “Run Lyle Run!”. Forrest Gump also happened to be on TV a few weeks ago. My daughter had never seen this movie, and sat, fascinated, the whole way through. She cried, I cried. And she is a generation AA (or Millenium or whatever they call the next one after Gen Y..I can't keep up).

Got me thinking about my endeavours in being a Fat Runner.

What was it about Forrest Gump that worked? He obviously wasn't blessed with being all that clever. He was born into an ordinary family with a single mum, and had polio. A toxic combination pointing to a less than successful future. Some would say a simpleton, a fool, an idiot. But that idiot created a Fortune 500 business, won a bravery medal, became a champion tennis table player, met several of the American presidents, ran across the country (Run, Forrest, Run!), married the girl he had loved since he was a young boy, and became a father to a kid who was smart, unlike his dumb self.

That turning moment in the movie stands out for me as the key to Forrest's success - when the bullies are chasing him in their van, yet again picking on him, and his “Jenny” calls out at the top of her lungs “Run, Forrest, Run!”, and he just takes her word for it, and starts to run, with no thought other than to get away from the van, to do what his beloved wants, and the metal falls away and he is running.

What is it about Forrest Gump's seemingly effortless sucess I wonder?

Another moment in the movie which pointed to what worked for Forrest, was when he was in the Vietnamese jungle, and his best friend Bubba is injured, and he had promised they would always look out for each other, but he can't find his fallen friend anywhere, and Forrest, under massive gun fire and in danger to his life, (with no thought to it at all), carries out member after member of his platoon to safety, before finding Bubba who is mortally wounded, and Bubba dies in his arms.

“Smart” people would say Forrest's behaviour is dumb, he does things with no thought to them whatsoever. There are so many moments in the movie where people laugh at Forrest, or shake their heads in amazement at his lack of good common sense. But MAYBE that's part of what it is that worked. He didn't second guess, didn't ponder, didn't procrastinate, didn't feel bad, ruminate, talk about it, he just did exactly what he was told to do. To the letter. Not start strong then end weak, not half hearted, not 'holding back', just did the whole thing every time.

I certainly cannot say that I have ever been that consistent or played that hard in application of much of anything in my life. But, when I have, it has been such indescribable joy, relief and elation to do that. Like when I managed to get out my babies after hours and hours of agony and strain, or when I finished my incredibly difficult statistics unit for my postgraduate qualification, or when somehow me and my sisters managed to talk an airline into giving seats on a plane, my auntie into postponing the proceeding of, arrange travel insurance with the artery condition exclusion removed to successfully get my parents overseas to my dad's only brother's funeral with little time and even less money. Miracles are possible when we play full tilt.

Michelle Bridges (yes that famous trainer on Australia's Biggest Loser TV show), points out with great emphasis that motivation is a fabrication designed to give us yet another excuse to not be in action.

So what produces results then? Action. Not overthinking it. So when someone says “Run, Lyle, Run!” You know what? I am going to Just Full-on Do It.

Can a fat person run?

There are many words for us fatties - obese, heavy, curvy, round, wide - the list continues. None of these bring to mind the athletic, toned, gracefulness of the runner we see loping past while we're still wiping the sleep dust away. Or the slim muscliness of legs that actually look good in those little shorts thin people wear.

To be a runner, which is a fairly vigorous activity, fat people have to deal with copious sweatiness, pretty painful chafing, badly fitting workout clothes (who wants to see the crack of a wide backside? Or the two rolls sneaking out the side of the too-tight shirt as it rides up mid run?), laboured breathing, very sore knees and ankles, and a myriad of other symptoms of the unfit body, all while feeling highly embarrassed and uncomfortable.

The thing about running is it is so visible. Unless you buy a treadmill (which is ridiculously expensive for the average joe punter like me) and promise yourself you will use it at home (yeah right), you find yourself out displaying your fat in public in the most unflattering form of exercise possible.  The combination of the extreme visibility and the rigour of running when you're fat leaves you feeling like there's a target on your back, because how dare you let yourself get 'so big' then heft that body around in front of everyone?

These types of thoughts stopped me from even trying. So I would sit, inert, in front of the tv show Biggest Loser, season after season, so envious of the opportunity the participants had to get thin with their scary personal trainers and many-houred exercise programs,crying tears of happiness when they succeeded, eating chocolate and chips and anything else I could find in the fridge, going to bed really late, going to work, and thinking I could never put myself out there like that.

But it just kept niggling me. I wanted to run. Can fat people even run? I didn't know. So I applied a couple of tests of logic. Example 1. If my house was on fire, and my kids were still inside, I would run like a banshee out of hell to get them out of there, to keep my babies safe. Example 2. When  I can see the train in the distance, and I know if I don't catch it, I will be late for a very important meeting that my boss in counting on me to attend, I can shuffle pretty fast. So I can run if I put my mind to it.  Logically anyway.

So, I figured if I'm fat, and logically I can run, fat people must be able to run. It's just that we have to deal with a few issues thin people don't.

It has taken me nearly 18 months of daily visualisation, plenty of reading, plenty of discussions with those around me who can and do run, to work up the courage to start. To run.

I did my first registered run last Sunday. 7km in 58.54 minutes. People were walking the course faster than I ran it. But I did run it, and I ran pretty much the whole way. So yes, that must mean a fat person (in fact this fat person) can run.

I am starting this blog as I want to share both what I found works for me, in the hopes that this will encourage other fat people to run, so we can feel like we are also entitled to be included in the world of those who get the highs of exercise. Don't ask me what they are, I haven't experienced the supposed highs. Vapours, yes. Dizzy spells, yes. Highs, definitely not. Yet.

I am only at the beginning of this journey.  I have a long way to go before I can honestly say I am at peace with my fat. But, I want to run. And I am fat. So the fat runner is born.

Next blog I am hoping to start outlining the steps I have undertaken to start on this journey of the fat runner.

Being highly collaborative, and inclusive by nature I am hoping there are others who will be interested in this conversation. Please comment, respond, be in touch. I would love to hear what you think.


Do you want to become a fat runner too?  Are you a fat runner already? What's worked for you? What didn't? What would you like to see discussed? What's stopping you? I am so looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for reading!