Thursday 9 August 2012

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!