It's been forever. Oops. It's been months and I'm sorry. There've been good things and bad things and amazing things and just things. BUT, I'm here to talk about one thing in particular. Running. Not just running but Fat Girl Running.
Did you know there are no blogs about fat girls running? There is one and she's amazing and props to her (www.thefatgirlsguidetorunning.com). I refuse to believe that there aren't a lot of big girls out there hitting the pavement. For that reason it is now my solemn vow to document my journey as a fat girl runner so that fellow lovelies who might not be a size 2 (you're awesome too size 2's) know that they can rock this amazing sport too.
My Story:
I've wanted to run for a long time. I've always been scared. My story is not one of an athlete who gained weight after high school or gained the freshman 50. I have always been overweight and the weight crept on year by year. I gained 20 pounds a year probably until college. I have always been active but it hasn't seemed to matter. When I was 16 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Insulin Resistance which started to make a lot of sense regarding why I could be incredibly active and not lose any weight. Once I got my diagnosis not much changed. I got put on medication, I went off the medication and Have bounced between 240-300 pounds for the last 10 years.
Fast-forward to this year. I'm 28 years old working multiple jobs and using MyFitnessPal to track calories. My friend Kathy started going to a running group with a local running store and invited me to attend. After many failed attempts at Couch-to-5K I was frustrated and just assumed that I was too heavy to run. I couldn't run longer than 5 minutes at a time so I never got past the first few weeks. She continued to encourage me to attend and 4 weeks into their program I gave it a shot. It was HARD. They run intervals so I chose the 1:1 group, run one minute walk one minute with a warm up and cool down. There were hills and I was hot and the only words I could get out of my mouth were "I'm dying". I didn't think I would make it. The last leg was up a giant hill and I took my last ounce of energy and ran to the top. I couldn't breathe. I was exhausted. I was PROUD. I don't remember anything I've done in the past 10 years that have made me so proud. Not my Master's Degree, not getting a job - nothing. I ran that first mile in 15:30. Slow to say the least. I didn't care. I kept training and pushing and slowly but surely I was faster. It wasn't so hard. I could go longer and breathe better. My feet didn't hurt as badly so I moved up to doing 2:1's and then you guys guess what?! I ran a 5k. I ran a 5k in 42:43 which is a 13:43 pace per mile. I ran a 5k at 270 pounds. I did intervals and I walked some but it was amazing. You can do it too.
Don't let anyone tell you that you are too heavy, weak, out of shape. Don't listen to negative self talk. You can run if you want to run. Take it slowly, push, and watch yourself grow (as long as it's ok with your doctor ;) )
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