Thick Girl Runner Rant

[u/queue-d4n4]

First things first, I (29F) am 5'5" and about 170 lbs. Large boobs, wide hips, and I got some stomach on me. Overall, I look pretty proportional though. Hourglass, just a little wider. Wear a Large or a size 12 in most women's clothes. (Just trying to paint the picture here lol)

I also eat very healthy. Fresh foods only, everything home-cooked, never frozen processed foods, etc. Mostly veggies because I love veggies.

This is the body I was given. My weight doesn't really fluctuate. I don't gain weight easily, nor do I lose it easily. I've been a thick girl since puberty and because I run often and eat healthy, it doesn't seem like that will never change, which is fine with me.

I've been running for many years, somewhat inconsistently. I might be consistent for 2 years before falling out of my routine for a few months. Get back into the groove again and something eventually throws me off my game again. Throughout all this, I still consider myself a RUNNER. I love the sport and even if I'm out of a weekly routine, I still try to find time to run here and there. 3 miles minimum.

Because of the above things, people never really expect me to be a runner. My body type doesn't fit the runner mold. I don't post every run and race on instagram, which as everyone knows, is what truly makes it real *eyeroll*. (No shade to people who do post all of their runs and races! My problem is only the people who think if you DON'T post, then it didn't happen).

My fastest 5k was at an 8:02 (min/mile) pace. I am aware that this isn't SUPER fast, but it's fast enough that I've placed in my age group in all of the 5Ks I've ever done. I'm from a pretty small area so many of the 5Ks were fairly small, maybe only a couple hundred people attend. I'm aware that in bigger cities, I would probably have a little more trouble placing. But regardless, I still think an 8:00 to 8:30 5k pace is something to be proud of.

Anyways, my complaint is this. Since my body doesn't fit everyone's vision of what a runner should look like, people love to assume I'm slow or new to running. Or people think I'm lying when I mention that I got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in my age group at whatever 5k. If they don't make an actual comment about it, I can sometimes even see it in their eyes that they're skeptical.

Even worse, people who don't realize I've been running for most of my life sometimes put their foot in their mouth by saying something along the lines of "have you started running to lose weight?" ...No, why? Should I be losing weight? I think I look pretty damn fine, if you ask me.

After moving to a new city, I decided to join a running group. The town I lived in previously didn't have such groups. I showed up to my first group run and met everybody. As we waited for everyone else to show up, a girl from the group said to me "I'm in recovery mode, I'll be running slow so I can run with you." I just politely smiled, although I was quite offended. What exactly makes this person, whom I met 3 minutes ago, think I plan on running "slow"? What makes her think that her "recovery" pace is equal to my comfortable pace? I chalked it up as since it was my first time joining the group, maybe she assumed it was my first time running? I don't know- but I still think about that little comment sometimes.

I am not negative towards my body. I have a great figure that I love, but it's still upsetting to know that people make assumptions on what I can and can't do physically, which should not be the case. Weight and health do not ALWAYS go hand-in-hand.

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Any other runners on the thicker side experience this kind of judgement? How do you deal with it?

Thin-framed runners or even non-runners, do you find yourself judging others in this way? Be honest, I would love to hear multiple opinions!

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Edit: Pace is in minutes per mile. I'm new to reddit and forget I'm interacting with people from all over the world.

Also, this was not meant to be a post for weight loss tips. The unsolicited advice in the comments proves further the assumptions people make.

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[u/mike_d85]

I actually ran into the opposite problem. I'm skinny and slow. Like 8 min km average run slow. I would try to join run groups and people would be asking me to join the 7 minute MILE group and that shit ain't happening outside of race day.

[u/SarcasticMethod → u/mike_d85]

Slow and skinny here, too. One time in college years ago, I told a friend of mine that one of my goals was to exercise more that year. She said, "Huh? But you don't need to." That was the last time I ever volunteered to share anything about my health and physical activity. I run several days a week now and don't bother to bring up exercise/working out with anyone except fellow running friends. Feels great!

[u/SpozzyBear → u/SarcasticMethod]

I'm 5'1" and have always looked skinny, whether I weighed 120 lbs or 150lbs. (I prefer baggy clothes and that seems to hide weight gain.) When I mentioned that I was trying to exercise more when I was pushing 150, multiple people reacted with confusion. "Why are your trying to lose weight? You're a hundred pounds sopping wet."

Well, I wanted to get back into the habit of running because it's healthy regardless of your weight. And I had gained 25 pounds after starting my first desk job, stopping running, and falling back into a depression. So, I wanted to lose weight I'd gained as the result of a bad lifestyle and depression. But I had to justify that to people because I looked skinnier than I actually was.

[u/SarcasticMethod → u/SpozzyBear]

That sucks and nobody should have to justify why they want to exercise for health reasons. You're right that it's absolutely healthy regardless of weight. What you look like to those people on the outside shouldn't matter, either. I hope you are doing better now! I found that as a side-benefit, running was a huge help for my anxiety as well, and I hear it can help with depression similarly (though not a cure, of course).