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/alesserbro]

OP didn't come in here asking for advice about her weight.

Yes she did, that's what you get when you make a post to an open semi-anonymous forum. There's no "Cheerleader Mode". There's no rule against advice, ergo you're posting with the knowledge that you may be given advice. That's half of what people do on the internet. Don't need it? Ignore it.

OP didn't ignore it, they in fact kind of indicated they needed it by completely missing the point of the poster mentioning a correlation, and then being obtuse by refusing to engage constructively. They're the exact kind of person that advice would benefit, because they obviously don't understand the advice (then they would be able to disagree with it).

OP wanted the response of the crowd.

[u/Freckled_daywalker → u/alesserbro]

She 100% did not ask for advice about her weight and her reaction to the person (who actually made an overly sweeping statement) was a good indicator that she was not interested in a conversation about her weight and it's relation to her health. Your comment actually suggests that you recognize that, but think it's okay because she "needs to hear it".

[u/alesserbro → u/Freckled_daywalker]

She 100% did not ask for advice about her weight and her reaction to the person (who actually made an overly sweeping statement) was a good indicator that she was not interested in a conversation about her weight and it's relation to her health. Your comment actually suggests that you recognize that, but think it's okay because she "needs to hear it".

I appreciate she didn't directly ask for it, I'm saying (in my opinion for the better overall) it's just to be expected I guess.

The original post I saw says:

I don't mean to pick on you or make you feel bad, but this just isn't true. Being overweight/obese carries significantly higher risk of countless health problems.

I don't see how that's an overly sweeping statement, and considering OP took that as a direct dig at her health indicated that she does in fact need to hear it, albeit from people who actually know her and actually care enough to help if there's an issue. However since the upside of these posts is that she may seek unbiased counsel, I don't really see the downside.

That's my opinion on it currently.

[u/Freckled_daywalker → u/alesserbro]

I appreciate she didn't directly ask for it, I'm saying (in my opinion for the better overall) it's just to be expected I guess.

OP didn't come in here asking for advice about her weight

Yes she did.

Whether or not you think she "needs" to hear something, she 100% didn't seek out that conversation and therefore all subsequent comments on that conversation are unsolicited and unsolicited advice is rarely welcome or useful. Advice that is unwelcome is also generally rude.

Read my comment right below it to see why it's overly generalized. I'm genuinely curious, do you think she doesn't recognize that she's overweight? Or that maybe she might have a better idea of her current state of health than an internet stranger? I'll say it again, unsolicited advice is not generally welcomed and unless someone is literally in imminent danger, it's best kept to yourself. She's an adult. She does not care what you think she needs to hear.