Hi! I’m a fat girl, running.

Hello.
This feels a bit weird writing this.
Oh well, let’s get started.

At 24 years, 9 months and about 20 days old I decided I’m fed up of being fat. My boyfriend had been running a few times a week for about six months and I could now see the difference it had made on his body. I was 5 ft 1 and about 17 1/2 stone. Sounds massive but I have a pretty face and always thought I carried the weight well. Maybe all fat girls do.

So I decided to start running. I downloaded the C25k app on my iPhone and off I went. It starts off with you running for a minute at a time.

I nearly died.

But I kept with it. Every week it pushes you a little bit further. I never found it getting easier as such, but I found I could keep up. And it made my progress easy to see. So I kept at it. Within maybe six weeks I could run for 20 minutes without stopping. After that I moved away from the C25k programme which focuses on running for a certain amount of time and started looking at distances and different routes.

At the moment I can run 5k. On a good day. On a flat surface. On a cool day. On a quiet day. You get the idea.

3k I can do easily. I currently run about 3k every Monday and Wednesday, then 5k on a Friday. Most Fridays I run about 60% and walk the rest. My best time is 50 minutes. Yes, I’m slow, but I’m improving.

I’ve registered myself for my first race. It’s coming up in just over a month now. ARGH. It’s a 5k around a local zoo. Oooh, novelty. I’m not too bothered about my time or position. Just as long as I’m not the very last person over the finishing line. And it’s not a serious race so I’m pretty sure I won’t be.

I have one aim: to run the whole way. That’s it. I told you I don’t care about time or position.

So as I’ve been running I’ve gradually built up a bit of knowledge and experience I’d like to share. Just little things that would have made it easier for me when I started out. I’m not claiming to be an expert, but the world of running is extremely daunting for a short fat girl who’s just starting out.

So here’s my contribution and the story of my journey. Hopefully I can encourage someone else to follow my lead.

Look forward to speaking more to you, great world wide web.

P.S. I said when I started I was about 17 1/2 stone. At my heaviest, about 2 months before that, I was 18 stone. Since August I have lost 1 1/2 stone. I can’t see the difference myself yet, but I do get compliments left right and centre. Weight wasn’t a massive priority to me, but it was certainly a factor. Just thought I’d throw that out there.