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Anne Helen Petersen's avatar

Just an overarching reminder here that I should have put up top: please avoid equating weight or body size with health and no weight numbers please!

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Lan's avatar

School left me with the belief that fitness and sport was the same thing. And definitely for other people as I had no natural athleticism or co-ordination. I was always picked last for teams. Along with coming from an immigrant culture who had no concept of walking for leisure, in my adulthood I barely moved. I fell into running via taking up canicrossing for the sake of bonding with my dog in my early thirties. I tried a couple of runs by myself in a vague belief I should be doing exercise. Did not get very far - a few hundred meters and I was puffed out. My belief that fitness was for other people was so ingrained that I would not wear running gear as that's for 'real' fitness people. Until a jog leader gently told me cotton t-shirts were not a good idea in cold rain. I discovered running in a group is completely different from running by yourself - which is counter intuitive given it's the same simple motion. Something about going slower in a group, pacing better, having others to keep you going. Through the kindness of others I was introduced to trail running. Due to my immigrant background, this was almost literally a whole new world opening up. I tagged along, the runs got longer, I got more trainers. One day I was part of a relay team doing an ultradistance route and ran alongside ultrarunners. I realised they weren't skinny muscular folk. They were normal. They were walking. Intrigued I signed up next year to do the race as an ultrarunner. And it's wonderful. The races in Scotland are often run by informal organisations with one or two folk and whole lot of volunteer marshals, so it's a real informal, welcoming community (there are ultra races run by event companies - it's a different vibe I feel). You don't have to be 'athletic' you just need to keep on going. I can so do that! Due to the pace you meet allsorts on the route and even a shy person like me can chat to people. Due to the risk of injuries as the longer you go, I signed up for a gym. Something I could never imagine doing in the past. I discovered a love of strength training. I have better eating and sleeping habits now to help with recovery and training. I feel so much more comfortable with my body and who I am. I wonder how many people miss out on this due to being scarred by school?

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