All Creatures Great and Small

Running my first half marathon in 2010

What always strikes me when I attend a race of any distance, is how it takes all shapes and sizes, creatures great and small. And I am no exception.

There are people who are young and old, of every race and religion, men in turbans, women in headscarves, topless and toned, slim and leggy, rotund and rouge red, bouncing, compact and flailing. But like all things in life, if You put your mind to goal then it doesn't matter what your genetic code you're going to do your best to complete that challenge.

I had lunch yesterday with a dear friend and we discussed how we describe our body shapes on dating websites. She is a completely different shape to me exceeding 5'11 and with a booty I think JLo would covet. I am 5'6 with all the right curves in all of their respective places (I wish I had the confidence to say all the right places!). We both described ourselves as curvy....yet she thinks I'm skinny, sporty skinny but skinny. Whilst as a girl I swooned a thanks, I am comfortable enough to know I aint a Skinny Bitch (the title of a great book not a slur).

Perfectly formed for a marathon....
with one of my running role models

But it bought me back to an uber ride with a very educated man and explaining why I know my way through The City of London I said "I run". He cocked his head at me and said "but your not a size zero". And he is absolutely right. I am a size 14. I have cellulite and boobs, that despite my best efforts I can't run off! I have Kiwi girl thighs and an hourglass waistline and (as yet tested) childbearing hips. I've had to learn how to manage with the body I have. I had thought that training for a marathon would change my body shape more than it has. I have slimmed down my waist (more bra shopping required, oh joy!) and my legs are very firm - this has a more to do with my loathing the foam roller than I should, so I assure you this is not a good thing. My upper arms are slimming and I have a sense of being more firm generally but otherwise my hips are wide and I can't fit my skinny skinny jeans but I can run 27km. And in a months time I will make it around 42.2km.

See that's the thing readers, runners or otherwise, it doesn't matter what size you are, its about how you approach life, each step at a time. Are you pushing yourself physically? Are you stretching your mind? Are you being kind? These are things that only we can answer for ourselves truly. No one else knows our potential more than ourselves.