What About The Skinny People? (Running is Hard; Even if You're Not Obese)

So the other day I was skimming through my "Runner's World" magazine and I came across an article on Ben Davis. Ben admits he faced intense depression and obesity, and overcame it, chronicling it all not only on his blog, "BenDoesLife.com" (hosted at Tumblr), but also through an epic You-Tube video that got him national recognition, not just from regular, everyday people, but also celebrities. And nothing against Ben, for I do enjoy a good "inspirational" story, but combined with "The Biggest Loser", it got me wondering, what about the "skinny" people?



Let me explain. Basically, I can never go on The Biggest Loser. And granted, I hope I never have to face the health issues that those people face. And it's great that the people find some motivation to make themselves healthier, even if it is in the form of a game show that offers quite a nice purse, but what about those thousands of people who consistently stay healthy every day? Why don't they get more recognition? I'm not talking about professional athletes. I'm talking about ordinary Weekend Warriors. I can't put my life story to a Cold Play song to tug on the heart strings of America. See, Ben complained in one of his posts

(http://bendoeslife.tumblr.com/post/1127591097/meanwhile-at-the-runners-world-headquarters)

that the covers of Runner's World always depict blue skies with blonde haired girls merrily smiling as they run in their boy shorts and sports bras. I obviously get the point, and yes, runners come in all shapes and sizes and colors, but I have to wonder, isn't running about self control? Having discipline? And whether you find that when you're 400 pounds or a trim 140 pounds doesn't matter. It's not so much who is on the cover, it's who is not reading the magazine at all. Either way, it's hard. Really, REALLY hard.

I've only been running for 3 1/2 months consistently at this point. And I'm lucky; besides a semester of cheese and pastry eating in Italy, I've never even been remotely chubby. I've always been active, but I've never been a runner. Running was my sport's punishment. You missed foul shots, you ran. You missed lay-ups, you ran. So I dreaded running for most of my life. And here I am, training for a marathon. And it's NOT easy. But people think that because I'm thin, it must be easy for me. That I don't sweat. That I don't have to put as much effort into it. That I'm just athletic. That my achievements are practically expected because of my appearance. Well, that's just a crazy fallacy. Any one who is going from non-running to running is going to have pain. And icy hot. And Tylenol. And bags of ice stored in his/her freezer. And Bandaids. Lots of Bandaids. Even if you're tall and skinny and blonde. Nobody is underrepresented. Health itself is underrepresented. You can be thin and unhealthy, just as you can have a few more pounds than a magazine deems acceptable and be healthy. This is about HEALTH, not looks.

So let's agree on something. Let's agree that anyone who can inspire someone to run is awesome. Whether or not you started out thin or wide doesn't matter. America loves "overcoming the odds" stories. Well, I say kudos to those of you out there who never lost control in the first place. And kudos to those of you who regained control. And kudos to those of you out there that are going to regain control. But most of all, kudos to those of you out there who run. Because it's not easy for any of us. Big or small.