Thinner Does Not Mean Faster

Happy Summer,

How is your running going? Are you feeling happy, healthy, and strong? There was a time in my life when I didn’t. I was struggling with the belief that “thinner means faster.” This belief contributed to pain, injuries, and an unhealthy relationship with food and myself. I shoved it down for many years— it worked until it didn’t. 

In today’s blog, I share a piece from my book, Staring Down a Dream: A Mom, a Marathoner, a Mission in the hope to begin a conversation around this topic. Thinner does not mean faster even though as runners we still may hear this from coaches, family members, or the media. 

Thankfully I’m now running healthy, happy, and strong, and owe my gratitude to Marni Sumbal, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N, owner of Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition. She is a registered dietician with extensive experience in sports nutrition who guided me back to health.

My hope for the future of our running sport and community is we work together to change this narrative— What if we focused on how the body feels instead of how the body looks?

               The Scale

Three digits consumed

my days. I’ll see that

number and my life

will change. I was 

sure of it. I’ll be

happy, I’ll be fast. 

I’ll be good enough

at last! 

The number came

My eyes were pleased—

Yet nothing changed

How can this be? 

The number was an 

illusion. 

I had it all wrong.

I must unlearn— 

If I want to be 

healthy, happy,

and strong.

—————————————

A sneak peek at chapter five: Thinner Does NOT Mean Faster

I hesitated. She continued, “What are you struggling with?” 

“I don’t want to get fat.” I was so sick of that belief. I can’t believe that I just blurted it out.

Marni’s wisdom prevailed, “Julie, let’s focus less on your weight and more on your body—is your body working for you or against you?” 

“Yes, I want to do that. How do I do that?” I wanted to let go of the belief that I needed to be a certain weight to run fast or to run better.

Marni continued, “I want you to focus on how you are feeling and assess what your body can do instead of what it looks like. This will allow you to better understand if you have limiters beyond weight.”

I loved that she was focused on me as a person instead of my body mass index or my weight on the scale. She wanted me to keep these questions in mind as we worked together. 

“Do you have good energy for your workouts?” 

“Do you feel strong, resilient, and healthy?” 

“Are you able to recover well after your workouts?” 

“Are you feeling stronger, faster, or fitter?” 

I loved these questions and was so grateful to be working with Marni. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable and passionate but she was also real and caring. Marni encouraged me to stop worrying about gaining weight and instead get to know my body. (Reflecting on this now, I see how this was one of the contributors to my pain.) 

————————

If your struggling with the belief “Thinner means faster, or “Thinner means you’ll be a better runner.”—I encourage you to consider asking yourself these beautiful questions that Marni asked me.

Please feel free to share this with someone you love. If you would like to continue the conversation or would like a free copy of my book please reach out. 

Take good care,

Julie

Connect with me— Facebook/ Run to Write 

Author of: Staring Down a Dream: A Mom, a Marathoner, a Mission/ My Road: A Runners Journey Through Persistent Pain to Healing