What does a runner look like?

When you think of runners, what kinds of images come to mind?  For me that's the long and lean Olympic athletes, the ridiculously fit people on the covers of fitness magazines, and the numerous real-life running enthusiasts I have encountered on trails, roads and sidewalks most of my life.  When I look at runners, and I look at myself, I am forced to acknowledge the truth - I don't look like them.  I am short and round and working on that.  Not much I can do about the short part; at 38 I think I'm as tall as I'm going to get at 5'3".  From here on out my only height change will be to shrink.  So it's the round part I'm working on, and have been working on most of my life.  And will probably be working on the rest of it, truth be told.

Who gets to call themselves a runner?  Like many other activities in life, I think people self-identify if they are runners.  In the past I definitely was NOT a runner.  I don't think anyone ever asked me if I was a runner, but had they done so I would have hastily said, "Oh NO.  I don't run."  The whole thought was exhausting and painful.  I made a few feeble attempts to run in grad school with a friend of mine.  I was slow, sweaty, and shin-splinty.  The pain was enough to deter me after one or two sessions.  I crossed running off my list of enjoyable activities and went onward with other activities (or not, as much of my couch-potato life has shown).

But all of that has changed, and now I do consider myself a runner - just not a very good one yet.  But I'm getting there, which is a great surprise and pleasure for me to contemplate.

So this is what I looked like at about 237 pounds and several months before I got some things sorted out and was able to consistently work out again.  It was several more months before I was inspired to begin running.  I'll post update photos along the way.  The adorable cutie next to me is my son.