About
Welcome to Fat Girls Run Too! I’m Stacey, I’m fat and I’m a runner. I first started running 14 years ago as a means of losing weight. At the time I was weighing in at approximately 220 pounds and the idea of running was terrifying at best and seemly impossible at worst. I was working with a personal trainer and he encouraged me to start a running program. I resisted for a long time, but in his gentle but firm way he “convinced” me that it was a good idea. I put convinced in quotes because what he did was wear me down. My first experiences with running were in the gym on a treadmill where I started VERY slowly. From there I moved into running on my own time and that is where my love affair with running began.
I found that I loved the feeling of running. The sense of accomplishment after I completed a goal run felt amazing and It became my favourite “me time” activity. Through it all, I was very aware that I ran slowly and was hardly putting up record miles. I often refused to acknowledge that I was a runner, preferring to say “oh, well yes I run for cardio but I’m not really a runner”.
As my running progressed so did my weight loss and within 6 months of starting to run I was down over 40 pounds. I was also ready to run my first race. I registered for a 5km trail run in Whistler, BC. To say I was nervous that morning is an understatement. I must have gone to the bathroom 5 times before the race started! Knowing I was going to be slow I positioned myself and the back of the pack when the race started. Even still I got caught up in the momentum of the race and came up to fast. Luckily I was running with a friend who cautioned me to pace myself. After a few minutes, the pack of runners started to thin out and I was able to get into my zone. Crossing the finish line that morning was a high I still remember to this day. I was hooked.
After my first 5k race experience, I signed up for a running series called the “5 peaks trail running event”. It was 5 races on 5 different mountains around the lower mainland in BC. I completed 3 of the 5 races.
In the off-season, I continued to train and my weight continued to drop. I got serious about my running, focusing on my training, working in sprints, hill days, and cross-training days. By the time Spring rolled around, I was down another 40 pounds and I was ready to hit the races! Once again my trainer intervened and suggested that I try upping my distance to 10k. I said ok, but that’s as far as I am going to go. He smiled. I did a 10k that summer and it felt pretty good. After that, the trainer (Devin – you will hear a lot about him) said “I think you’re ready for a half marathon”. I had my doubts but kicked up my training. That October – the end of the race season – I registered for a hilly half marathon on the North Shore. To my surprise I loved it. And I put up a decent time! I was finally ready to acknowledge that MAYBE I was a runner.
At the end of that season, I told my trainer that I loved running a half-marathon, but that was it, I was done with the distance. Once again he just smiled. Cue the start of the next running season and my 3rd year as a runner. Devin asked me to list out the races I would like to train for that year. When he looked over the list he said to me “I think you’ve got a marathon in you”. I said no. No way. 42 km is WAY too far. He just smiled. Sure enough, before I knew it I was registering for a marathon – the edge-to-edge in Tofino, BC. I won’t go into all the details of that run, but safe to say at that point I was hooked on distance running. I was slow, but I could run forever! I finished that race and this time I was the one who looked at Devin and said “I’ve got more in me”. Enter the ultra and my greatest running accomplishment – an 80km trail run in Whistler, BC.
In the weeks and years that followed my ultra-running debut, I ran smack into some bad luck. I was hit by a car while out riding my bike and all of a sudden my workouts ground to a halt. The recovery continues 10 years later one and through it, I started to put on the pounds and my mental health declined.
I will describe my rise and fall from running in detail through the posts on this website but suffice it to say, I am once again a fat runner. I am recovering from injuries and setbacks and it feels like I am once again at square one. The only difference is that I am starting again armed with a ton of experience and knowledge.
I hope you will join me on my journey of once again discovering my love of running and loving it in the body I am in now. I hope you will share your own stories and motivations and together we can celebrate all of us who are out there killing it – regardless of our body type.
Thanks for reading my story, I can’t wait to hear yours!