Fat Girl Running

Sooooo, basically I'm tired of hearing the message "Fat girls don't run."  Is it ever said that way?  Of course not.  Is it implied.  Absolutely.  I started Couch to 5K with the dream of running charity races.  What's better than doing something you love to help someone out?  But just a mere 2 weeks into the 9 week program I had people asking "YOU run?" with an incredulous look on their face.  I wanted to reply, "why yes, fat girls do run." but settled for a yes.  My personal favorite was a very thin Zumba instructor asking me if my knees hurt when I ran because I was so big.  How do you reply to that?  Like a smarty pants:  "You should have seen me 40 pounds ago!".  She seemed to change her opinion of me very quickly.  Don't ever forget that on your journey everyone else is not at the same place.  Be quick to hold out a hand for help, not pass judgement.  Offer encouragement and caution in a constructive way.