{"id":2034,"date":"2013-07-19T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2013-07-18T09:09:49","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T13:09:49","slug":"being-a-bigger-runner-or-triathlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/19\/being-a-bigger-runner-or-triathlete\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a Bigger Runner or Triathlete"},"content":{"rendered":"

In triathlons, we have these fun categories called Athena and Clydesdale.\u00a0 A lot of people think that means “fat,” but really, it just means heavier.\u00a0 It’s a way to recognize that some people are lugging a lot more bulk.<\/p>\n

So what qualifies you as an Athena or a Clydesdale?\u00a0 Well, some races have different rules, but USA Triathlon, the governing body for triathlons (and the group that creates the rules we all follow) says that an Athena is a woman 165 pounds or over and a Clydesdale is a man 220 pounds or over.\u00a0 What this doesn’t account for is height.\u00a0 A woman who is 5’10” is in a healthy weight range at 165 pounds according to the BMI charts.<\/p>\n

But I’m getting off track.<\/p>\n

The stereotypical runner is someone with a long and lean body.\u00a0 That’s what we think of when we think of runners and who we typically see competing at the Olympics.\u00a0\u00a0 And there’s nothing wrong with having that body type.\u00a0 I’m not about thin shaming or fat shaming.\u00a0 People come in all sizes.<\/p>\n

What I do want to talk about is some of the difficulties that bigger athletes face.\u00a0 I read an article from Active<\/a> about it a few weeks ago and it stuck in my head.<\/p>\n

First off, a lot of people worry that they are too big to get into the sport.\u00a0 Not because they’re worried about their health, but because they’re worried what others will think.\u00a0 WHO CARES?\u00a0 Don’t let that bother you.\u00a0 Go out and do your thing.\u00a0 Yesterday, driving home, I was behind a bigger girl biking down the road, and I was so impressed with her ability to power up the hill.\u00a0 Also with her confidence in traffic.\u00a0 I only work 7 miles from home but I don’t bike it because the traffic terrifies me.\u00a0 You go, girl.<\/p>\n

Bigger runners do have to think a little differently about shoes.\u00a0 You might want more cushioning under your feet because you’re putting more pressure on your poor footsies.\u00a0 But there are many awesome shoes out there.<\/p>\n

Gear can be tough.\u00a0 There are some awesome companies, like Sparkle Skirts<\/a>, that carry up to 3XL (theirs is equivalent to a 24-26) for bigger female runners.\u00a0 And men have somewhat of an advantage in that football players tend to be big guys.\u00a0 They need wicking clothing to workout in, so hey, the average runner can probably get some too.\u00a0 But a lot of companies don’t make clothes for the bigger runner.\u00a0 Heck, I’m not THAT big and I find myself buying gear in 2XLs just so it fits without suffocating.\u00a0 And let’s not even talk about wetsuits.\u00a0 Those are made of torture.\u00a0\u00a0 For sports bras, I’m an Enell fan.<\/p>\n

One big key for bigger athletes of either gender is that your nutrition and hydration needs might be different than a smaller athlete.\u00a0 I know runners who can get through a half marathon with one gel.\u00a0 I cannot.\u00a0 I actively get hungry if I don’t have more than 100 calories while out on the course.\u00a0 I’m not sure if that’s a function of my weight or a function of the fact that I’m out there longer.\u00a0 Either way, I’ve had to find a fueling method that works for me.\u00a0 The same goes with hydration.\u00a0 If you sweat more, you need to drink more.<\/p>\n

Every so often, I do a sweat test.\u00a0 Before you workout, get on the scale in the buff.\u00a0 Record your weight.\u00a0 Go for a run.\u00a0 Take your water bottle with you, but make sure you know how much water is in it.\u00a0 When you get back from a run, strip off your sweaty gear and wipe off as much sweat as possible (ick).\u00a0 Weigh yourself again.\u00a0 Subtract the number of ounces of water you drank and that’s how much weight you lost in sweat.\u00a0 So that’s how much water you should be drinking to rehydrate.\u00a0 Ideally, your weights should be about the same.<\/p>\n

We often talk about the look of the stereotypical athlete.\u00a0 Let’s keep changing that stereotype.\u00a0 Get out there and be awesome.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In triathlons, we have these fun categories called Athena and Clydesdale.\u00a0 A lot of people think that means “fat,” but really, it just means heavier.\u00a0 It’s a way to recognize that some people are lugging a lot more bulk. So what qualifies you as an Athena or a Clydesdale?\u00a0 Well, some races have different rules, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[160,42,115],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeing a Bigger Runner or Triathlete - Elbowglitter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/elbowglitter.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/19\/being-a-bigger-runner-or-triathlete\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Being a Bigger Runner or Triathlete - Elbowglitter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In triathlons, we have these fun categories called Athena and Clydesdale.\u00a0 A lot of people think that means “fat,” but really, it just means heavier.\u00a0 It’s a way to recognize that some people are lugging a lot more bulk. 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