Too Small to be a "Filly"

Until recently, I’ve always been a “big girl,” as the more polite people liked to say. During my triathlon and Roller Derby days, they meant it as a compliment:

“It’s great that a big girl like you trains for triathlon.”… or

“It’s so cool that you aren’t all hung up on being skinny. I think big girls on skates are hot.”

And I agree: big girls on skates do look H-O-T — but it didn’t feel good. I felt uncomfortable a lot of the time and really wanted to be leaner, stronger, healthier, and — if I’m being honest — hotter.

My friend Jenny and I did the Olympic distance Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon in, like, 1996 or ’97 — and both of us were over our optimal weight, which qualified us for the “Clydesdale” division. (That’s the politically-correct race registration way to ask if you’re “overweight but training and participating anyway.”) Neither of us wanted to list our poundage on our race registration, so we didn’t check the box for Clydesdale. During the awards ceremony, we learned that no women had checked the box, so if Jenny and I had, we would have won the first and second place awards in our division! We were bummed to be robbed of our trophies by ego.

A few minutes ago, I was registering for the 3M Half Marathon and was all ready to check the box for “Filly” and cough up my weight… but I’m too small. The minimum requirement is 150 pounds.

I’m too small.

I’m too small!

That’s wicked fun.

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Comments

  • Milaka says:

    Hey Mel! I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to go to the Saturday a.m. WW meetings. We share a couple of friends – Jerm and LB.

    I’ve been reading your blog for a while and just HAD to comment on this one. First of all:

    WAY TO GO!!!!! You have been working so hard, I’m really excited for you that you now have proof on paper that your work is paying off!

    Secondly, since I’ve only known you through WW, I’ve never seen you as a “big girl”. I’ve only seen the fit and healthy you. It blows me away that you weren’t always like you are now. I think that’s a testament to . . . well, something. And I thought you should know!

  • Melicious says:

    Thanks, Milaka! I’ve really been having fun since I started taking my diet and training more seriously. It’s taken Weight Watchers and the Zone and CrossFit and blogging and food logging to get me here, but now that I’ve got all the parts working, it feels awesome.

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