Not simply the incentive to lose weight, mind you. But the impetus to gain control of her life-and to lose weight in the process. But it's not really about that anymore. It's about setting and achieving goals. It's about knowing in our hearts that we can do anything we want to do, anything we set our minds to.
Many overweight women dissociate themselves from their bodies.
But through running, they learn to pay attention to their physical selves and to how they're feeling. We were women people laughed at and made cruel jokes about. We were denied jobs because we were heavy. But now everything has changed. We know ourselves, and we know we are not fat, we are not old, we are not invalids, we are not stupid.