REWRITING THE BOOK ON PLUS-SIZE RUNNING!
MARTINUS EVANS | @300POUNDSANDRUNNING
In a world where fat athletes are excluded from races, training, clothing, and all other forms of representation ... it just takes one crappy comment from a troll to piss someone like Martinus off enough to create his own size-inclusive world for plus-size runners!
Martinus Says...
"You need to have delusional self-belief. You have to believe in yourself so much, so hard that anybody else around you thinks you're crazy. "
Some of the highlights of our convo include,
Meet the Martinus!
Martinus Evans has run over eight marathons since his doctor told him to “lose weight or die” in July 2012. Since then, he’s also coached hundreds of runners and founded the Slow AF Run Club, a community of over 10,000 members worldwide. He is also the author of the book Slow AF Run Club: The ultimate guide for anybody who wants to run who enjoys speaking passionately about issues related to size-inclusivity, mindset, DEI and mental health.
All Resources We Talked About
******************************************************
About Fantastical Fatty
Lindsay Johnson, aka Fantastical Fatty, is a fat joy activist, fat liberationist, and fat fitness lover. They believe fat people deserve to love their fat bodies and take up space!
👉 Website
👉 TikTok
👉 Instagram
Stay Fat & Fantastic,
Lindsay 😘
REWRITING THE BOOK ON PLUS-SIZE RUNNING!
MARTINUS EVANS | @300POUNDSANDRUNNING
In a world where fat athletes are excluded from races, training, clothing, and all other forms of representation ... it just takes one crappy comment from a troll to piss someone like Martinus off enough to create his own size-inclusive world for plus-size runners!
Martinus Says...
"You need to have delusional self-belief. You have to believe in yourself so much, so hard that anybody else around you thinks you're crazy. "
Some of the highlights of our convo include,
Meet the Martinus!
Martinus Evans has run over eight marathons since his doctor told him to “lose weight or die” in July 2012. Since then, he’s also coached hundreds of runners and founded the Slow AF Run Club, a community of over 10,000 members worldwide. He is also the author of the book Slow AF Run Club: The ultimate guide for anybody who wants to run who enjoys speaking passionately about issues related to size-inclusivity, mindset, DEI and mental health.
All Resources We Talked About
******************************************************
About Fantastical Fatty
Lindsay Johnson, aka Fantastical Fatty, is a fat joy activist, fat liberationist, and fat fitness lover. They believe fat people deserve to love their fat bodies and take up space!
👉 Website
👉 TikTok
👉 Instagram
Stay Fat & Fantastic,
Lindsay 😘
if you think of a person listening to this right now and they're going, can I, can I be an athlete? Can I do these things? Can I face the struggle and do these things? What are some tips you would have for that person to help them shift into an athletic mindset when they don't perceive themselves as having an athlete's body or looking like an athlete? First thing I'll say is yes you can. I have this phrase of delusional self-belief, right? Yeah. Ooh, delusional self-belief. Yes. And that's the notion is that you have to believe in yourself so much, so hard that anybody else around you thinks you're crazy.
Lindsay:Welcome to the Fantastical Fatty Podcast, where we celebrate fat baddies challenging fat phobic stereotypes, smashing anti-fat narratives, and changing the freaking world for fatties like you and me. I'm your host, Lindsay Johnson, a k a Fantastical Fatty. I'm a fat joy activist, fat liberationist, and fat fitness lover. I'm here to remind you that you're allowed to love every inch of your fat body, take up space and live your best fat baddie life. No matter where you are at on your journey to fat liberation and fat joy, this podcast is gonna amp you up. You're gonna get to hear from some truly fantastical fatties. Whether they themselves are in the space of fat liberation or fat activism, or they're just living badass lives in a bigger body. Without further ado let's meet today's guest. Hello fantastical Fatties. Welcome to another recording of the Fantastical Fatty Podcast. we have a fantastic guest on today's episode, Martinus Evans. Now, if you don't already know Martinus where the heck have you been? You need to go immediately to Instagram and TikTok and look up 300 pounds and running Martinez has run over eight marathons since his doctor told him to quote unquote lose weight or die in July, 2012. since then, he's coached hundreds of runners and founded the Slow AF Run Club, a community of over 10,000 members worldwide. He's also author of the book, slow AF Run Club, the Ultimate Guide for anybody who Wants to Run, and he passionately speaks about issues related to size, inclusivity, mindset, diversity, equity and inclusion, and mental health. Our conversation today really centers around s philosophy of delusional self-belief. And how most of the time, all of the time when haters are gonna hate when they're telling you that you can't do something or they think that you are stupid Martinez's words for trying to do something, athletic in a bigger body or really anything, period. We have to understand that those naysayers, that doubt that is theirs, that is their belief for themselves getting projected onto you. And you, my friends, do not have to listen to it. In this episode, we share some embarrassing stories. We share some inspiring stories, and oh my goodness, did we laugh? Like literally my cheeks hurt and I am wiping away tears of laughter. Friends, I'm so, so excited for you to listen this episode. Let's get into it. Martinus, welcome. Welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today, Lindsay? I am doing amazing. I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. I am excited and I am honored. Oh my goodness. The work you are doing , in the fat run space is incredible. Mm-hmm. How the heck did you get into this? Um, I asked myself that question every day. So it all started in 2012. Um, in 2012, I was working at Men's Warehouse at the time, um, a commission sales job. A suit salesman on my feet eight to 12 hours a day in hard bottom dress shoes. I'm running around selling suits. Right. I, I like to pin that as I continue to go to the story. Um, by far it's the worst thing you'd probably wear for a long period of time. Yeah. Um, but that's, that was the uniform. Developed some hip issues. Went to go see a doctor, which led me to another doctor. And as I was sitting in there explaining to him what's going on with me as far as like this hip and things of that sort, he's like, I know what's wrong with you. I said, okay, what's that? He was like, it's because you're fat. Mm. You need to lose weight or die. And, and for me, I was kind of took aback cause I'm like, a, you don't know me, b I just sat down and told you like I'm on my feet eight to 12 hours a day in this dress, shoes running around, yada, yada yada. So obviously I'm quite active. Forcefully throughout my work. Mm-hmm. And we just have this whole argument, you know, he wound up like, well, you know, yeah. Stomach is a pregnant woman, all this other stuff you need to start walking on the track. Um, all this stuff. Right. And I remember telling him like, screw you, screw all of this. If I wanted to, I'll run a marathon. Yeah. He laughs at me and tells me that's the most stupidest thing he heard in all years of practicing medicine. Yeah. I wanted to lay hands on him. Lindsay, I can't even imagine like that is re That is ridiculous. Keep going. I mean, I think that's so relatable. I think every, every fat person, you know, relatable. So I wanted to lay hands on him. Um, continue to have a argument and I stormed out the doctor's office and on my way home still ruminated uh, ruminating about this whole situation. I drive past a running shoe store. Mm-hmm. Going to the running shoe store and bought shoes that day. And that was kind of like, My journey went home, got on the treadmill and failed miserably. But I was so determined to, uh, say, fuck you to this doctor. Yep. That I kept going back at it every other day. Yeah. Yeah. And at what point did you sign up for a marathon? So, um, throughout that journey, like most people think, well, You do it, you sign up for the marathon? Not really. I didn't run my first marathon until about 18 months afterwards. Right. So yeah, I met that doctor in like June or July in 2012. I didn't run my first marathon until October, uh, 2013. So throughout that whole thing. Yeah, no, what I was gonna say, but 18 months to go from not even being a runner at all to running a marathon, that is, to me, that feels quick. Um, I guess, you know, I don't have an answer for that. I just knew, like, it took for me, I thought that was slow, right? Yeah. Um, cuz I, I expected to run a marathon that day, but okay, that didn't happen. But you know, I, I'm a very methodical and obsessive type of individual. So like I, I started with Couch to 5k, founded out Couch to 5k, wasn't meant for people or size, or people who in slower bodies because the last day of Couch 5K is like, run 30 minutes. Congratulations. You ran a, a 5K and me doing a map and being like, so you expecting me to run something faster than a 10 minute mile? Yeah. What the fuck is this? Um, And then I tried to find, um, tried to hire a running coach back in 2012. Nobody would want to work with a 300 pound man. Really? Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Couldn't find a running coach. Everybody would say, kid, you need to lose weight first. Huh? So everybody say You need to lose weight first, or like, nah, I don't think I can do it. Blah, blah, blah. So I went on the whole journey of myself to like go to the, get a running, run coach certification myself, read all the running books. Yeah. And did all this other stuff pretty much to like work on myself. Yeah. And do the things that I wanted to do. So yeah. 18 months later, you know, I ran my first marathon. It, it's so interesting whenever I talk to any trainers of any type who are in a, in a bigger body, and it's almost always because of some sort of discrimination or anti-fat bias, um, that they've experienced. So they said, well, I'm just gonna do it myself then. Yeah, it's so funny and even even listening to that, like I, I have run a couple of triathlons and when I was training for my first triathlon, I got to the swim portion of the training and swam a length of the pool and then halfway back and then doggy paddled the rest of the way I was done. I was like, oh goodness. I apparently don't know how to swim for, for endurance, for distance. And so I was like, let me get a swimming lesson. Let me get someone to help me with my stroke. Right? And the, oh my good goodness, the way that this trainer got into my head about my body size and, and that I would not be able to complete the triathlon and I was at risk of like drowning. And, you know, I think they were doing that thing where they wanted to make me feel like I needed them. To maybe hire than I think it was kind of that, but either way, the doubt that they put in my head, I stopped training for a whole month. I was like, what have I done? I'm so dumb. I can't do triathlon. I'm gonna die out there. And they just like it. They shot my confidence so much and it's, it's so interesting. It's so interesting as a bigger person to try to carve out any space at all in the world of athletics. In the world of sport. Yeah. It is not easy. Forget just that, you know, like our bodies can do it if we, if we are gentle, if we train them. But it's the stigma, it's the exclusion, it's the discrimination, it's the straight up bullying. Did you experience that as well, not just from run coaches, but even in the world of athletics. Like did you experience that from other runners? Absolutely. Um, when you mentioned swimming, it acts I actually flashback to when I was in high school. Mm-hmm. So, um, in high school they offered this free, like lifeguard lessons type thing, and I'm like, well, shit, like I wanna be a lifeguard. Uh, so go through the whole training, get all the way there, and did not get my lifeguard certification because I made too b too big of a splash. Jumping into the pool. So like that was the thing, like they teach you like how to like jump in the pool. Yeah. And like not make this big splash. But since I'm a larger individual, my splashes was always bigger anyway and I didn't get my certification because of that. But can I ask a bit of a nerdy question here? A technical question. Does a splash have something to do with. Saving lives? Like is that a thing? Yeah. Um, from, from what I remember, like from what I remember, like, yes. Like having a splash, like you trying to jump into a pool and you next, like trying to jump next to somebody and you make a bigger splash than it might disorient him and business. Okay. Oh my gosh. That's, that's so wild. Okay, well that's awkward. Awkward. I, I could have been on Baywatch, like they, they, I could have been on Baywatch, like I could have been the first fat lifeguard, but instead I had to be a marathoner instead. Yeah. Um. When it comes to like bullying? Absolutely. Um, in the running scene. Absolutely. Even the way I got the name Slow AF Run Club right for the community I created, um, I was running a race and somebody was heckling me. Like, imagine running a marathon, being at mile 18. You got your headphones on jamming, just trying to make sure you don't stop. You see somebody doing like large gestures. Out the corner of your eye, so you thinking something's going on. So you take out your headphones and you're like, what? What's going on? And he's like, your slow as fuck. Go home. And I'm like, I'm confused. I'm like, what your slow as fuck. Go home. And I'm like, you are not even running. You're, you're on the sidelines buddy. You're on the sidelines drinking and you telling me to go home. No, you fucking go home. Oh my goodness. That's What did that, did that, what did that do? Did that, did that fire you up or did that deflate you? No, it pissed me the fuck up. But from that point on, um, That's how I even came up with the name Slow AF Run Club. Yeah. Because I was like, oh, I got something for his ass. Yeah. As a big middle figure to him, I'm gonna write slow across all of my T-shirts. Yep. And I'm gonna run these races. And people found it hilarious. And then people wanted to buy them. I wasn't selling 'em at the time. And then the entrepreneur and we was like, well, I'm selling these. Yeah. Yep. And then I started, I sold 500 shirts in the first weekend. Um, I'm selling these shirts and the rest was history. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh, I love a business born out of spite. I love it. I love it. And you know what, it's so interesting how you heard that and you were like F you buddy. Mm-hmm. And you created a whole brand. And then I think about myself and I think I heard that and I immediately was filled with self-doubt and, and stopping. And it's like, how do you think we can support people in bigger bodies in shifting their mindsets? From being discouraged and defeated to being f you, I'm doing it? Yes, mindset is definitely a, a thing. Right. And I, and I, I have a few mindset tools that we can talk about. Right. I think before we even get into all of this, it comes down to it's you versus the thoughts in your head. Mm-hmm. Versus the, the thoughts of other people of you versus your thoughts of your head. In your head of those other people of you as well. Yeah. So as a larger individual, we have those things going on. You have so many thoughts going on in your head. You got the stuff that, that you already dealing with with yourself. You got the other people trying to tell you something and then you got the thoughts of you dealing with those thoughts as well. So it's a lot to deal with as a a plus size individual. Right. And you know, the first thing I always say is seek therapy. Um, you know, mindset, tips and tricks. Um, Will help, but therapy will work wonders as well. So, you know, that's the first thing I always tell people is that, you know, you need to figure out how to be able to deal with these thoughts as well as, um, help keep those things in check. Yes. So one of the things that I do that I learned from therapy is I, I, I give my inner voice a, uh, a persona. Yeah. So I name him Otis. Otis is a old raspy man that has a raspy voice that's gonna talk shit when you don't need to do, it's think of like one of those uncles who's always saying, Inappropriate shit at, at, at, at, at any given time. Yeah. That's augusts. And sometimes, you know, with that uncle, you, you have to grow up and be like, uncle, I don't, I don't care what the hell you saying. You need to go on with that bullshit. Like, go on, go away from here. And then he'd be like, oh, you didn't grow up. Now let, let me go here. Mind my business. So like that's the first thing, right? Is giving that inner voice a persona so that way you can really understand that. That voice is not you. It's something else that you are able to address. Yeah. And I would say like that's, uh, the second thing, right, is that, um, y your thoughts and feelings about yourself isn't true. Yes. You know, our mind is going to drum up some things, but your thoughts and your feelings about yourself, Are not true and we need to realize is that if we look at those as we are looking in the mirror, we can realize like, oh, that's just the mirror. That's just a reflection of me. That's just a reflection of what's going on. Yeah, but that's not me right now. So, um, that those are like the starters, right? Like that's top three right there. I love that. Well, and I was gonna say really quickly to, to add on to that, like, so many times our thoughts, like, by the way, mine is called Frank. My inner inner gremlin is Frank. Mm-hmm. And he, he is based off of a, um, uh, back when I was on the, on the Strata council in a, in a condo of mine years ago, he was like the whatever, like the head strata. Liaison for the building, whatever. I don't know. His name is Frank. He was the worst. And that is my, you know, because there's a part of me that's like, Frank, you're just an idiot. So I have no respect for you. You are small minded and a bully and you're dumb. And so like when my inner voice goes in, I can visualize Frank and I'm like, like, you're nothing. What am I, what am I outing you? But I was gonna say that. A lot of times those inner thoughts, they are not our own. Right? Like, we didn't make those up, those were put into us. Right. Society and media, family, you know, a, a, a weird uncle or a, a crappy strip instructor. So I think that's even, uh, like that's something that I wish we acknowledged more. Like that isn't even your voice. When you say your thoughts are not you, it's because that's not even your voice. Yeah. Yeah. Big facts. So I would say those are the top three. Yeah. And then if I had that on, add a bonus one is do it a afraid, um, yes. In my book, and I know we gonna talk about it a little bit more later. Yeah. Um, I have this phrase of like, you know, you, you need to have the, I'll go if I have to by myself mentality. Yes. And um, that's the thing, that's the notion of like, You wanna go do something, you are afraid. You, you think that, oh, I need somebody to hand hold me along the way. No, this is what you really need to lean into and go do it by yourself. Because by doing it, by yourself, by doing scary things by yourself, you are then giving yourself the uh, The permission to get gritty. Yeah. To get hardened to, to be able to do even harder things. Because you did that one thing while you were afraid. Yeah. What was the first thing that you did that you can remember doing by yourself that gave you that mentality, that gave you that wisdom? Um, other than buying shoes, other than buying running shoes, my doctor told me I was gonna die. Um, I, I, I think there was multiple things along the way, right? So, for example, my first run, it sucked. Um, I was inconveniently sandwiched between two gazelles as, as I like to call them. Uh, one guy was going like 10, the other guy was going like nine. And I remember being like, holy fuck, like, How fast do I need to be going? Like I can't go like two or three on here and like these fuckers are going 10. So I'm thinking to myself, well, I'm gonna go seven. Horrible idea. And when my body hit that treadmill on the ground, when I fell 15 seconds later, you know you fell. Yes, I fell. I fell. Okay, so 15 seconds later you fell. 15 seconds later I said, I told you when my body hit that ground, when my body hit that ground, it made a lo a noise. I've never heard before. Have you ever heard fat skin speed on the treadmill? That shit did not hurt. Feel amazing. And it was, what did the GS do? So they stopped and they was like, Hey bro, are you okay? And I got outta, I grabbed my cell phone, I ran the hell about it. You know what's amazing? That would be enough for so many people to stop. So how, how did you get back in there? So, um, I have a tattoo on my wrist. I have a tattoo that I got very young. Um, and it says, no struggle, no progress. It's a yes. It's from a speech from Frederick Douglass. Um, and the whole speech, or part of the speech, you know, says there, you know, if there's no struggle, there's no progress. And they go on to say like, people or men who favor freedom but does not agitate change are like people who want, um, Props but don't want to do the work. Yeah. Of tilling up the land. They want the ocean without its loud roar. They want the rain without its thunder and light lightning. And that boat just always meant something to me of in order to do something like you're going to have to go to through some type of struggle. Yeah. And he says like the struggle might be a moral one, it might be a physical one, it might even be a mental one, but it has to be a struggle in order for you to get some progress. Yeah. So as I was at home, like walking home with tears in my eyes, like I reached out to the doorknob of my apartment and um, and as I tore the doorknob, I the doorknob, it hit me. Like I looked at my tattoo and I was like, fuck. I know what I need to do. I need to go through the struggle. Yeah. Yeah. Get back on it. Oh my gosh. Wow. Wow. I love that. I love that. So, so you talk a lot about like the mindset of an athlete. Mm-hmm. And I mean, that is the mindset of an athlete, right? Right. What again, if you think of, if you think of a person listening to this right now and they're going, can I, can I be an athlete? Can I do these things? Can I, can I face the struggle and do these things? You know, what would you, what are some tips you would have for that person to help them shift into an athletic mindset when they don't perceive themselves as having an athlete's body or looking like an athlete? So, um, first thing I'll say is yes you can. And, um, I have this phrase of delusion, delusional self-belief, right? Yeah. Ooh, delusional self-belief. Yes. And that's the notion is that you have to believe in yourself so much, so hard that anybody else around you. Thinks you're crazy. So the, the example I like to use is if we look at all these modern mo, modern marvels, right? That we all take for granted. Like somebody back in the day had to been like, you know what, Todd is sending a telegram or a pigeon or whatever they sent to communicate to people back then, or hopping on this horse and riding 40 fort nights to get there, right? Like, I wish I could sit here and talk to them. And somebody else had to be like, you know what, that's stupid. Go home, go to sleep. But somebody worked on it, right? Or like, the same thing with flying some, the Wright brothers or so was like, you know what? I'm tired of riding these horses. It's hurting my, it is hurting my butt. It's taking forever. I, I don't, can I, can I fly there? I wish I can fly like the birds. And somebody had to be like, you are stupid. That is dumb. Don't do that. Yeah. You're delusional. And that's the same thing with delusional self-belief. Like you're gonna be like, I wanna be X, Y, and z. I wanna swim, I wanna be a swimmer, I wanna be a runner, I wanna be a cyclist. And people are gonna look at you and be like, you are stupid. You are dumb, and you're delusional. And guess what? That's okay. Cuz the only thing you have to do is continue to believe in yourself and continue to put in those actions and that delusion. We're actually coming to fruition. Like everything's impossible until it isn't anymore. Yeah. Yeah. That's literally, it's out there. I have that, that in my, in my gym, in my gym, it says everything, everything seems impossible to until it's done. Right. Yeah. So that's the thing. So when I was telling my family and friends like, Hey, I'm, I'm about to become a runner. I'm about to be a marathon. And they was like, the fuck, what you doing that shit for? And there's a, there have been friends now who had came to me and was like, damn, you know what, Martinus, I wish I would've went on you with this journey, because I'd be a marathoner too. I'd be traveling around the world with your ass because I've been, I would've been right there at the journey with you. But that's the thing, right? Like people don't see it for you. People don't see it for you. Yeah. And that means truthfully, they don't see it for themselves. Yeah. So that's why they're, they, they put their own pre preconceived notion on you and it's only a, a very smooth, a small percentage of people who, who I told like, Hey, I'm might run a marathon. And they looked at me and they was like, okay. Mm-hmm. How can I help? Yeah. But other people's like, why would you wanna do that? Is it bad for your knees, your fat, heart problems, all this other stuff, bad for your knees, all this other shit. And I'm like, Let me do me. And then don't, don't even add on the fact of like, yo, um, I'm gonna be, I'm, I'm, I'm going to move and I'm not gonna focus on weight loss. Yes. Yes. It would sound like the fucking world. It's about to explode. Cuz I'm like, yo, I'm not gonna get on a scale. I'm not gonna monitor the spoon. I'm not gonna do all this other stuff My exercise in my movement is not dictated by a fucking number on a scale. Yeah. Like I have a workout plan and I'm going to do that regardless if I get, I get on the scale. Yeah. And it says I I two pounds down, or if I'm three pounds up, that's not gonna dictate how I'm move my body. Yes. And, and I feel like for most people they don't understand that. And that's the most craziest thing they, they ever heard. Like what? Like why would you exercise and do all this stuff and not wanna lose weight? Yeah. Like, isn't that gonna happen? I'm like, well, my body's gonna do whatever it's gonna do. Yeah. Period. And well, and there's like, I'm for, I'm forgetting this, like how did I forget this when I was talking about doing the triathlon, I'd always wanted to do one, but I thought I had to be thin because all triathletes are thin. Right. That was my perception. That's what we get shown. And so I, I was like, well, I gotta lose weight before I can do a triathlon. And then it was a friend, a friend who'd actually got hit by a car while riding her bike. Mm-hmm. And it messed up her hips, it messed up her back. And she was like, I am not going to basically be a victim in my head or in my body. I'm gonna do a triathlon. Do you wanna do one with me? And it took me a couple hours of thinking about it, and then I was like, you know what? Yes. Let's do it. Like let's do it. I'm athletic, I am fit. I love movement. Let's do it. And I picked the training plan, and I did the training plan, and I did two triathlons. Two. Mm-hmm. That summer. And it's like, yeah. Was I one of the only fat people? Absolutely. Yeah. Was I the only one in no wetsuit? Because they don't make plus size wetsuits. Absolutely. Yeah. Did my fingers and toast freezes? You know, like Absolutely. But you know, it's this, it's this, this belief that if I'm in a bigger body, I can't do it right. And that's absolute nonsense because of course we can, we just gotta train. Just gotta do it. Yeah. And the thing is, will it be harder? Yes. Yes. Will it look different from. Would everybody else see? Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Would you get weird looks and and confused looks? Yeah. Yes. But guess what? You're not doing it for the external folk guy. Anybody else? You doing it for your own personal joy? Yes, exactly. The amount of times I would tell someone that I would do a, I, I'm doing a triathlon or I did a triathlon and Martinus the way that they would look me up and down. Yeah. Immediately up and down as their brain was trying to calculate. But then what was really interesting is how, and, and they didn't need to be, but how they would feel bad about themselves. Mm-hmm. Because you can hear the narrative, well, this fat person did a triathlon and I didn't.. Like what? You know? Right. And it's like it's breaking their brains. Not just in their belief in themselves, like you said, oh, I could have done that if this person did it, why didn't I? But also, hopefully breaking their brains and their own internalized sort of like, like their stigmas and stereotypes throughout people in bigger bodies, right? Because we need everyone's brains breaking around this and, and expanding open right into, well, Crikey. Maybe fat people, you know, are human beings who are capable of things, and we need to not be so mean to them, you know? Exactly. So I think that's the thing. You wouldn't be, you would be surprised of how many times, like people look at me when I'm running the race mm-hmm. And they like, oh, is this your first time? And like, Nope, I ran about a hundred different races. And they're like, what? Mm-hmm. Or it's like, oh, this is your first marathon. It's like, Nope. I ran about eight of them already. Yep. And it, it is just No, no. It's so, so no, so nonchalant. It fucks them up. So that's what I'm saying. It breaks their brain. That's what, that's why I do it so nonchalant. Like, Nope, I've ran eight of them already. So do you have like, like metals and things like that? Do you have like a wall of finisher, metals and all that? Yes, yes. Yes. Badass. So badass. I love that. So let's talk about Slow A F Run club. Let's talk about your book. You know, who was your book for? Um, truthfully, the book is for the Martinus who started running in 2012 and did not have any resource and nobody would train you. Yeah. Um, that's, that's who this book is for, right? Um, Anybody who felt left out felt like they don't have any, any resources when they come to running or just being active. Mm-hmm. This is what this book is for, right? Yep. Because most how-to manuals written by runner are written by runners who are elite athletes. Coaches of elite athletes are like former Olympians, right? Yeah. And they're telling you how to run their way. Yeah. And even when I got my running code certification, they gave you a book. It is called The Daniels Formula on running. Right. And they're like, this is the Bible. Like this is the book you want to use when you're coaching people open that book, and it's boring as fuck. It's dense. It has types of formulas and it has past charts that don't even go past like a 13 minute mile. Yeah. So I'm like, so this is the Bible. Like, is this your king? Yeah. Is this your king? And it's like, It, it, it didn't work for me, so I had to make stuff that works for me. And this book is full of, um, I call 'em cautionary tales. Mm-hmm. Different stories that I experienced being a, a plus size runner. Things I wish I would've learned the hard way or wish I would've learned the easier way, but I had to learn the hard way and, um, yeah, like, Not only do I give you these stories, but I also give you step by step ways on how to run and breaking it down from mindset to actual form to nutrition, to recovery, to workouts. All of that stuff that I wish I would've known or people who have asked me throughout the years is inside that book. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So you talk about the cautionary tales and the things that you wished that you didn't have to learn the hard way. Is there an example that comes to mind right away? Yes, there's tons of examples. So, first time, um, a cautionary tale or a lesson I learned the hard way. I call it the cha monster. The what? The cha master, the chafe monster. chafe monster. So one run I went, this was probably the longest run I ever went on. And I had, I was wearing these long basketball shorts, cotton underwear and like, it was a very uncomfortable run cotton from head to toe, right? And I remember like running and adjusting the underwear cuz it was riding up, like adjusting my shirt, all this other stuff. And I get done with the run, like, felt good about it. You know what? It's time for me to go get a shower. I get in the shower when that hot water hitting my raw body. I made the loudest noise in the world and it felt as if I was being cut by a thousand razors yo, because nobody told me, Hey Martinus you shouldn't be running in cotton. No, especially in cotton underwear. Yo, what are you doing? So that's a type of cautionary tale I have in there, right? Um, chafe is real. Yeah, the chafe is real. Um, another cautionary tale is on the time where I had to call, um, my significant other tell they come get me off the side of the road. So I was running and before, before this one time, I wouldn't eat anything before I go run. Mm-hmm. You know, I, I was still in the mindset of like, well, like I need to lose a few pounds. Like, yeah, let me not eat. And just go work out and I'll just eat afterwards. I have a protein shake or whatever, whatever. Like, that was my mindset back, right when I first started running, started running and there's this term call, hitting the wall and running. And like, it's literally where like your, your energy will be instantly sucked from you. Right? So I was running, I was out in the sun and like instantly it's like boom, like ran outta energy and like, felt like I was gonna faint. So I like had to call my significant other and sit on like this stoop or this stump and say, Hey, come get me. Like I feel like I'm about to, about to faint. And in the car ride back, she was like, you hungry? And I'm like, yeah, I'm fucking starving. And she's like, you didn't eat anything before you went on a run. And I was like, no, I never eat. And she's like, that's dumb. You should eat. That's a different kinda delusional, right? That's a different kinda. That's right. She's like, that's dumb why you didn't eat. I'm like, you know what? I don't know. Like I just thought, you know, I, I'll just eat athe. So like, those are types of cautionary tales that I have, um, in the book. Yeah, we had, um, I don't know if you know Mia Braithwaite? The Fat Athlete? Yes. And she is a Fat Rock coach as well. Yes. And she was one of the first guests on the podcast. And that was, that was the theme of the podcast, why runners need to stop dieting. You need to fuel your body. Exactly. Exactly. So I know that you, you have that sort of effort approach to diets as well. Mm-hmm. You know, what piece of advice would you give to somebody who is shifting from diets and exercising to lose weight, to fueling your body and exercising, because it's for you, be for joy. Diets are dumb. Mm. That's the first thing. Just it's dumb. Um. So I, I say that not just from like, um, a motivational speaker mm-hmm. Type of thing. Right. So, in the past life, um, Martinus has a, um, bachelor's in exercise science. Uh, I also have a master's in health promotion. Right. Which is a subset of public health. During that time, I was also working at a, uh, medical school who, who did a lot of research in. Um, behavior change, social media and things of that sort. So one of the, uh, PIs as we like to call'em, are like principal investigators or like the professors there. Like she did a study looking at all of the diets and comparing them of like all of the weights lost over time and things of that sort. And the, the, the result of that study was that there was no one diet better than the other when it came to amount of weight loss and. How much weight stayed off, um, post, post trial. Mm-hmm. So diets are dumb. They're dumb, they're dumb, and they don't work. They're not, and they're not health promoting. They're, they don't work. Um, it does not promote health. And, you know, and I think the last thing is that, When you are a larger person, a person of size, you know, a lot of people tend to forget, like there's this term called homeostasis. Mm-hmm. Which means like if your body has been known this for a long period of time, it wants to stay there. Right? Yeah. Um, there's also a term called abosi rebound. Yeah. Which means that once you lose weight or lose fat or whatever, things that, that fat wants to get back there because of homeostasis. And then the other thing is that like, there's no such thing as like burning fat, right? Mm-hmm. Once those fat cells, once your body grows those fat cells and you quote unquote lose weight, those fat cells still stay in the body. Those fat cells don't go anywhere. They just shrink and get smaller. So hormonally, Those fat cells want to be nice and plump. Yep. Yep. So when you think about all of that, you really understand that this whole diet shit is just bullshit. It's literal bs. It literally, it's not scientific. It's not. It's not, yeah. And fueling for your body and fueling for the activities makes more sense. Yes. So I, I really think it's interesting when people are like, ah, you're promoing obesity. Like, how are you gonna be active and run and not lose weight? Like, you must be eating thousands of calories a day. And I'm like, actually I do. Like, have you heard about my bas of metabolic rate? Like, yeah. Have you heard that time? Sure. Have you heard about my basal metabolic rate? Looking up, bitch. Have you heard about my basal, my BAS rate grade? Because like people don't know that. So when, when I can flex and throw those terms around Yeah. And it's like I know more than you, like Yeah, yeah. You, you get your information from, uh, influencers and like, just, um, infomercials. But like, I actually went to school and learned this shit. So like, yeah, like you must be eating 20,000 calories. And it's like, that's impossible, but like, yeah, like as a 300 pound man, like my basal milk, poly grade is somewhere around 3,500 calories. So maybe a little bit more. So, especially as As a runner. Exactly. As a runner, exactly. Like it's so interesting when like somebody will tell me they're on a 1200, or, sorry, a 1200 calorie diet and they're easily 300 pounds. I'm like, that's not enough calories. That's, that is you're eating less than half of probably what you need. No, definitely less than half. Like you are starving yourself. Mm-hmm. I know. And, and, and again, like you say, you're getting your information from infomercials, from, from bad, bad, bad, like bad information. Not rooted in science. Not rooted in reality. Exactly. And, and it causes so much harm. Right? So much harm. So if you think about Slow AF Run Club, the, that we have the book, but we have. The culture, like the culture that you're creating, right. What do you hope will be your legacy from what you're creating here? Oh, man. Um, the legacy I, I hope I'm creating is that I, I actually change the running industry to make it more inclusive and it stays that way. Yes. Um, I think that's a legacy that I am. Really trying to build here. Um, when it comes to the running industry, uh, a a big thing is a racial, racial identity. Yeah. But also gender identity, right? Yeah. Especially when it comes to sport. When you think about some of the, um, bias laws that has been passed when it comes to gender identity and like, I, I'm always like, that stuff is amazing. It's great, but, and can we also focus on like pace diversity and. You know, uh, size inclusivity as well, right? Yeah. Because I think all of that stuff goes hand in hand. Like, yes, you are working with gender identity and making sure that there's a, a nine, a non-binary check that somebody can check there. Could you also get shirts passed a two x Yeah. There as well? Yeah. Right. Like last time I checked, you know, you getting these shirts at dollars on a, on a. You know, literally dollars. Can't you spend the extra two or $3 and get somebody a shirt that actually fits them? Yep. So those are the things that I'm thinking about. I'm actually, um, uh, one of the other things that we're doing is that yes, we have slow run club, the actual club. Mm-hmm. There's an app on iOS and Android. Okay. So we can go download that right now. Um, But we're in the process of launching a nonprofit as well called the Slow AF Run Club Foundation. And one of the things that we're doing there is that we're allowing individuals, or we will be allowing individuals to apply to launch their own, uh, in-person Slow AF Run Club in their own local area. Yeah. So we have that. But one of the things that we're also gonna be doing is working with these races and providing various toolkits based off the feedback we get of the members of like how races can be more. Size inclusive or pace inclusive as well. Yeah. Yes. I love that. Oh my goodness. This just came to me. And stop packing up the marathon and tell everybody's finished the cross finish line. Right? Tell everyone's finished. That was always something that like in, in, you know, whenever I would do any kind of races and it's like people have packed up their chairs and are leaving and are waving goodbye as they're walking out and everything's closed, and by the time you finish the cross, the finish line, please, please stay until the last racer is done. Right. This is, this is a part of being inclusive is making sure that you're still supporting everybody's run counts. Everybody, even the pace, the lower paces. The slower paces. Right. So I, I also think about that when it comes to racing in general, right? Like my thing is this, if like, if it ain't for the elite athletes who are running to get a app prize money. Yeah. All the other runners. Truthfully don't matter. Yeah. So like why not do it where there's a reverse, like, you know where they got it now is like you got the elites go off and the next, like why not inverse that, right? Yep. Why not? You know, give the person or like give somebody the opportunity to opt in and say like, Hey, I need more additional time on the course. Like, let them start before Yeah. The race actually official will start. I think there's so many ways that you can be creative to let that individual who wants to run and participate, but also feel like they want, they won't, uh, finish within a cutoff to still participate and still get everything that they need from it. Like, I think that's the thing is that. Yeah. I feel like they almost, they're stealing from me. They're stealing from us because we paid this money just like everybody else. Yep. You line us up in the back and you tell us good luck. Yeah. And then you shut down everything, even though we paid our, our green money just like everybody else to get a, uh, a pleasant race experience. Yeah. And I said, coming home to the lights turned off. Yeah, exactly. I agree. And that's, that's what we're talking about when we talk about being inclusive. It's not a box that you check. How are you creating a culture of inclusivity where everybody is welcome and there isn't. Some people are welcome and some people are tolerated. Mm-hmm. Right. Celebrated and tolerated. I love that. So you mentioned that you have the slow AF Run Club app that people can join. I love that you're able to create your own sort of satellite slow a F run clubs in your local area. We have the book coming out June 6th. Mm-hmm. We have you all over Instagram on TikTok as 300 pounds and running. Where, where is the first place people should connect with you? Um, ig. IG is where, where, where's it at for me? Uh, at 300 pounds and running. Uh, 300, 3 0 0. Spell out pounds and runny. Yeah. Um, and then the next is, you know, IG for, um, slow run club. So it's run slow. On Instagram and, um, Facebook, but I, I, one, one of the things I always encourage people is to download the Slow Front Club app. We have about 10,000 pit members worldwide there, and we are just there to pour into of love tank and let everybody know that they are runners and here to support you along the way. I love it. I love it. Before we wrap up, any final piece of advice for listeners today? My final piece of advice is that it may look different from what you see on tv, but you can do it. Oh, beautiful. I love it. Oh, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been brilliant. I love it. I cannot wait for your book to come out. I cannot wait for our listeners to get to dive in and, and read it. Friends, remember to not be afraid to do things on your own, cuz you're probably gonna have to. And what is it? Delusional self-belief del delusional self-belief. Brilliant. I love it. Thank you so much, Martinus this has been fabulous. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. Visit fantastical fatty.com/podcast to connect with our guests and access all the resources we share today. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram at @fantasticalfatty. You can catch the video version of this podcast over on YouTube. Just search Fantastical Fatty please share the fat love with your besties and send them a link to today's show if you think they're gonna love it. Don't forget to follow us on your fave podcast platform and give us a rating and review so the algorithm loves us back And most importantly, stay fat and fantastic fatties. Love ya.