This Body

I just got back from my longest run yet - eight miles! - and I’m standing here in my kitchen, sweaty and proud, thinking about how different I feel in this skin than I did a year ago.

This Body

Four years ago, this body grew Sophie. It stretched and changed and did something miraculous. Then it bounced back, sort of, in the way that bodies do when you’re 21 and don’t really have to think about it. But I spent so much time apologizing for the ways it wasn’t the same, for the softness that lingered, for taking up space differently.

I’m done with that. This morning I ran eight miles without stopping. Last month I finished my first half marathon. This body that made a human also carried me 13.1 miles on pure determination and spite. It deserves better than my apologies.

I made a human. I ran a half marathon. This body earned its right to exist exactly as it is - strong, capable, mine. What about it?