Coach
Sarah of the Fitness Protection Program talks with Kade and Isaac
about the role of running in their respective transitions from
female to male, particularly the way it offers them both a
non-gendered space to be in their bodies and be truly
themselves.
Feb 21, 2020
We're
never really talking about the running. The people in our community
are running THROUGH things, and often their runs are the one part
of their day when they get to truly get to be themselves, and
be for
themselves. Whatever kind of
transition you are running through, you are not alone.
We
are so pleased to introduce Kade Schuldt and Isaac Grivett to the
Running Life podcast. Many of you
know of
Kade at this
point, since
Coach MK announced last month
that he would be joining our team
of Fitness Protection Sponsored Athletes. It’s important to know
that Kade is responsible for the phenomenon that
is Coach MK, as he was the one to give her her first
coaching job at Lifetime Fitness! So THANK YOU, Kade, for that! He
has done over 50 half marathons and we are dying to hear about this
thing in his email signature, the 5280 Brewery Quest
(it's pretty
much what it sounds like, and it's awesome!).
Isaac Grivett has been profiled twice on Outsports, an SB Nation blog
featuring stories of LGBTQ
athletes, and in addition to having run TONS of marathons - coming
up on #10! - they also work on Broadway in wardrobe, often for
multiple shows at a time. I came across one of the Outsports
stories about Isaac via Twitter, and I was really captivated by the
way they talk about their relationship to their body as a teenager
and the role that sports played in their discovery of
selfhood.
This
really gets to why we are so grateful to you both for telling us
your stories. I, Coach Sarah, carry a lot of privilege as a runner.
I sign up for a race, and when I am prompted to select my gender, I
just tick a box and move on. I show up to every start line knowing
that whatever impostor syndrome I may have about being a runner, no
one will ever call into question the validity of my results or
argue with me about where in the sport I belong. I will not have to
name or defend my identity every time I want to participate in my
chosen sport in public. Isaac has worked with athletic clubs to
modify that process of gender selection in membership signups to
make it less binary and more inclusive, and I imagine that to some
people, it may seem like an incredibly small deal (because many
people, like me, just tick the box and move on with their day) but
we cannot overestimate the importance of ANY action, big or small,
that makes ANY runner feel more included in this
sport.
While
I may not have ever experienced gender dysphoria, I do absolutely
know what it feels like to hate my body, to feel ashamed of it, to
feel like people look at it and form opinions about me that I am
powerless to control. I want our audience to hear Kade's and
Isaac's stories, directly from them, because I believe that there
is so much empathy out there for some of what you have experienced
and lived. And I believe that everything is better when there is a
space for everyone to show up and feel at home, welcome, and
understood.
Follow Kade on Instagram: @irunbike
Follow Isaac on Instagram:
@isaacgrivettnyc and @isaacqgriv, and on Twitter:
@isaacgrivett. Click here if you're
interested in learning more about Isaac's fundraising efforts
with the Team To End Aids at the 2020 Chicago
Marathon!
MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC
and Sarah Axelrod leads Fitness Protection's #CoachedandLoved Community. Try
our accessible, affordable monthly running plans at www.fitnessprotection.com!