hello molly! I used to be a Person Who Runs Indoors but have a problem: I’m trans, and the prospect of trying to navigate the locker rooms as a trans dude is innately distressing. I want to start Running Outdoors but the prospect of being out in the open with Visible Tits (running in a binder is a really great way to Bad Ribs) is ALSO distressing. how do YOU navigate being a visible human being w/ all the attached sweaty imperfections while exercising outdoors? (public okay)

ofgeography:

oof!!! turtledove, i completely hear what you are saying. unfortunately, as a cis woman i don’t have any framework for understanding the specific anxieties and problems you’re talking about here, so i am going to respond as best i can publicly but maybe some of my followers with more relevant experience can be more helpful to you!

anyway, disclaimers aside: i think you’re actually asking two questions here, one about how you’re going to FEEL and one about how you’re going to LOOK. 

in terms of how you’ll look, i feel very much like it is Not My Lane to talk about body-specific stuff wrt what you’re asking about, but i will say that running in the winter all bundled up, like …. unless you have ENORMOUS bazoombas, you’re not going to be able to see them. i myself have reasonably sized boobs and when i’m in all my coldgear i just look like a giant pillowcase with legs. i am very, uh, shapely?? insofar as i have like a 1950s hourglass shape, and when i run outside i could be a 27 year old woman or an 8 year old boy and honestly except for the height it would be a very genuine toss-up.

with regard to how you’re going to FEEL being a visible human being (which i will agree with you is truly the worst curse of living) i try to keep the following in mind:

1. no one is looking at you. honestly, they aren’t. no one is ever looking at or noticing you as much as it feels like they are; they’ve got their own lives, and they’re too busy worrying that everyone is noticing them.
2. i look STUPID when i run. i know this. i am pigeon toed and my center of gravity is all janked up and my posture is just okay. i think for me a big part of it is just acknowledging these things and trying to cultivate an attitude of like, ¯_(ツ)_/¯. yeah, i look stupid, whatever. i’ve looked much more stupid doing much less stupid things. you should see me trying to eat popcorn.
3. i try to concentrate on how my body feels. running makes me feel good (and sometimes very very bad!!! but even that is a feeling). the more i concentrate on how my body feels as i run, the less mental space i have to worry about how my body looks.
4. look, i honestly just have a really active fantasy life? if you see me running there is a 90% chance i’m listening to zombies run or just otherwise dreaming up a drawn-out fantasy where i’m living in the old west and chasing a train because my no-good conman of an ex stole my dowry, or whatever. honestly, it makes runs EXTREMELY exciting, 10/10.

i hope some of that was helpful!! if anyone with better advice wants to chime in, replies are open. ❤