I have been called a lot of things (lol), but an athlete? You
must be mistaken. I am a middle-aged, working mother of two, who has a passion
for a few sports – not an athlete.
My belief is that an athlete is someone who makes a living doing a
sport. So, if I’m not an athlete,
what am I? My kids call me obsessed,
and they say this (of course) in the most loving way – or is it in an accusatory
way, I get confused.
Don’t get me wrong, every time I hear “Athlete”, I LOVE it.
“Let me introduce
Carmen, she is one of our coached athletes.”
It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think. But is it true? I Googled the word and here is what it
said:
athlete [ˈæθliːt]
n
1. a person trained to
compete in sports or exercises involving physical strength, speed, or endurance
2. a person who has a
natural aptitude for physical activities
3. a competitor in track and
field events
So, do I qualify? Let’s
see…
1. I do Triathlons - check
2. I am pretty good at
cycling - check
3. I train on a track,
does that count?… Pretty close.
So I was wrong, according
to this, I am an athlete. I guess I could have figured this on my own, if I
just looked at the changes in my life. So I created my own checklist:
athlete (female)
1. a
person who… no longer cares what her
hair looks like and even considers cutting it all off, but her husband would
divorce her. So, she lives in a ponytail.
2. a
person who… no longer puts makeup on
in the morning because it just sweats off at the evening workout.
3. a
person who… no longer cares about
what she wears to the gym because if she doesn’t care about her hair or make-up,
nobody is going to look at her anyway.
4. a
person who… does twice as much
laundry, and if she gets a little behind her laundry room smells like a locker
room.
5. a
person whose… magazine collection
changes from fashion and decorating tips to sports and equipment comparison
guides.
6. a
person who… eats more in her car or
at the gym then she does at home.
7. a
person who… when working out, people
at her club start asking her questions because they think she works there.
8. a
person whose… main vacations are
now centered around race events.
9. a
person whose… family doctor tells
her that he not qualified to help with her problem and he will refer her to a
sports doctor.
10. a
person who … when she works out for one hour, it means it’s a
recovery or down day.
12. a
person who…goes shopping for a new
pair of shoes and most often buys them at a sport store.
13. a
person who…feels like she is always
taking a shower.
14. a
person whose…water bottle
collection is getting out of control. She even has made a special drawer and/or
shelf for them.
