What Does it Mean to be a “Real” Athlete?

Last week I got into an interesting email discussion with my triathlon coach. He has requested that his athletes put links to each workout they had recorded with their Garmin, onto the WorkoutLog online, where he assigns our workouts to us. When he mentioned to his group of coached athletes, for a second time, how valuable that Garmin info was to him, I jokingly replied that I thought that he only wanted that information from his “real” athletes.

As soon as I clicked “send” I knew I’d made a mistake. Sure enough, within the hour I saw this in my inbox: “So let me ask you this Susan. What do you think constitutes a ‘real’ athlete?”

I knew he’d ask me that.

Okay, I’ll admit it. First I Googled “What makes a real athlete” ~ just hoping to get some ideas. Don’t laugh, you would have done the same thing. 😮

You guys! Apparently no one in the whole world has ever wrestled with this issue!

Thus, some soul-searching and this resulting blog post.

So what makes an athlete a “real” athlete? Here’s what I came up with, no thanks to Google! 🙂

A “real” athlete:

1. cares about improving.
2. invests in themselves and their future performance by consistently training in a purposeful way.
3. continues to “show up” to train even when faced with disappointments and setbacks.
4. has an “athletic heart”… and I’m not specifically talking about a physically strong heart muscle (although that’s cool too). A “real” athlete has a heart that is passionate about being the best version of themselves that they can be, physically and mentally.
5. considers how small daily decisions can impact their growth as an athlete, both negatively and positively.
6. must be willing to face fear.
7. must be willing to face their own shortcomings and weaknesses, seek out help and work to improve in those areas.
8. *loves* what they do (most of the time!), and the rest of the time they do it anyway, knowing that the reward will be worth it in the future.
9. fights negative and defeating self-talk.
10. is compelled to train for and participate in their sport. They can’t not do their sport.
11. has a plan (a coach is helpful! Thanks Ryan. None of this would have happened without you.), and faithfully executes the plan.
12. realizes the value of a coach or mentor. *extra thanks to Peggy Donovan, who helped me get all of this started in her tri101 class, and Liz Weilding and the RedLadies who have been a huge cheering squad for me!
13. cares enough about themselves to do the “little” things with consistency, like strength training, stretching, eating a healthy diet, etc.
14. is willing to do not only the “fun” workouts, but also the hard, unpleasant and challenging ones.
15. wants to encourage their fellow athletes to be the best version of themselves that they can be.

Then there’s this:

There is no specific pace that needs to be met in order to be a “real” athlete. It’s silly to say that only people who can run sub 6 minute miles are “real” athletes, and the rest of us are not. Where, exactly, would that cut-off time be, for real athletes? Would someone who runs a 6:01 mile *not* be a real athlete, but less than 6 minutes would be a “real” athlete?

A “real” athlete may or may not finish in the top half of their age group.

You guys… it’s all relative! Right now I’m pretty psyched if I run consistent sub 10 min miles. It’s only been a recent thing that I’ve finished in the top third of my age group in a triathlon. Do I still have room for improvement? Certainly! Will I ever be an elite triathlete? No way in the world. And I’m totally cool with that.

A “real” athlete does not look a certain way, maintain a certain % body fat and miraculously avoid all cellulite! I am 51 years old and have given birth to a dozen children. For the love, people! There is no possible way that I’m going to look like a professional athlete who is 25 years younger and has no children. And here’s the thing: I wouldn’t trade places to have that “perfect” athletic body for the world.

A “real” athlete is not limited to professional athletes, who earn their living in the athletic world.

I would also argue that a “real” athlete might not even compete in their sport. Some of the athletes that I most respect can no longer compete, for a variety of reasons. That does not make them any less a “real” athlete. Some young and very committed athletes are forced to stop competing because of horrible diseases like cancer and ALS, and the fact is that all of us are going to be forced to modify and eventually quit what we are doing at some point as we age.

I’ll admit that I still spend some time glancing over my shoulder as I pedal down the road, wondering when the triathlon “poser police” are going to show up and arrest me for impersonating a “real” triathlete, but so far so good. 🙂

I don’t always exemplify those 15 things listed above (hey, a girl’s gotta’ have her chocolate after-all!), but yes, after thinking about and answering my coach’s question,  I’m learning to identify myself as a “real” athlete.

Here’s the deal: I’m just an average mom. If I can learn to swim long distances as an adult (a half-IronMan triathlon begins with a 1.2mi open water swim~ I actually enjoy it now!) and do this triathlon thing, you probably could too.

This sport has given me so much. Finding my “strong” through training for and competing in triathlons helped me realize that I was also strong enough to escape an abusive marriage and tackle being a single parent to our 12 children (8 still living at home with me).

You guys! We can do this! We can all be “real” athletes! (It’s rewarding and so much fun!)

You’ll have to excuse me now while I go get my ride on today. I’ve got to beat the heat and stay ahead of the triathlon poser police! 🙂