"Not A Real Athlete"?!?!

[Dianyla]

Wow, this really blew my mind and I have to vent a little bit.

I was telling the ManFriend about the new Polar heartrate monitor that I picked up on ebay, explaining how I planned to go find the biggest hill I could get up and see if I could find my maximum heartrate. He asked how I would know if I hit the max and I said "I'll probably puke or come real close".

He didn't believe me, saying in all his years of athletic experience with baseball, basketball, etc (which, gentle reader, keep in mind that these years all took place in High School which was nearly two decades ago!) that he'd never seen anyone puke from overexertion. "Never ever?" I asked. Nope, never. I informed him that I'd seen it plenty of times with sports like swimming, cycling, and running. He finally started to acknowledge the remote possibility that this could exist when I did a quick google search terms like on "vasovagal reflex" "heart rate puking" "overexertion vomiting" and brought back thousands of results.

And here's the kicker... then he went on to say that he's a real athlete and he knows about these things. I asked him "don't you think I'm a real athlete?" and he said "No, not really". Um, hello? Last summer I did numerous centuries and a double-century, and the summer before that I went on a 500 mile backpacking trip.

I mean, WTF?!?!?! I'm not sure whether to feel upset or just laugh at him for being such an idiot.

Gals, do your traditional-manly-sport-loving partners also pull this kind of crap on you?

[Grog]

By ManFriend, do you mean your current Significant Other?

If so, I find the comment really sad, and that's because I'm in a good mood, or I'd find it insulting.

My own SO is much, much more of an athlete than I am and will ever be (he's also more obsessive!), but he never fails to express his pride in my own achievement (like learning to swim by myself in three months and doing my first tri etc.). I'm not sure I still have the balls to claim "athlete" for myself (never considered myself a sports gal and still have identity issues surrounding that!) but he sure would argue against me if he knew that's what I think.

My core training coach keeps telling us that, in her view, we're "elite" athletes even if we're not actually "elite". (She does train pros though.) To her, there's so, so few people in the population that can do even a fraction of what we do, we should be proud of it. (Like: standing on all four on two exercise balls... how smart do you look when you do that?!?!)

[SadieKate]

Take him to a triathlon in hot weather sometime. Folks vomiting all over the place - especially the weaker sex (aka your friend's brethren).

[Dianyla]

By ManFriend, do you mean your current Significant Other?

Ah, yes, that's who I mean.

I'm not sure I still have the balls to claim "athlete" for myself (never considered myself a sports gal and still have identity issues surrounding that!) but he sure would argue against me if he knew that's what I think.

I thought about that too, whether I feel comfortable with the term athlete. I kind of do and I kind of don't. If I think in terms of Lance Armstrong, then in no way am I an athlete! But if I think in terms of the average couch potato, then maybe I am. I would definitely consider myself athletic, though. His definition of athlete that explains why he obviously is an athlete and I am clearly not an athlete is that an athlete is someone who plays "real sports" (i.e. team sports that involve a ball). Um, ok.

[Grog]

an athlete is someone who plays "real sports" (i.e. team sports that involve a ball). Um, ok.

Frankly I don't think baseball players, by definition, qualify as "athletes". Some of them do, for sure, but.........

Besides, even basketball is not a continuously all-out cardiovascular exercise. I doubt that very many people reach their max and stay there for a while, playing basket.

[allabouteva]

Before I took up cycling, I thought I was reasonably fit, did quite a bit of gym work, and exercised regularly for over 2 years. Then I tried cycling, and found that I could only do about 20 minutes, couldn't climb for peanuts, and stayed only in granny gear. Now 6 months later, I can ride for over 2.5 hours, go up significant hills, and can ride much faster for much longer, and crank some big gears too. I'm way fitter due to cycling! My non-cycling friends think I'm a bit of a super fit athlete!

D, you need to explain to your ManFriend, that he's so off base in his comments to you. You're a bona fide athlete. All cyclists who can do centuries and double centuries are by definition. This is not stuff that the average person on the street can do, or even people of reasonable fitness (people who walk 30 minutes a day 5 times a week) can do. And from his comments to you about him being an athlete and you not, sounds like he's a bit of a wanker (good old Aussie term! do you have that term in the US?) Sorry hope you didn't take offense!!

[velogirl]

I struggle with this question with many of my coaching clients (especially the women). Here are a sampling of some questions I ask them:

• Do you schedule your training?
  
• Is that training specific and structured?
  
• Do you monitor your caloric intake and the ratio of macro-nutrients (aka carbs, protein, and fat)?
  
• Do you measure the amount of fluids you drink on a daily basis?
  
• Do you maintain your equipment and clothing so you can participate in your sport?
  
• Do you get enough sleep so you can ride?
  
• Have you read a book, watched a video, or taken a class to learn more about the sport of cycling?
  

I think you get the picture. If you answered yes to even one of these questions, I would consider you an athlete.

It's difficult for many women, especially those of us pre-Title 9, to consider ourselves athletes. As girls, we were taught to be humble. Athletes aren't humble, right? We were taught that being competitive isn't feminine. But athletes are competitive, even if our competition is a local hill or a personal best time or completing our longest ride. We were taught that a beautiful body isn't muscular. Heck, you've all got muscles, even if they might be hidden under a little more adipose tissue than an elite athlete!

You do not need to be a racer to be an athlete. But for those who ride regularly, I would encourage you to be proud of your athletic accomplishments! And if someone questions that, just smile and know that there are other beautiful women cyclists who believe in you.

Lorri

[profà vélo]

(never considered myself a sports gal and still have identity issues surrounding that!)

And I thought I was the only one who had these thoughts! Of course, that's almost never the case, but it's nice to see some proof that it's not.

I don't think of myself as athletic, although I am trying to. Wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher, cook, choir member, reader, intellectual (to a point)...but not athlete. Why is that?

I only recently have begun to think of myself as a cyclist. I completed 5 centuries last year, one of which was a stage of the Tour de France (and not a flat one, either!). I have recently completed my first three races ever (posted elsewhere); I always said I would never race, and don't think of myself as a 'racer type.'

This past winter I decided I should do some cross-training. (Okay, how can someone who contemplates 'cross-training' not be athletic?) In about three months I went from no running to running 5k--not fast, but doing it. And I'm signed up for a 10k on April 1.

Why can't I seem to reconcile the person who does all these things with the rest of me? Grog, is this what you mean by 'identity issues'?

[Grog]

Why can't I seem to reconcile the person who does all these things with the rest of me? Grog, is this what you mean by 'identity issues'?

Well yeah I guess that's close enough. I have mostly defined myself as an intellectual throughout my life, and I was always involved in politics. I am still involved in academic life pretty deeply (doing a PhD right now) and tried to escape politics for a while. Obviously I can't ride fast enough to leave politics far behind, and it has catched me again, so I'm trying to juggle the three together now (plus have decided to try a triathlon... speak of trinities!!). In my social surroundings, until recently, there were not that many people that exercised at all. To me, being chin-deep in sports was a way to escape more social and political problems, and all the sports-types I knew were totally igorant of the wider social universe around them, which bothered me.

I do feel some guilt sometimes when I go for a ride instead of sitting down to read (or do other stuff). But whatever, I guess that if I don't take care of myself, I won't be able to take care of my work.

[profà vélo]

(doing a PhD right now)

Hmmm...so am I...interesting...

I am teaching and trying to dissertate and trying to be athletic. That's my trinity.

[kaybee]

This is a great thread! Thank you, Lorri, or your post. When I started running several years ago, I began to ask myself some of those questions, and decided, after a while, that I was indeed an athlete. I'll never win a race, and the only time I ever win my age group is when I'm the only one my age that shows up , but I'm having a good time, and that's all that matters.

I also realized that race organizers don't organize races for just the "elite" athletes; if they did, how could they ever make any money? It's those of us "regular people" that are the bread and butter for charity rides and races. We pay our money, have a good time, and don't take home anything but good memories and feelings of accomplishment. Everyone on this board is a true athlete and a wonderful inspiration, and you should all be very proud of yourselves.

KB

[bikerchick68]

from the dictionary:

ath·lete ( P ) Pronunciation Key (thlt)
n.
A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts.


oh man, this gets my goat but good! Not only do I consider myself an athlete, I consider myself an ENDURANCE athlete! I am not an "elite" athlete... that is a term I reserve for people who actually compete at their sport... whether it's cycling or triathlon or golfers! but, having ridden 10 centuries in the last 12 months... I absolutely consider myself an endurance athlete. Am I trying to be a braggart? Heck no. Am I very, very proud of what I've accomplished? Heck yeah! For me it's an "acquired trait" and I've had to work hard to get to where I'm at now.

I am really amazed at anyone who does not consider cycling atheltic... or cyclists athletes! And apparently Mr. Webster agrees...

does your "real athlete" friend ride a bike? I wonder if a few rides would drastically change his perspective on this issue...

OK... that's a long way of me saying... yes you ARE an athlete! He's just wrong.

biker <climbing off the soapbox> chick