Heart of an athlete

[Bike Chick]

How interesting to read everyone's responses and realize I'm right there with you. I am working on those extra lbs I need to lose and wish I looked like an athlete. But last week, dh and I rode 10 miles to do a couple's 5k race, ran the race, rode back home, loaded the bikes and met friends for a fun, hilly 30-miler. It was great and after my last ekg, my dr said I have the heart of a 16 year old. Not too bad for a 52 year old.

I looked up the definition of an athlete and it states that it's a person possessing the natural or acquired traits that are necessary for physical exercise or sports. I may not look like an athlete, I was always too uncoordinated to do well at team sports and am convinced this belly is here to stay but by that definition, it looks like we are all athletes.

[Melalvai]

Great discussion! Ok, I'm persuaded, I am an athlete too. My husband has teased me for being a "jock" ever since I started cycling but I never took him seriously.

[ladyicon]

Roadtrip,,,,,,,, I loved your story, put a little tear in my eye. Reminds me of my mom who has passed last year, she was 86. She had a heart of gold.

[emily_in_nc]

Very interesting. I was also one of the un-athletic, terrible at team sports or anthing involving a ball, last-kid-picked types. I had asthma pretty bad as a child so avoided most athletic endeavors, feeling that I couldn't do them. Back then, the general thought was that asthmatics had to be sheltered.

I wonder if more that other sports, people who find and become passionate about cycling, are those who weren't so successful in typical team sports back in their school days? I'm sure there are many exceptions, but it's interesting that so many of us were distinctly unathletic as kids or young adults.

Crankin, my doc says the same thing about my amazing cholesterol ratio. She says I'm the poster child for good cholesterol. My resting HR at the doc's is always a bit higher than normal (white coat syndrome), but at home it's low, as is my BP. I don't race, and I'm fairly slow when compared to many cyclists I know. I can't do the distances I could do before my accident either.

But yes, I unequivocally consider myself an athlete! I know the other gals at work think I'm amazingly athletic, so that's good enough for me.

[marni]

both of my parents died before I lost my weight and started bicycling which makes me very sad but I feel their spirits glowing at me in pride, especially when I push myself a bit extra. When I first started riding, it nearly wiped me out to ride a mile. Now I routinely do 30-60 mile training rides at least twice a week, and train with a trainer as well as work out in the gym with weights and resistance for the rest of the week.

I will confess to a intense feeling of pride and perhaps a bit of superiority when someone asks me how far I ride and their jaw drops when I reply with a goodly distance.

My GP bless her heart is a sensible older Irish lady who continually comments on my bp (122/55) and my resting pulse rate which is usually about 45-50. I have been asked by her nurse if I am actually alive every time she takes my pulse.My cholesterol is slightly above normal but that's because my good cholesterol is high!

I thank the spirits that led me to a healthy diet, realizing that I needed help, getting that help and discovering cross country bicycling and road biking.

[PscyclePath]

Like it says in the People for Bikes ad, "If I ride... I will grow a heart so strong that hospitals will have to start taking Tuesdays off."

Sounds good to me, anyways...

[Catrin]

My trainer just called me an athlete today He isn't the kind to say something like that to make you feel good - though he is great at positive reinforcement. It did me good to hear that

[Crankin]

Marni, your comment about your cholesterol resonated with me; my total is very slightly high also, for the very same reason: my HDL is so high that one practitioner told me he had never seen a number that high before. That's why the ratio is so good, too.
Emily, yes, I think you are right. There's too many of us here that were "last picked" as kids for it to be chance. Since just about everyone learns to ride a bike, it's not surprising that it is a sport people start later in life, even when we haven't had that much success in other athletic endeavors.

[Velocivixen]

I have lost over 100 lbs and have kept it off for 16 months. I just turned 47 this month. As a kid I was always chosen last for sports (but always first for academics), so was never athletic. I changed what & how much I ate and started with a modest 30 minutes twice a week at the gym (yoga). Now I do a little of everything in and out of the gym and burn between 3,000-4,000 calories per week. I will never win a race, but I assure you I always finish! So, I guess, In a way, I'm an athlete.