time to get out of the gene pool!

[channlluv]

Hello. My name is Roxy, and I'm a jogger. At least, on a good day, I can work a jogging interval into my walking 5k. And okay, I'm on my treadmill, never on the street.

Something Katie said hit me. I don't really consider myself an athlete. I can swim a mile, ride twenty, and walk 3.1, but I'm not an athlete. I'm 80 lbs overweight and I don't eat like an athlete. I don't look like an athlete. I don't sound like an athlete. I don't dress like an athlete. I don't think like an athlete. I introduced my athletic friends to triathlon, but I don't consider myself an athlete. The closest thing I do to being an athlete is hanging out here and talking with you all. Here, I'm a try-athlete. But I promise never to jog in the middle of the street at predawn wearing all black. That's just not smart by anyone's standards.

Roxy

eta: And I never saw that ad, either.

[OakLeaf]

I'm not an athlete.

Yes, you are.

You train.

It's an important part of your life.

You hang out on this board, partly for the companionship of course, but also partly to learn more about your chosen sports (which is what initially brought most if not all of us here).

You are an athlete.

Don't let other people's perceptions of your body type tell you you're not.




PS [said in my deepest most masculine bearded-lady voice]: What does an athlete sound like? Those Xtranormal videos about Ironman and bike racing?



PPS @ tangentgirl: LMAO

[zoom-zoom]

Yes, you are.

You train.

It's an important part of your life.

You hang out on this board, partly for the companionship of course, but also partly to learn more about your chosen sports (which is what initially brought most if not all of us here).

You are an athlete.

Don't let other people's perceptions of your body type tell you you're not.

I had a realization a couple of years ago while training for a marathon. I was putting in ~10.5 hours of running/week and covering about 55 miles in a week. A fast guy I know was putting in the same amount of training time and covering 90.

Even though he was fast and covering more ground we were still putting in the same training, time-wise (I actually think it was a bit of a lightbulb moment when he realized our weekly workout time was actually the same).

[badger]

Hello. My name is Roxy, and I'm a jogger. At least, on a good day, I can work a jogging interval into my walking 5k. And okay, I'm on my treadmill, never on the street.

Something Katie said hit me. I don't really consider myself an athlete. I can swim a mile, ride twenty, and walk 3.1, but I'm not an athlete. I'm 80 lbs overweight and I don't eat like an athlete. I don't look like an athlete. I don't sound like an athlete. I don't dress like an athlete. I don't think like an athlete. I introduced my athletic friends to triathlon, but I don't consider myself an athlete. The closest thing I do to being an athlete is hanging out here and talking with you all. Here, I'm a try-athlete. But I promise never to jog in the middle of the street at predawn wearing all black. That's just not smart by anyone's standards.

Roxy

eta: And I never saw that ad, either.

this is one of the most eloquent posts I've seen. And I agree with you, I don't see myself as an athlete, either (and I love the "try-athlete").

It's a shame there seems to be castes of within the world of athleticism. I'd imagine that *gasp* jogging is still much better than lazing about on the couch doing nothing.

Can't we all just celebrate the fact, regardless what you call it, that as long as you're moving your body and enjoying the activity it doesn't matter how "pure" you are as an "athlete"?

[nscrbug]

Add me to the camp of those not realizing that "jogger" was a derogatory term. Heck, I refer to myself as a jogger all the time...mainly because at my snail's pace of nearly 11 min/mile, I certainly can't call what I do "running". I work up a good sweat and I'm usually pretty exhausted after my 3-4 mile "jogs", so I guess it beats sitting on the couch with a 1/2 gallon of Edy's in my lap.

[OakLeaf]

Well maybe I should just start saying cager again. It certainly has fewer syllables than "automobile driver." If mutual respect doesn't matter here.



FTR, I've never heard runners differentiate THEMSELVES from "joggers." IME it's exclusively a term used by people who ARE sitting on the couch with their tub of Edy's sneering at sweaty people in Lycra and posting vicious comments about cyclists AND "joggers" in the newspapers. Hence their perception that running is completely unimportant to those who are doing it.

[Veronica]

I use cager. I am a cager. I choose to drive the 1.6 miles to work rather walk or ride my bike. I carry too much crap back and forth to make walking really viable. Once upon a time I commuted on my bike, but it's not a workout and sucked up too much valuable training time.

I do prefer the term runner to jogger, mostly because running sounds faster.

Veronica