"Not A Real Athlete"?!?!

[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.