I AM an athlete?

I've been meaning to tell you all a story for a couple weeks now, and now that I've got a couple minutes, off we go.

It started when my coworkers and I were sitting around at lunch, talking about how every elementary school class has "that kid." You know, the kid who cried on their first day of second grade, and is forever known as "the kid who cried." Or "the kid who barfed." (Always popular.) Or, in my class, "the kid who peed."

Well, in my head, ever since 4th grade, I've been "the kid who got pegged in the head with a volleyball." It was in gym class, and I unfortunately wore glasses, and Oh, the hurt and humiliation. Less well-known, but as true to my own inner self, is that by 6th or 7th grade, I had also become "the kid who got pegged in the head with a tennis ball." (Noting a trend?)Luckily, that one was in a summer tennis clinic, so only the five or so other kids in the class saw it, and after class ended, the only one I ever saw again was my brother.

Point? Never, EVER in my life have I considered myself an athlete. I did play tennis in high school, but I chose tennis? Because it was the only sport I could find with minimal lap-running requirements at practice. (And also because I had the best doubles partner EVER - Hi, Jen!) Anyway, it's amazing what signing up for a triathlon will do. All of a sudden, people started throwing the "athlete" label at me. On our ski vacation, after learning about my training for this race, the women I skied with (the same ones who severely schooled me on every run), would nod on the lift rides or when we stopped for a breather, and assure me that I was "obviously an athlete." And inside me, the kid who got pegged in the head with a volleyball looked out at them like they just had just grown a second head.

But after today's workout, I'm starting to think that maybe it's time to let that slow-reflexed kid grow up a bit. Because today? I swam for a mile without a break. Now, if you've been swimming for 20 years or something, feel free to smile patronizingly and move to another blog for a minute, because you maybe eat mile-long swims for breakfast. For me, this was a big deal. I still remember my first swim back in January, and how I couldn't even get a smooth rhythm down. Now, I was three laps from being done before I even started to feel sluggish.

It's incredible how the labels we are given (or sometimes, give ourselves) as children hold on into our adult lives, and the power they can hold over us if we let them. Today, I read an article on the Washington Post (may need to register to view the link) about the power of self-identifying as an athlete, and it made a lot of sense to me. So, whether your current workouts center around laps swum, kids chased, gardens dug or stores speed-shopped through, give yourself a pat on the back and join the ranks of athletes. And if you happen to have a volleyball-pegged kid in your life, call him an athlete anyway.

PS - In a short side note, I just want to add my own small voice to the legions that have offered the extended Virginia Tech family (and personally, my friends Matt, Megan and Jason) the most positive of thoughts this week, and sincerest hope that they will find strength and comfort in one another.