Today at the gym I was getting out of the pool and someone asked me if I was a triathlete, too.
What I said:
“Yeah!”
What I was thinking:
Sort of, I mean I did a couple sprint triathlons in 2016 including that great time when I was last out of the water, but I dropped out of my tri this summer, and I can barely run 3 miles right now and I’m actually only swimming because my calves hurt from jogging the day after I took Metcon3, but I wouldn’t BE swimming if I didn’t plan to sign up for the Sebago Lake Tri in June 2018, and hey, I’ve DONE triathlons and I’m swimming and biking and running occasionally right now and I have plans to do ANOTHER triathlon so YES I AM A TRIATHLETE ALSO!!!”
Let’s all take a moment of grateful silence that I just said smiled and said “Yeah!” to my kindred pool spirit and conversed without subjecting them to that monologue.
It reminded me of the popular graphic circulating the internet about the path to success and what it really looks like, which is not a straight line.
This is what the path to success really looks like.
You are making progress and then you aren’t and then you detour and then maybe you’re busy and you’re injured but then you find that running partner and you’re back to making great progress…
I think if you examine your own fitness past you’ll find a lot of detours, twists, and regressions on your path forward.
When you hit one of those tough spots it can help to remember all the successes you’ve had after similar hiccups, and how normal that is.
My initial reaction was correct. I am a triathlete. I’m just in a tangled part of my path to success where I’m focused on another goal and building a base after an injury.
Oh, and I’m also a kickboxer.
And a cyclist.
And a bodybuilder.
(Just kidding.)