A "real" Triathlete

Recently I had a friend remark to me, that you could tell the triathlon season was about to start because all the "real" triathletes were starting to train in the pool.  It made me think about how I define being a "real" athlete or triathlete.

When you Google the definition of "triathlete", you get "one who competes in triathlons".  Then the definition of "triathlon" is "a multisport event usually consisting of swimming, cycling and running".  So, according to that definition, I am not a "triathlete", at least not yet.  I haven't competed in a triathlon.

Lately, I've been trying to work with a pull buoy in the pool.  However, every time I used it, my legs sank.  I was getting to the point that I was thinking it just wasn't going to happen, that I just couldn't use it.  But I thought I'd try again, today.  I remembered two things Wendy told me.  One, to "put my weight on my sternum" and two, that for some reason I was fighting the buoy.  The first one, last week, I couldn't understand, but today I tried.  I felt like I put my weight onto my sternum and I relaxed.  I wasn't quite sure what Wendy meant by my "fighting" something but I figured by relaxing my entire body, I would stop that.  And the combination of those two things worked!  My legs stayed up and I was able to take a few strokes.  Only a few but it was a major improvement over my previous efforts.

I'm sure there are folks who don't consider me a "real" triathlete and that's fine.  But for me, being a "real" triathlete, has to come from within me.  Oh, when I finish my first race, I know I'll "feel" like a triathlete but it's more than that for me.  It comes down to  making steps towards my goal.  Did I do something, in one of my sports, that takes me closer to my goal?  Sometimes it's just doing it, be it going for a run, not fast, not intervals, not even pretty but just getting out there and putting in the miles.  Sometimes, it's swimming for a lap without fins.  Sometimes it's just taking a few strokes with a pull buoy.  It's those small steps I take towards my goals that define me.

 Because, as Wendy told me when I first started with her, her goal is to get me to compare myself to myself.  Am I doing better than I was, last week?  Last month?  Last year?  Because in the end, that is who my biggest competition is, myself.