Are you an Athlete?

Photo Credit

In an effort to understand the world of athletics, I decided it would be helpful to start to interview ordinary people in my own town.

This past week I had the opportunity to meet with Jay, member of my local gym, husband to Peggy, commuter to a job he loves, dad to two little sweet girls and an athlete.

We talked about his motivation to enjoy good health, stay active and his love of competition. I told him I was very impressed with the jumps onto the 3 foot platform. It's called Plyometrics.

WebMD had a good article and definition:

Plyometrics. -- also known as jump training -- is a training technique designed to increase muscular power and explosiveness. Originally developed for Olympic athletes, plyometric training has become a popular workout routine for people of all ages, including children and adolescents.

Jay started this kind of training over 15 years ago while at Lakehead University. Through the week, he works out two times with Peggy, swims, plays hockey, runs, uses weights and attends a yogalates class.

Part of my journey, is to discover my definition of an athlete. Along the way I am asking people what they think. Jay said,

I think an athlete is someone who has a clear of vision of their self, has expectations of self and knows the steps to get there.

I liked it; it's an inclusive definition.

We both agreed that professional athletes are a different breed with their genuine striving and passion.

In fact, Clara Hughes, 6 time Olympic Medallist in summer and winter games, refers to herself as a "former athlete" in her blog. I suppose some workplaces, like Olympic Training Camps and elite training clubs, have a clear definition for the word athlete.

Jay and I talked about inspiration and discovered that his father's early death from multiple health problems, including smoking made Jay determined to live a healthier lifestyle. Both of his parents were very supportive of his efforts in decathlon, hockey and Junior Baseball for Canada.

Throughout our conversation, I sensed that Jay seems to be pretty intrinsically motivated to be engaged in fitness. For years, he has set aside time and money to be a member of a gym and play hockey.

Lastly, I was curious about setbacks or health problems that he may have had to rehabilitate and how he has handled them. He described some; after all he is in his mid 30's and our bodies age and deteriorate over time. Additionally, he survived a car accident on a 400 series highway. You can imagine, the impact on a back, on a neck, and on a shoulder that has played competitive baseball.

My moment, to further explore in another post, came when Jay said,

I know my limits and I have adapted...

I think there is really something important in that statement for me and perhaps for others who have pushed themselves in good ways and debilitating ways.

For sure, this man can bench press and leg press a ton of weight like the younger guys, but it seems he has discovered a healthy way to be an athlete, stay fit and functional in daily life and really be there for his family. Perhaps, this is something that we discover as we age?

Thanks Jay for the great conversation and adding to my learning in this year of living athletically.

Happy Family Day to my Canadian Friends. I hope everyone has enjoyed their mid-winter holiday.

Until next time,
kelly

Quitting

Spin Bikes

I felt like quitting the Tri Club this morning before I even entered the change room.

Yep, quitting.

Living athletically must be like this. This has got to be normal from time to time.

Next week, I hope to find out. The plan is to  interview Jay, a member of the leisure centre who can jump from the floor to a platform that appears to be at least three feet in height. To me, that's impressive.

So impressive, that I approached Jay (a complete stranger) and told him I was writing a blog to discover how to live like an athlete. (For those who are getting to know me, I approached him with my man and asked if he was married and if his wife would mind us meeting to discuss fitness.) I am all about maintaining and building happy, strong marriages. I digress. He happily agreed to an interview, we exchanged contact information and I am looking forward to hearing his story.

You know what's funny to me? I even struggle to correctly spell the word "athlete" and "athletically", thank goodness for spell check! That's how far this concept is from most of my adult life.  In case any of you were wondering, I do not have a life long history of participation in athletics.

My Year of Living Athletically is challenging physically and emotionally.

Working out most days is the plan and I have injured myself a couple times by going to a class or lifting weights, when I should have incorporated a rest day. Rest day = self care = less injury. I am learning.

In other news, I had my first adventure in hot yoga this past week. For those of you who are new to yoga words..."Hot" yoga is not "sexy" yoga; it's heat panels in the ceiling, making the room extra warm.

I had an authentic person jokingly, yet seriously ask, "are you trying to spice up your love life? what's with the hot yoga?" Good question! If this person is wondering, the law of questions would dictate that there are others wondering as well. Mystery solved.

My second taping at RogersTV Studio, Newmarket for the Yoga Monologues, the stories of 3 ordinary people who have never practised yoga before." (working title) went well. I felt less nervous, although somewhat quiet. Turns out I have pretty good, "downward dog" pose and I was not self conscious at the yoga studio. I was able to follow the verbal cues and was more interested in following the instructor than anything else. 75 minutes flew by and my eyes were shiny and my skin looked great. I felt very relaxed the balance of that day.

Spin class was a struggle, lots of hills, my calves got a work out.

Grateful. I have all this energy; left over or freshly created? Not sure, an athlete would know. :)

So, for today, I am not quitting. I am going outside in 40cm of snow to soak up the sun with my wool hat, mittens, snow pants and favourite big and little men.