What is an athlete?

So what does an athlete look like?  Are they these god and goddesses with less the 5% body fat who show up at the start of every race.  Athletes with abs of steel, no cellulite and bodies toned to perfection. Are they the models on the cover of fitness magazines that entice us with ways to lose 10 lbs in a week or how to get that bikini body in 28 days. 

I think athletes are the people we see everyday who motivate us and inspire us to keep going and set goals.  These athletes are not always model thin, but some are, they are not sponsored by some clothing company or sports drink, they have full time jobs and families in most cases, look around and you will see what I mean. 

My friend Mustang Sabby who just completed her first Tough Mudder, this mother of 2 small children carves out time at lunch and after work to workout.  Everyday she battles traffic, life and her Type 2 Diabetes to find time to do her thing.  She is an athlete!
mustangsabby

My friends who are doing their first Triathlon next weekend.  They are getting out there and swimming, biking and running, doing things that so many other will not.  They are not whining and finding excused, they are doing it and they are athletes!

My Marathon Mom friends who juggle kids and training for long distance running events, they are super athletes.  They manage to do the near impossible and make it look easy.  Parenting like marathon running is a long distance event and they manage to find time to do a great job at both, they are athletes!
Fit Mom in Barrhaven

My running buddy Roy who is training for the Bluenose 10K next weekend.  He is a single parent to 2 teenagers, works full time, participates in school activities and parent teacher boards and still finds time to work out 4-5 days a week.  He has had more then enough setbacks but keeps coming back, time after time, because he know his life depends on it.  He is an athlete!  

My hubby Neale who is conquering new things, learning to swim and tackling Duathlons this summer.  He is a great runner but he is willing to push himself to run faster and try new things outside his comfort zone.  He is also my inspiration and motivation because just once I want to beat him at something athletic (not likely to happen but I can dream). He is an athlete!

My running friends, some who find it hard and those that find it easy, the men and women I swim with and those that lift heavy weights and make it look easy, they are all athletes!  

I guess an athlete looks like all of us, those brave enough to get up each day, to embrace the SUCK and do it anyway.  Those that set small and big goals and work to achieve them, those that fail and get up to try again and those that inspire us each day to do a little more and to be a little better.