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May 06, 2006
What is an Athlete?
Did you catch the Kentucky Derby? Did you get choked up watching the magnificent Barbaro finish a race that was with himself alone? Did you see, etched in every gracefully straining fiber of his body once jockey Edgar Prado let him go, burning through even your television screen, his competitive desire and his joy? Even so, I started when one of the announcers referred to him as an "athlete." I remember having a debate with my colleagues when ESPN released its Top 50 athletes of the millennium or century (I can't remember which) over whether Secretariat and Seattle Slew were properly included. Can a horse be an athlete? I can't remember now even which side of the debate (which got very heated) I was on. But after watching Barbaro run this evening, there is no doubt in my mind that he is an athlete. His desire and his dedication to winning was palpable; it was also, unlike that of human professional athletes, completely non-cynical. He wanted to win simply to win. And he not only wanted to win, he wanted to win in style -- not to simply glide to a win by a nose, but to give us the best of himself and pull a startling 6 and 1/2 lengths away from the rest of the field. His run today was inspiring in the way performances by the best athletes at the top of their games are.
As I clumsily galumphed through my 8 miles this evening, I kept picturing Barbaro's effortless power. I wanted so badly to feel it flowing through my own legs, as it does (on a much more limited scale, of course) on the good days(the ones that always take me by surprise, and make all the hard work worth it) when I'm in great shape.
I'm still really sore from my return to the weight room. I ended up running 2 miles, doing a modifed circuit using Nautilus machines (because the free weight room apparently closes at 10, a detail I had failed to note), then running another 7 last night. I'm mainly concentrating on leg exercises -- trying to build up some leg strength so when I start doing faster stuff again the workouts will be that much easier. Right now it's hard to wrap my mind around the idea of going to the track and doing intervals since just running feels like a workout.
Ok, I'm off to send some mental energy E.'s way then hit the hay.
Posted by alweiss at May 6, 2006 10:13 PM
Comments
You should see our cat catch flying objects...maybe you already have. He's quite an athlete!
I'm sure Barbaro has days when he doesn't feel his best as well :-)
Posted by: Alison at May 7, 2006 06:14 PM
Barbaro is definitely an athlete . . . as is alison's cat and my dog :)
Posted by: bridget at May 7, 2006 07:46 PM