#athleteproblems

(Note: I don't really know how to use the hashtag.  But it looked cool.)

Lindsey and I were walking last night and I was telling her about how my hip flexors (actually, I called them my "right heres" and pointed - she supplied the correct term) are extremely sore and I can't figure out why.  Her response?

"That's an athlete's problem."

An athlete's problem?  Say whaaaat?  She said something about how this was a typical problem for athletes, and that I probably was an athlete now, and a few other things until I was able to steer the conversation back onto comfortable ground.

But it required reflection, nonetheless.  If that's an athlete's problem, that must not be what I have. I'm not an athlete.  I never have been.  In my youth, I prided myself in that fact because it showed off my rebellious side, since I hail from a family of athletes - my dad coached every sport the school offered and my brother played every sport the school offered.  Not being an athlete was part of my identity.  But now...could she be right?  I don't know.  I don't play sports, so I would say no.  However, being a word person, I looked up athlete on dictionary.com, and here is the exact, word-for-word-, CNTRL+ C and V definition:

noun

a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

Hmm...too many references to sports and contests.  But if I cross out some of the words that don't apply to me, the ones around the "or" word, it looks like this:

noun

a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

Well, yes, technically, this does fit.  I have been "training" in yoga for nine weeks now, averaging five times a week.  I have been "training" for my 5K (at least, I suppose you could call it that) since I started walking in May.  Both require physical agility, stamina, strength, and skill.

Could this be me?

Perhaps.  Exercise has become a habit.  If I don't do it, I feel weird.  Physically weird - like something's missing.  There are also mental and emotional reactions if I don't work out.  I seem to be more stressed if I don't do it.  Now granted, part of that is because I'm working hard to get fit and lose weight and not being able to fit a workout in adds to my stress load.  But I really think the rest of it is because my body is becoming accustomed to it.

Maybe...