How to Define Your Sport

Ballerinas spend grueling hours practicing and training and dieting in order to be the best in their discipline. They eat, breathe and sleep ballet. They have little to no time for relationships, play or a social life. The fear of being injured is too strong. Falling off of a bike, twisting an ankle while jumping from a ledge... there are all sorts of possibilities. 

It was only two months ago that I was obsessed with triathlon training. I tried to define the sport, but in the process, I allowed it to define me. Friday nights were spent swimming laps, Sunday afternoons I enjoyed a long trail run alone. It didn't help that even during work I was in training. The boyfriend was supportive for most of my training, but only because he was training with me. Soon, my obsession with being the best was even too much for him. It became all we talked or thought about and no relationship can sustain on one topic. When I tried dating non-athletes, they didn't understand my obsession passion.

Wildflower came and went. Sure, I did well, but I wasn't the best. When I saw the results, it helped me realize one thing: Life is short.

There is more to life than hours of rehearsal, days of training and weeks of following a strict diet. Certainly, if your sport is your true passion, it may be worth the dedication, but I can't imagine trying to juggle a social life on top of pure, intense training. As much as I would love my life to revolve around swimming, biking and running, if you don't have friends with the same passions, life gets lonely.

The most difficult thing for an athlete to do is to find a balance between training, competing and life outside of said sport. So how does one define their sport without allowing it to define them?

The answer is not simple and it differs for every sport and each individual. It honestly depends on how dedicated you are to your activity. One thing I wish I would have done while training for Wildflower is understand that it's okay to take a day off of training when other plans come up. Find your priorities and stick with them. For me, my faith is my number one priority, followed by family, close friends and work. So if  something comes up at work and I don't have time to train that day, I need to let it slide and not beat myself up about it.

 My new resolution while training for my trail marathon is to run when I want to run. I'm not going to force it when I don't feel well enough or inspired enough to run. I'm going to be cautious about my diet, not strict. There will be days when there is no time to run. Training is still a priority but it is not my only priority. I will make sure training is fun, not a chore.

I may never be a ballerina, but I plan to enjoy life while I can. After all, life is short!