Boulder Peak Triathlon and the moral dilemma

I completed my 4th Boulder Peak Triathlon today – an Olympic distance triathlon consisting of a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10k run. These events are done one after the other, with a quick change of gear in between the events. I had no idea how I had done compared to prior years but I felt good about my race because (1) I didn’t walk my bike up any part of Old Stage Road and (2) I only walked through the aid stations on the run.
So, this is where my moral dilemma comes in. I’m basing success on whether or not I can ride my bike ALL the way up a steep hill and whether I run the whole 10k. With this as my measure of success, am I worthy of calling myself an athlete? A triathlete?

The logical place to turn is my Websters Dictionary… wait… we don’t have an actual hardbound, paper and cover dictionary (now that I think about it, I’m not sure my kids have ever had to use an actual book dictionary to “look it up”. What a tragedy of parenting to not be able to tell your kids to “look it up” when they ask you how to spell something.) So I browse to www.dictionary.com and find this:

Athlete: ~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.
Breaking this definition down into parts to answer my question:

A person: ok, I’m in
Trained or Gifted: I think we all know the answer to Gifted. Trained is debatable. No one trained me. I read a few articles and Steve wrote a training plan for me once. As a coach, he tells me what to do and I never listen to him, so I’m not sure if I qualify as “trained”.
Exercises or Contests: I can answer this one definitely yes
Involving physical agility, stamina or strength: If agility means well coordinated, then that’s a “no”. My dad didn’t call me “grace” when I was a kid for nothing. Stamina – I’ll give myself this one. If I can ride a bike for over 6 hours, that counts. Strength – maybe. I made it Old Stage Road without getting off my bike didn’t I?

I’m surrounded by people who fit the image I’ve had of an “athlete”. They compete. For real. For stuff like age group winner, podium spots and spots at World Championships, a Boston qualifier and stuff like that.

So, what do I compete for? Well, I’m in a different category of competition. Unless I outlive my competition I’m not likely to get a podium spot. I do compete though: I compete for PRs, to do something I’ve never done before, to challenge myself, to push myself and do something I didn’t think I could do. Am I an athlete who is gifted at a sport? No. But I am a person who participates in a contest involving agility and stamina and strength. And that’s enough for me to call myself an athlete.