When I was asked to write this piece, my reaction was “Why me? I’m Masters, but surely not an athlete.” To me, an athlete was someone who had spent their life training, focused, competing. I came of age as Title IX was being implemented, so girls’ teams were relatively new. In my family, girls simply did not play sports beyond the occasional softball game. More than that, though, I was always told I was just not athletic. Add to that the fact that I didn’t care if I could run fast or jump high, and you get it. Not an athlete. Don’t really care. Until I started to lift. Guess what? I am an athlete. Doesn’t matter that I haven’t been lifting or playing sports for 30 years, or that I did back in the day and am back to it. I train, I study, I learn, I listen, and I compete. As a weightlifter. The lessons I’ve learned can apply to any sport.
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