I'm sitting here amongst the Athletics competitors as we wait to march in the opening ceremony of the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney. We are told this will be the largest ever parade of competitors anywhere in the world -- Olympics included.
This morning I ran in the 10km Road Race, the first time I have ever done such a thing. Technically, now, I am an athlete. This is so weird for me, because I've always thought of myself as anything but an athlete. I've played a bit of school and social sport over the years -- played badly, that is -- but that never seemed enough to qualify me as an "athlete". Growing up, I hated to run -- a combination of suffering from both chronic asthma and chronic laziness. Few days were as miserable for me as the school "Athletics Day", when I would be forced to run a humiliatingly atrocious 100 yard "dash" because it was supposed to be good for me. All it ever did was embarass me and remind me that I could never be an athlete. When I was in my 20s I worked in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years. The fact that there really was no fun to be had there, combined with a very nice cycling and running track along the beachfront where our little studio apartments were situated, led me to take up jogging. Soon, I became addicted to running (there really was *nothing* to do there). So much that I thought I would surely continue to do it once I returned home. But, as soon as I got home I discovered there were other things to do, and that was about that. Earlier this year I joined a gym in a foolish moment of optimism, deciding I might be able to become a bit healthier. I did get fitter, and enjoyed feeling good. Then, in June, hearing about the World Masters coming to Sydney, I had another foolish moment, thinking I might be able to run on something other than a treadmill. After all, I can't actually do anything, have no particular athletic ability, but I could run, a bit. The challenge was whether I could run 10km. I changed the focus of my gym work a bit, signed up for the Sydney Running Festival 9km Bridge fun run, followed the training program they provided, ran the fun run and now, after just two months of training, here I am: an athlete. And addicted to running again. Actually, I think I'm addicted to achieving.
