People often ask me what I do, as in what my sport is. Surrounded by an awesome stable of competitive athletes I always think I should have my very own sport and feel a little sheepish when I have to admit that I don’t compete in anything. I do take the question as a compliment (assuming they aren't guessing that I’m an Olympic cupcake eater), but I rarely have a good answer to what I “do” (“…um…I like to play…outside…”). As a “generalist” and non-competitive athlete I don’t have a single sport that I train for. I do train all of the time though, whether it is for a single event (century rides, organized runs/Tough Mudder) or an extended event (surfing vacation, bike trip) or just training for life (my life seems to require box jumps, endless sets of stair running, and climbing up walls…go figure). When I try to define my “sport” several things come to mind, but the most concise way to sum it up is with two quotes from the 1984 movie, “This is Spinal Tap”. One is from the character Viv Savage. When asked about his philosophy of life Viv replies, “Have a good time, all the time”. Granted training is not always fun. It can be painful, difficult, humiliating…actually it is often all of those things all at once and somehow still a “good time”. The second quote is from the character Nigel Tufnel. When Nigel is demonstrating why his custom amp is louder than all the others he says, “The numbers all go to eleven” (the interviewer points out that you could just “make 10 louder”…but I digress). As for going to “eleven”, that’s just my way of symbolizing a challenge. I may not win any medals or awards or gain any recognition outside of my own head but every time I exceed my expectations or reach a goal or overcome an obstacle, real or perceived, I’ve gone to eleven.
So that’s it, my “sport” is to have a good time, all the time, while trying to get to eleven. Obviously if they ever start giving out medals they will have to look like this:
posted by Willow Dean
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