The Year of the Try-athlon

 The Internet is a strange way to communicate.  Facial expressions, eye contact, and body language are not part of the exchange.  The words just sit on the screen, and one can only hope they are received with the intent that they were sent.  It is for this reason that more serious topics probably should be handled and discussed in a different way, in a different manner.  The ease of using the computer to speak cannot be denied, and the instant reach is what makes it what it is.  So for lighter fare, such as my walks in the woods, Facebook and this blog have been a perfect place for me to share with friends.  The weakness of communicating this way was highighted to me this past week when I posted the following as my FB status:

"off to the gym to work out with a competitive triathlete".....

  Within milliseconds the entire world of Internet Phone Tag was rolling with the news that Dave was becoming a triathlete....and now I was left with the task of clearing up this misunderstanding.  My dear friend Julian, an actual triathlete, was up visiting from Queens and I wanted him to show me some workout exercises at our local gym that I belong to. Of course I enjoyed a healthy laugh, or three, at the picture of me drowning in my first triathlon, or passing out from fatigue while still on the bike.  And looking at the sculpted Julian, while not affecting me quite the way it does the ladies, made me respect the amount of hard work he has put into this ambition.  We both enjoyed a few chuckles as I groaned from planking, and maybe in my next life I'll be ready for a triathlon.

  In the store the  word of my new  sport had begun to spread, and quickly.  Wow, Big Dave is a triathlete.  As I doused this fire of falsehood as quickly as possible our friend Dorian rolled in the door.  He is not just a customer but a Facebook friend as well, and he had seen my status.  As I explained the whole deal he smiled, and if you know Dorian he has a smile which can light up a room.  Without pause he says  "Come on Dave, you are doing it.  You are a true Try Athlete."  At which point we both had a great laugh and moved onto our daily routines.  But Dorian's words, while said in jest, were starting to have a ring in my head...that ring of truth...and I began to embrace my new title.  Darn right, I am a Try Athlete.  By definition, to me, it means that I am attempting to improve myself.  Nothing more, nothing less.  I am fairly certain it will never be more competitive for me than just that.  Yet in some ways that is what makes it even more important to me.

  So I begin 2014 with my new sport.  I hope it takes me kayaking on rivers and hiking the highest of our mountains.  Some days it may just put me on a stationary bike at the Cranmore Gym, maybe a day like today when it is 7 below zero.  Frankly I am really not sure where it will take me, but I am certain of one thing.  It is a lot more fun than couch sitting and getting old.  And my sport of Try-athlons only requires one thing that I now know I have.  Effort.  And somewhere in 2013 I found my desire to improve myself.  Over the last few weeks I am humbled by how many different people have told me that I had inspired them.  Fat Me !!  My guess is that they can relate to seeing a guy like me trying to improve.   It does make me feel good to think that my taking care of myself may have encouraged someone else to do the same.  With this thought in mind, and with a tip of my sweaty hat to Dorian, I am officially calling 2014.....

                                           The Year of the Try-Athlon