Super Short

Anyone with family spread all over the country knows that certain occassions are wonderful opportunities to catch up with those family members. For us, the recent birthday party held for B-Boy and Monster Girl was one such chance. My sister made the trip from the Chicago area with her daughters, despite that day being her wedding anniversary. It means a lot that she went so far out of her way for the few short hours she could spend with us.

One of our discussions during the party led to this post. And the first order of business is to provide an appropriate name for my sister (at least until she has a blog and screen name of her own). Henceforth, she is to be known as Super Short. Now, that isn't because she's short, which she is. Or because she is some kind of superhero, which she is (she is a super mom and super wife, just ask her family).

No, she gets this name because of her views on training and racing. Short. In both training and racing. She is an amazing mom and wife, and training takes a backseat to family. In addition to these vital roles, she is active in the school system her children attend, and works from the home during her "spare" time. She epitomizes the philosophy shared by many (hopefully all) members of raceAthlete in the way she participates in endurance sports.

Super Short is a runner. She runs for general health and to help maintain her weight (and pant's size) where she wants it. And she participates in the occassional 5K race. The way she put it several years ago was, "A 5K doesn't take too much training, their cheap to run, and you're done in half an hour. And you still get a cool t-shirt." She has no desire to run a marathon and sums up my desire to do continue running them with a roll of the eyes. And she figures I'm a bit off my rocker for pursuing Ironman (I believe the exact definition was obsessive).

And she fits in perfectly with the community we are developing at raceAthlete. She is an endurance athlete performing at a level that meets her needs. And while she may not understand it, she accepts my desire to complete at longer distances. Distance doesn't define an athlete, it only provides a means for sorting the races.

If you are a short distance specialist, keep this in mind the next time someone tries to belittle your love of 5K races or sprint triathlons. And if longer races are your game, keep this in mind the next time you are tempted to mock the person who has no desire to attempt your favored distance. We all have our own reasons for what we do, and we are the best judge of what is right for us.

BTW, don't forget to visit the previous post if you haven't already left a comment. There's the opportunity to win free schwag courtesy of Iron Pol and the Fox Cities Triathlon Club.