Your Amazing Body
by Jennifer Sader

A recent cover story featured in Inside Triathlon magazine was dedicated to "The Amazing Triathlon Body," the lean, balanced, muscular physiques that people associate with the sport and might aspire to achieve.

Only a small sidebar was dedicated to those of us like Jayne Williams, author of Slow Fat Triathlete, who, though we may have seen dramatic and wonderful changes, still find that ideal elusive despite rigorous training all season. You see the same thing in every sport: being an athlete will make you fit, it will make you happier, but it won't guarantee that you'll be ready for a magazine cover.

I have been to many triathlons and road races. There are a few people who look like those sports models but many more who look fairly average. When I realized this for the first time, suddenly competing in these events seemed less intimidating. I wasn't going to be singled out as the only person on the start line who could still stand to lose a few pounds. I got some amazing results as I continued to train and gently push my limits.

The truth is, all of our bodies are amazing. They carry us around, allow us to touch and comfort others, heal themselves when they're sick, and do a million other things that we take for granted. They are designed to move, not to recline on the couch. They will reward us for moving with new muscles and improved endurance and flexibility. Regular exercise will help us feel better mentally and physically, sleep better, and, of course, look better.

The problem is that a lot of us stay focused on the external goal of having a great-looking body. Instead of a valuable gift, our bodies become the enemy because they don't measure up to some standard of beauty. It becomes something to whip into shape, to beat into submission. I have seen many people at the gym who have injured themselves because they do not listen to or value their bodies. People who try to lift weights that are much too heavy and tear muscles, people who destroy their knees or ankles by ignoring and "working through" pain, people who hide the display on their cardio machine with a towel so that no one can see that they've been on it for two hours.

There is definitely quite a range from couch potato to the battered gym warrior. Hopefully most of us can find a safe place in the middle of that range by changing our focus from the way our bodies look to the way our bodies feel. Amazing things can happen for all of us if we each take care of the one body that we've been given.

Jennifer Sader is a freelance writer, part-time doctoral student and recreational athlete. She has completed several sprint and international distance triathlons and three half-marathons. Her next goal is to do the Columbus Marathon. She is supported in all her endeavors by her wonderful husband of ten years, Jesse Squire, who inspired her to do her first competitive event, a 5K run, at the ripe old age of 20. Email Jennifer Sader: jensader@yahoo.com

Photo: András