Mastering the Athletic Stance

Over the years the husband and I have had numerous conversations regarding the magical Athletic Stance. According to him, you can be competent at any sport if you just use the right posture. It consists of slightly bent knees, and arms out in front of you, also slightly bent. The theory is that it keeps your centre of gravity low to the ground and thus well- balanced. Here you can see him demonstrating the proper form:

Clearly, this is useful for any number of sports, including basketball,

skiing,

and even weight-lifting.

After many years of observing him, I have developed a perfect replica of said Athletic Stance:

I am able to apply it to all of my new sports, including running,

biking,

and swimming.

Pretty awesome, right??


Look for upcoming posts on THE BIKE (turns out you actually can forget how to ride)

It all began with one conversation

To start, let me just say that if you are looking for serious how-tos for training for a triathlon, this is NOT the site for that. This will catalog my own personal experiences--both real and perceived--with multisport racing. It is my goal to show humourous depictions of my training in all three sports, two of which I have little to no experience in. I am a total klutz and the majority of my “athletic” background comes from eleven years of ballet and jazz; from the ages of 3-14, to be precise. I danced up to 4 times a week, and ultimately left due to artistic differences. I saw myself as talented

and they saw me as klutzy, inflexible and not anorexic.

My husband, on the other hand, has tried his hand at every sport and seems to fully immerse himself into the active lifestyle as though he were born to it.

I decided to sign up for a triathlon with absolutely no previous experience when coaxed by a coworker. When I told her I a) don’t own a bike, b) am not a swimmer, and c) can barely run a mile, she assured me that “anyone can do this one”. “This one” turned out to be the Danskin triathlon, an all-women race that indeed encourages novice racers to try (tri..heh) their hand at this event. Buoyed by the fact that several other coworkers agreed to sign up as well, I decided to embark on this exciting journey! I went home and told my husband the good news!!

He was not as excited as me. He might say he was more "realistic" than me. He reminded me that I a) did not own a bike, b) was not a swimmer, and c) could barely run a mile. I blithely told him that “anyone can do the Danskin” and that I was really in pretty good shape. After all, we had been lifting weights for two years.

And here is the conversation...more or less.

And so it began...


Check back for these upcoming topics:

Mastering the Athletic Stance

(Re)Learning to Ride a Bike