This was in today's "Dear Abby" column in the paper:
DEAR ABBY: I am a 55-year-old female who competes in triathlons for fun, fitness and health. I consulted my doctor because I was having foot pain. When I told him I was a runner and was preparing for a marathon race, his response was, "At your age, you could hardly call it a race."
I was shocked. I repeated the insulting comment to my husband, who has never supported me in this nor attended my races. He replied, "Well, you don't actually consider yourself an athlete, do you?"
I am so offended that I want to dismiss both my doctor and my husband. I just finished a race with 5,000 women. Every one of them was fabulous and serious, no matter how old or what they looked like. It was the spirit of the sport that mattered. At what age does one stop being an athlete? -- OLDER ATHLETE, EUGENE, ORE.
This raised some interesting questions in my mind about support, encouragement, or the lack thereof. I don't want to discuss the "athlete-yes-or-no" question. Instead, I'd like to know how people out there deal with non-supportive spouses, friends, co-workers, doctors, etc.
My own experience includes being teased by my co-workers for "getting beat by a 70-year-old woman." (This was after a big meet where they viewed my results on the Internet.) This came from men who are at least 50 pounds overweight and can barely walk from their cars to their desks.
Parents
Former Member
Jayhawk,
I feel you, girl! I grew up swimming, loved it, and continued to be competitive in it even after my knee surgery my junior year of high school. Swimming was my life, and everyone who was involved in my life knew how hard it was, and how much I worked to be as good as (At least hoped) I was.
Went out with a guy for several months not too long ago who played football in high school, as did his father. High school football in our area are, to most, a religion. Jase and I would talk about practices, and how much time and energy both our sports required. He understood about swimming, and I think I enjoyed it that much more because he supported me.
His father, however, once told me that what I considered "Training" was merely "a few lengths of the pool, a little lounging around in your suits by the pool deck, a stop in the hot tub. I know you think it was work, sweetie, but you don't know what a real sport is."
Poor Jason had to physically drag me out of their house, I was so angry.
Jayhawk,
I feel you, girl! I grew up swimming, loved it, and continued to be competitive in it even after my knee surgery my junior year of high school. Swimming was my life, and everyone who was involved in my life knew how hard it was, and how much I worked to be as good as (At least hoped) I was.
Went out with a guy for several months not too long ago who played football in high school, as did his father. High school football in our area are, to most, a religion. Jase and I would talk about practices, and how much time and energy both our sports required. He understood about swimming, and I think I enjoyed it that much more because he supported me.
His father, however, once told me that what I considered "Training" was merely "a few lengths of the pool, a little lounging around in your suits by the pool deck, a stop in the hot tub. I know you think it was work, sweetie, but you don't know what a real sport is."
Poor Jason had to physically drag me out of their house, I was so angry.
