Do you call yourself an athlete??

I was at Barnes and Noble today and was skimming Sally Edwards' book "Triathlons for Women". I came across some interesting things. One, about women who do triathlons and don't call themselves a triathlete. Women often feel that they need to compare themselves to uber triathlete women who are at the top of their game, are fit, and do the sport so beautifully that they can't compare. Edwards' goes on to say that even if you have done one sprint triathlon you ARE a triathlete. I would like to agree with her. But it's hard. I have done many, many races and some of them I did really well, but I still have a hard time calling myself a triathlete. Same with the marathon. I've only done one, but I have hard time calling myself a "marathoner".  Anyone else have trouble calling themselves an athlete of any type?

As far as training goes I would like to congratulate myself on two weeks of some awesome training. I did have to modify some days because of my schedule, but ultimately I feel like I have accomplished something! I have about three more weeks of base building to finish and then the real workouts start. I still have not taken my new bike outside yet. I had the perfect opportunity yesterday to do that, but I am afraid of my aerobars! I don't want to fall with my new bike. I am hoping to take a class soon at bike shop I bought the bike at.

My training plan. I flip-flopped my weekend workouts. I am supposed to ride my bike today for 90 minutes. I was going to take a day off today, but I really want to get my time in today!!

The bad news... something is up with my knee. I noticed it after my marathon was over that I had this lump on the right outer side of my knee and it just never went away. It's not really painful, although sometimes it is. The lump is not getting smaller, but may have acutally been getting bigger. I went to my primary doctor about two weeks ago. She seemed to think it was fluid, but she wasn't entirely sure. So in a week I have an appointment with the sports medicine doctor. Here is a picture, but you may not be able to tell.

And the best news of all??? I bought two new Nike Dri Fit sports bras!! I was at the gym the other day running on the treadmill that happens to be in front of a mirror. I was looking at the girls and noticing how much they were flopping around and it was just not right. I am not large chested by any means, it just meant that the cheapo sports bras from Target don't do anything for support while running. I can't wait to try them out this week!!

Happy running and training!!!