Picture this:

You're walking through a sporting goods store, minding your own business, going back and forth between the biking, running, and swimming sections, just trying to find a few things. You're in your own little world when all of a sudden, someone approaches you, and in the midsts of your shopping induced haze, they say something that immediately snaps you back out of it, dragging you back into reality in one of the worst ways. So there you are, just minding your own business, trying to pick up a few different things so that you can start your training plan, and then out of nowhere, someone comes along and starts questioning it all.

Sounds pretty awful, right? Well, this is exactly what happened to me recently.

I was in a store, minding my own business, trying to find gear better suited to a triathlon than what I already own, as well as trying to find the best gear for the best value of what I don't already own. I was in my own little world, browsing through option after option, when all of a sudden a woman comes up to me and poses the one question that got to me a little more than I cared to admit: "Are you really training for a triathlon? You don't even look like a triathlete." I assured her that that was indeed what I was there for and we both went on with our lives as I continued shopping and she began looking elsewhere. But, no matter how much I tried to shake it, the question and the following remark stuck with me through the rest of the day.

Now, to be fair, I don't even consider myself a triathlete, so she might have a point there. Yes, I do triathlons, and yes, I absolutely love them (probably more than life itself half the time), but I don't necessarily consider myself a triathlete. Triathlons and I have more of a casual flirtationship that ends up more hot and cold than anything else. Love/hate doesn't really even begin to describe it. Digressing from that, we're definitely not a more committed sort of relationship, as I'm not as competitively invested enough in it to really even consider classifying myself amongst the ranks of those sort of athletes. But, my own vision of myself not as a triathlete has absolutely nothing to do with the way I look and everything to do with lifestyle and mentality.

When it comes to defining what an athlete is or is not, at no point in time do factors such as hair color and piercings come into play. Sure, it's not every day that you see a shorter basketball player or a thinner sumo wrestler, and those are physical traits that contribute to one being considered more or less of a specific kind of athlete. However, that doesn't mean that just because someone is taller means they're automatically going to be a basketball player or any sort of athlete, and if someone is shorter than the average basketball player but still carry that same level of skill, why should them be labeled any less because they don't look like the typical expectation of a basketball player.

What defines an athlete is their dedication, their passion, and above all else, their love for what they're doing. Sure, there are higher levels of athletes than others and not everyone is as skilled as their teammates or those around them, but that doesn't impact someone being an athlete in general. If you love what you're doing, then that's all the matters. Nothing as trivial as looks can stand in the way of someone accomplishing what they're dedicated to achieving.

I might not be the fastest runner, cyclist, or swimmer, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to give it my all and that doesn't mean that I'm not going to leave it all out there on the trails. Just because I have a hair that goes back and forth between dark pink, purple, and red depending on the light and more piercings than you'd expect doesn't make me any less of competitor than anyone else involved. They don't impact any facet of what I'm trying to accomplish, and the same goes for everyone else in their respective sports. If you give it your all, what else really matters? We're not all always going to be the fastest or most talented, but those levels of unparalleled dedication are worthy enough of your pride alone.