I can identify very closely with this. I have known what's its like getting exhasted climbing up two flights of stairs and now I've lost weight I want to keep the control I have over my body. I don't know if I'll ever reach the status of 'athlete' but I do know that my stamina is terrific now, I can exercise at a high intensity for an hour or more rather than a few minutes before. I'm 46 and in the classes I do I can keep up with girls half my age and that feels good. I'm certainly not competitive so don't feel that need to prove my athletic abilities to anyone. My only competitor is myself and I'd like to be the best me I can be.

Kitty

I say yes, there is an athlete in all of us. Whether you persue that aspect of yourself is a personal choice. As well as how far you take it. :)

Maybe part of the problem is our perception of who fits the word "athlete." I myself have this problem and it trips me up at the most random of times. I was programming up a new body fat analyzer and it had me pick a setting for "normal" or "athlete" mode. I read the instructions and based on my activity intensity/frequency/duration, I was indeed... an athlete. Kind of made me stop for a minute and think, because I don't view myself as an athlete. Aren't they super fit? Super muscular? Super talented? I'm just little ol' me, waddling along in my runs, viewing each accomplishment as something to be vigorously celebrated. :)

Like Ennay, I also failed my run test in high school gym class. I never played any sports, nor had the desire to. Becoming a runner was probably the last thing I thought I could accomplish, but I did, because I was persistent and committed. Even today, even after a year of running and losing 73 lbs, even not being the largest runner at the starting line anymore, I STILL find myself feeling like an odd duck or like I really shouldn't be there with all the other "real" runners... ya know? But I belong there just as much as anyone else. I've worked hard for it, I've earned it, I should be proud of it.

So maybe the word "athlete" has some different connotations for all of us. Maybe the first step is just believing that we can become that person or believing that there is an inner athlete. So maybe we aren't as fast or as talented as Olympians, but I don't think it makes them any more of an athlete than the person who has struggled with being overweight or obese and using exercise as a way to gain control and live their life to the fullest. I started out wanting to lose weight, I ended up changing my entire life because I believed I could do it.

I think all of us have the capability to be athletic. The word "athlete" doesn't necessarily mean an individual who competes at a sport or has a better than average talent at a sport. It's simply an individual who is athletic. What is athletic then? Webster defines it as "Befitting an athlete; strong; muscular; robust; vigorous; active."

The body of the human animal is designed to be athletic. We're designed to travel distances and do things that require strength and be active. So yes, all able-bodied humans have the capability to be athletic, thus, athletes.

Now that I am getting serious about working out, I like thinking of myself as a fancy athlete with training plans and stuff, haha.