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Large Grunting Men

I've been watching large men bellow while throwing things this weekend and felt a bit of a kinship with them.  Now, my belly isn't as impressive, I have a terrible throwing arm, and I really don't grunt as much as I should, but I understand them in a way.  If you don't know who or what I'm talking about, then it proves my point.  I am talking about the US Olympic Track and Field team trials.  More specifically, I'm talking about the throwers.  Go ahead and name the top throwers in the world.  No, it's OK, I'll wait for you.  Can't think of any?  That's what I'm getting at.  I'm someone who watches track meets on the regular, and yet there were many athletes whose names I didn't even recognize.
I'm not disparaging these athletes. In fact, it's quite the opposite, I'm in awe.  Where I feel the kinship with them is all that hard work that they do to chase down their goals.  I think that all of us can identify with that.  These men and women are rarely able to support themselves financially with their athletics.  Looking at the 2016 Forbes 100 Athletes list you'll find Usain Bolt at #32 and... that's it.  Not just track and field, but all sorts of Olympic athletes.  There are no gymnasts, swimmers, lugers (lugists?), volleyball players, judokas, or archers on that list.  This tells me a few things.  First, if we want the athletes in our favorite sports to be better paid, we need to get out there and support them.  Secondly, these people aren't really competing for the riches.  They are competing, yes, for the glory of trying to become a world champion, but maybe even more so for pride.  Pride in themselves, to make their parents proud, and to represent their city, state, or nation on a grand stage.  When you toe the line in your local 5k, how many of you are doing it as a tune up for a national or world championship?  If you're one of my normal readers, I'm going to guess 1 at most.  For the rest of us, we do it for some of those
Joe Kovacs will be representing the US in the shot put after falling just short
during the 2012 US team trials.
same reasons listed above.  We do it for pride.  That's why your typical 20+ minute 5k runner is running.  Even your 4+ hour marathon runner is doing the same thing.  They know (most of them) that they're never going to be at Hayward Field looking to compete with Bernard Lagat or Matthew Centrowitz.
Katie Ledecky will represent the US in 3 different swimming events
What do I mean by this rambling?  No, I'm not exactly comparing us to the superstar athletes.  Most of the world couldn't log a 145 mile week like Galen Rupp, have the discipline to stick to the required strict dietary plans, or, honestly, have the genetic makeup of a super athlete.  Neither am I complaining that these people deserve to be paid more.  Simply put, there isn't enough revenue in their sport.  I wouldn't be surprised if Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi (the top 2 highest paid athletes in 2015) make more money than all competitive swimmers collectively.  That's because their sport makes more money than swimming.  No, I guess I am saying that we should root even harder for them.  Seeing ourselves in them helps us shares their victories and defeats.  At the same time that we're cheering on the super athletes, take motivation from them. Watch the Olympics, enjoy the hard work and dedication that's gone into the performances they put forward, and then take that into your own workout.

While you're supporting them, check out 800m runner Phoebe Wright's blog:  https://phe800.blogspot.com/

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