Geek or Nerd

I could never tell the difference between geeks and nerds. For my first ten years of school, I was probably one of the latter, then even though I worked very hard to change my image, there was still a lot of nerd showing through all the way to college.

Post-secondary education was Radio Broadcasting. Definitely geek. Though I read the liner notes on every recording I ever bought, which in hindsight is kinda nerdy.

Then it all changed. Suddenly I was one of those ultra-cool radio djs. Those slick pseudo-celebrity dorks who don't really have jobs, or at least job descriptions. I had finally pulled myself as far from nerdiness as my limitations would allow.

The fact that I had lots of extra time on my hands, lead me to reconnect with my inner jock, taking up golf, skiing, hockey, softball, running, swimming, triathlon, oh and Frisbee Golf (alright, Frisbee-anything is nerdy, no matter how jock-ey you think you are playing it...try describing your sport to someone who doesn't play it. If the word Frisbee is part of it...you're a damn nerd).

After all those years of having to know facts and formulae. After all that studying math and science, and politics and all that other uncool stuff, I was finally able to forget it all and just get out there and sweat!

And yet.

Golf just never made sense. No amount of reading, swing analysis or watching other golfers added to my results. It was as though one could just not think their way to a better game.

Skiing was pure joy. No thinking involved. This lead to my being excused from several hills, and eventually abandoning the sport. Softball was worse. The more I thought, the worse I got. My brain was best used in my eloquent vitriol, which was usually wasted on the opposing teams and unfortunate umpires.

Running clicked though. Biking too. And swimming...now there's a sport where no amount of physical effort will ever help.

Yes, triathlon combines three sports that take constant and exhaustive analysis, thought and discussion. Every footfall, every turn of the pedal, every degree of the stroke is a wealth of information (and misinformation), fed back to my far-too-curious mind. Can't keep up with the other runners? Get a heart rate monitor! Don't just use it though. Even better, read ever article ever written about the thing, then spend months putting together the way you SHOULD use it. Then when that all fails, declare that hr monitors are useless and should be shunned. Then buy a "better" one and repeat the above process.

Can't ride fast enough? Get a better bike. Wait! Spend at least three years of potential work time researching the exact bike that will make me a near-pro. Then spend the next seven messing with it to make it "better." Not to mention the need for at least a dozen different spin philosophies. Then when things are working just right, decide that you need a new bike.

Don't get me started with swimming. That much time spent with your face down in the water in near hypoxia has lead me to believe that I can actually think my way to the other end of the pool without actually moving my arms or legs. Oh yeah, the shaved legs that were meant to tear tenths of seconds off those swim times.

In a word after all the time I've spent cleansing the nerdiness from my being, I think I have finally become...a geek. Sigh.