The Student Becomes the Older Student

I've done some scary things being on my tri team: My first ocean swim. My first triathlon. My first time showing up for a workout in stretchy shorts. (ok, that might have been more scary for the other people.) But this season it seems like I'll be doing something more terrifying than anything else.

Our tri team is setting up a Mentor program this year. The Old Fogies will be paired up with newbies to help them understand everything that is going. We have several hundred people on the team, so it can be easy for people to get lost in the shuffle. Mentors will help give training advice, support, and just generally be a personal point-of-contact for a newbie. Sounds like a wonderful program but I'm already freaking out about my future Mentoree.

What if they decide that triathlon isn't for them and they drop out of the team? Won't that be my fault? What if I get a triathlon prodigy who winds up kicking my butt at the workouts? Won't they wish they had someone more hardcore? What if they just don't like me? Are we going to set up secret bets on our Mentorees and put them against eachother Michael Vick style?

And here's the other problem. I need to get it through my thick head that this isn't a Big Brother program. The Mentorees are all grownups, yet I already feel like I want to take mine for ice cream. Which isn't exactly setting a good nutritional example.

We should be pairing up at our kick-off meeting this Thursday. I don't know how long it will be before they discover my blog, but when they do find it I have a message for him/her: Your Mentor is insane. Sorry.