Even superheroes have to shower

When you're training for an Ironman and working full time, you have to find ways to manage your time super effectively.

Most days, this means I shower at work, after either training from work or on the way to work, or going straight to work after training. OK, so a shower isn't glamorous, or perhaps even remotely interesting. But it's one of the ways the Athletic Powerhouse comes into her own.

Lycra clad, sweaty, smelly, and sometimes covered in road grime, I sneak into the shower facility anonymously. Even when I see people I know - they rarely recognise me. It's like I'm in some kind of disguise, or shrouded in a super-hero-like invisibility shroud.

The transformations by Clark Kent into Superman, Peter Parker into Spiderman, even by Eric into Bananaman, are much more dramatic than me having a shower and dressing for work. (It kind of answers the question that's been hanging in my mind since I started writing this post - why don't they ever show super heroes morphing back to their mortal self?)

But I've started to treat it as a game. Will I see anyone I know today? Will they recognise me? Or will the Athletic Powerhouse transition unnoticed into her mild mannered alter ego?

Of course, I don't really have super powers, be they magical, mythical or physical. (Which reminds me. There's a story I haven't told yet on this blog, of how I became the Athletic Powerhouse in the first place.)

I know that the Athletic Powerhouse is a creation of my own fantasy. But that's the reason why this little game has become such a delight within my day. For those few moments between the car and the shower, the Athletic Powerhouse is real.