Comfort Zones

I had imagined that I would write a little more often and get this blog up to date. It's been too much to go back and remember everything and I want to start with the here and now. I do want to recall the first times I did some things that were out of my comfort zone and have helped me.

So, as my neighbors know, I might be a little nervous with dogs I don't know. For years, this has kept me from walking just anywhere. I will stop walking if there are regularly dogs running off-lesh. This has been a problem for years.
I have worked my way up to walking my entire neighborhood without fear of dogs, snakes, armadillos, or deer. Not an easy one. I also can walk, run or bike through the park close by. It's a little creepy sometimes.

Same with my biking. I wanted to ride around town but I knew I couldn't peddle fast enough to outrun any animals. In the fall, I rode my bide from Millhopper Road to 34th street. OK, for real bikers, that's not very far but I started from barely being able to ride around our short block of .5 mile.

The stadium. All this talk about doing stadiums. What in the world? One day, not knowing where to go exactly, I found a parking deck, walked to the stadium alone, and walked up and down the steps like I saw other people doing. It was a huge thing. For one, just getting out there to do anything. Parking during the daytime at UF. Trying not to look stupid among the students. Then the actual walking up. I'm also scared of heights. It made me sick to my stomach. There are all these other things involved besides just ok, getting some exercise. I did a lot of this in the fall, but have not been in a while. I need to put this back into my plan.

Swimming in a class. Yeah, so I'm not looking so hot in a swimsuit right now, or ever for that matter. I would have to actually wear a suit in front of other people. Swim with people who actually swim? I'm a fun, fin wearing mommy swimmer who wishes she could swim in a triathlon one day. Getting into the water and she might expect me to swim without fins.

These are some of the things I have worked on to get me out of my comfort zone and get my ass in gear. It's been hard.