In six months, I will be doing something that I've never done before. From August 22-28th, I'll be riding my bike for seven consecutive days, covering over 500 miles and 65,000+ feet elevation gain. My bike will take me from Megeve, France to Nice, France as part of the Haute Route. Oh yeah, and Karel will be joining me for this "fun".
Although I love the sport of triathlon and I still feel challenged by training and racing, there is a sense of familiarity and certainity after 14 consecutive years of long-distance triathlon racing. When I started the sport, I was stepping outside of my comfort zone by doing things with my body that I have never done before. Today, triathlon is where I feel most at home. Psychologically, triathlon is my comfort zone.
Although staying within my comfort zone has resulted in consistent training and performance improvements, I feel it's necessary to find ways to step outside of the comfort zone with a new challenge. I'm captivated by endurance events and challenging myself mentally and physically. So when I heard about the Haute Route, I thought there was no better way than to combine my love of cycling, mountains and traveling.
While I will do my best to prepare for the Haute Route Alps (alongside training/racing triathlon), I know this event will bring stress, anxiety, self-doubt and worry. But when we challenge ourselves, that is where growth happens. That is when we can rise to the occassion.
While there's nothing wrong with staying in a comfort zone, you don't want to get too comfortable that you are afraid to challenge yourself, try new things, grow and learn. Have you ever noticed the adventure-like mindset of a child - who is a natural risk-taker? Sadly, as adults, we learn to fear failure and hold ourselves back from trying new things.
How will you stretch your comfort zone this year?
Although staying within my comfort zone has resulted in consistent training and performance improvements, I feel it's necessary to find ways to step outside of the comfort zone with a new challenge. I'm captivated by endurance events and challenging myself mentally and physically. So when I heard about the Haute Route, I thought there was no better way than to combine my love of cycling, mountains and traveling.
While I will do my best to prepare for the Haute Route Alps (alongside training/racing triathlon), I know this event will bring stress, anxiety, self-doubt and worry. But when we challenge ourselves, that is where growth happens. That is when we can rise to the occassion.
While there's nothing wrong with staying in a comfort zone, you don't want to get too comfortable that you are afraid to challenge yourself, try new things, grow and learn. Have you ever noticed the adventure-like mindset of a child - who is a natural risk-taker? Sadly, as adults, we learn to fear failure and hold ourselves back from trying new things.
How will you stretch your comfort zone this year?