I AM Getting Out of My Comfort Zone and I AM Doing the Dilettante Women’s Triathlon on June 15

“It’s good to do something out of your…comfort zone,” I told my friend approximately 60 seconds after I said I’d decided not to do the triathlon I’m signed up for on the 15th. I realized my contradiction and felt like fraud.

But I was still going to back out of the tri. I reasoned with myself that I was undertrained and unprepared. I haven’t been to the pool in a few weeks. I haven’t been outside on my bike. I have humongous blisters from Leg 2 of Rainier to Ruston Saturday.

But, really, the real reason I don’t want to do the triathlon is fear of the unknown. And, if I don’t get over the fears now, when will I?

I’d still planned on NOT doing the tri until this morning. There was a road bike in the warehouse at work. Same exact road bike I have. After a little investigation, I learned it was my boss’s bike—he rode it to work. So I just went into this office to say, “Haha. We have the same bike.”

An hour later, I came out of his office knowing that I will do the triathlon.

Turns out he was a tri-hard. For 5 years, he did a tri almost every weekend in the summers. He walked me through the entire thing. He answered my questions. He told me to go ride the race route. He told me not to worry about the swim. He told me to stay at the back of the wave. He even could tell me a little about the lake I’ll be swimming in on June 15th. He told me to just take my time through the transitions. Just take it easy. Who cares about your time—especially on your first tri? He even told me to bring my bike in so I could practice changing a tire. How cool is my boss?

So, I am going to be out of my comfort zone on June 15th, but I’m going to do this thing.

You know, you can still “do this thing,” too. You can get $10 off your entry fee for the Dilettante Women’s Triathlon by using the code INSANITYDWT13. Click here to register.