Out of my comfort zone

I posted previously about looking into doing a sprint triathalon. Our local gym is starting a training program this week, and I am nervously going to do it. Tonight I am going to a swim clinic, and I am really actually dreading it.

That sounds depressing I know, but swimming is not my strong suit. That is part of the reason I am doing this; so I can get better, but I am nervous. I am nervous that I am going to be the weakest one there, and that I will feel dumb.

I was talking to Greg yesterday about my past swimming experiences, and I remembered all the negative experiences I have had. (Belly flopping off the diving board in gym class in front of my PE class, being on the swim team and being the worst person, belly flopping off the starting block in a swim meet because the pool was way shallow and I was afraid I was going to break my neck.) And those are only part of my experiences. It brought back all those negative feelings, and I have seriously considered just backing out completely
of this crazy idea. Greg has convinced me to atleast go to the first clinic tonight before I make a decision (he is such a patient man with me) so we will see how I feel when I get home tonight.

But I am really nervous! Change makes me nervous. But we don't grow if we don't step out of our comfort zone right?

****I survived the swim clinic!! While I realized that I have a LONG ways to go, I also realized that I am have real potential, and that makes me really excited to get out in the pool again soon and to get better.  I will definitely be moving to a much lower level, but I want to stick with this!!********

Trying Something New

I have been having a lot of pain in my right knee lately, so I have been trying to take it easy but still get in good workouts.  Almost seems like an oxymoron doesn't it? Either way, it has been really hard emotionally and physically for me.  I do not like being injured one bit!

I went to the Dr this past week and they recommend that I start physical therapy again, and if that doesn't work I will have to get an MRI or something.  I almost wish I could get an MRI first because I really think there is something wrong with my knee, but because of insurance purposes I have to follow a certain order of things.  So for now, we are going to go that route and see where it takes me.

I have still be working out everyday, but with pain.  Yesterday I had a really blah workout. I could not get over the pain and I was just in this slump.  It was not fun at all.  I got done feeling glad that I still managed to get an hour in, but I just feel frustrated! The rest of the day did not go so well either, so I was so glad to start a new day today and get a fresh perspective on things again.

I was running late to work this morning, so I ended up running there. (It is like 1/4 of a mile from our place, so I actually normally run there anyway.  But since I was running late, I was basically sprinting.  As soon as I got to work I knew that I had pushed it too hard with my knee, and I could hardly bend it.

I came home, and we had planned on going to local gym to work out.  I was nervous about going though because of my knee, but I took some Ibuprofen and decided to swim instead.  That was the best decision of the day because my knee feels 10x better this afternoon.  I am in no way a good swimmer, but I know how to not drown.  I swam a half mile and felt like I got a good workout in, but to be honest I have this itch to go run outside as well since it is so lovely here today.

But because of the swim today I had the thought to train for a sprint triathlon. Our gym is starting a training program this next week for FREE, so I think I am going to do it.  Now I know I have been complaining about having a hurt knee, but I plan on being smart about it and not overdoing it too much.  I will listen to my body and if it hurts, I will stop.  A sprint triathlon consists of three events; a .45 mile swim, 13.2 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run.  Tough, but doable I think with the right amount of training!

Another reason I thought about doing a sprint triathlon is because I want to conquer my fear that I have of open water.  I know it might sound like a silly fear to some people, but to me it is real.  I am extremely afraid of water for some reason.  It is something I want to conquer, so I am hoping that by doing this I will be able to get over that fear.

*****I wrote the beginning part of this post last night, but I am happy to say that my knee feels a lot better today still and I contribute it all to the swimming.  I am definately going to keep this up because I love not being in as much pain!

Oh and the weather in this area is really weird; yesterday it was 54 degrees and today there was a mega blizzard with winds over 50 mph and the temperature was close to 0.  Crazy right!

I miss warmth!***

I have a lot of recipes I hope to post tonight or over the next few days because I have found a lot of keepers!