Getting out of your comfort zone

Yesterday I went bike riding in the mountains aka mountain biking aka (for me) lots of hike-a-biking....do I own a mountain bike? No. Have I ever been mountain biking? No. Have people been asking me for months, maybe even years to go mtn biking? Yes. Have I ever said yes to those questions before now? No (excuse #1, I'm training for______, excuse #2, I don't want to break something, excuse #3 I'm so uncoordinated). So since there's nothing big on the horizon and a whole bunch of other wimpy inexperienced triathletes were getting off the road and I had a bike to borrow (thanks Ben) I decided why not. And I'm glad I did! I don't know that I love it, I don't hate it and I'm not sure it will become a regular thing, but I won't always say no.

Now just FYI....if Marcy is in charge of teaching you how to mtn bike...she does not take you the easy way...for example, "We are going to go down a hill now" changed to "we are coming up on a plunge" and then finally the "double steep plunge is right ahead, you can walk, but I'm going to ride." Ok, I'll walk, thanks! And oh yeah, "we might run into some bulls up ahead, but don't worry, just keep going you'll be fine, there also might be some dogs." We all survived and came away unscathed. Kate, thanks for bringing up the rear and waiting up for us newbies and showing us how it's done.

Kudos to everyone that gets out there and gets dirty. Mountain biking is no joke. I am truly humbled. #gettingoutofmycomfortzone. It's tough to get over the fact that mountain bikes are made to roll over logs, rocks, mud, holes, everything we try to avoid on the road and getting my mind to know that it's ok to go over those things is tough. Combine that with the fact that single track exactly what it sounds like...narrow, hard and scary (I know, we don't have great bike lanes here in Hawaii so riding in small, narrow space should be fine right? nope!), we had a long, but ultimately fun morning. I'm not sure I will ever become a true mtn biker or XTERRA athlete, but it was sure fun to get out there, try something new and enjoy the day with a bunch of tough ladies. Maybe I'll try again in a few weeks on a more mellow course...

An interesting article Kate found about the "Interleaving Effect" and the science of learning. Interesting she found this the same day a lot of us were trying to learn something new. <<<<Check it out

Thanks for all the pics Karen!

In other news.....I am super excited to announce that I will be joining another amazing group of ladies this year!! Can't wait to get to know everyone in this family and to represent with #heartandcourage all year long!