Face Your Fears

We're all scared of something.  When I was a kid, it was roller coasters and scary movies.  In elementary school, I went to a friend's birthday slumber party and she wanted to watch The Goonies.  I watched the first few minutes, convinced myself that it was going to be a terrifying movie, and camped out in the kitchen for the rest of the night.  I didn't actually watch The Goonies until I was an adult, when I realized that it's really not a scary movie at all.  And roller coasters?  I finally sucked it up as a teenager and rode one at The Great Escape in Upstate NY and discovered that I love them!

For me, it's much more a fear of the unknown than a fear of the actual thing itself.  As I've grown up, I have new fears.

When I graduated college and was looking to buy my first car, I decided that I wanted a stick-shift vehicle.  My dad had taught me the basics of a manual transmission and I fell in love with it.  Unfortunately, he sold that car and got a new automatic, so I no longer had a car to practice on.  Despite that, I was dead set on getting a manual car of my own.  I was terrified of test-driving cars.  And when I finally bought my Mustang?  I was scared of the thing.  I pretended stop signs didn't exist.  If I didn't have to start the car in first gear?  Fantastic.  Now 5 years later, it's second nature.

This year for Christmas bought me a skateboard.  I love it.  And it terrifies me.  We took it out together once and the entire time I felt like I was clinging onto his arm for dear life.  I can't imagine ever feeling as comfortable as the other skateboarders I see on the strand - but then again, that's what I thought about my car.  Just takes practice, right?

So what's my new fear?  Triathlons.  I guess I shouldn't say I'm scared of them, but I am certainly intimidated.  The running thing I've got down.  The bike? I'm sure I would be fine.  Not saying I'd break any records, but I could finish it.  It's the open water swim that's got me shakin' in my Asics.

However, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that facing your fears are the only way to overcome them.

This weekend, we had friends visiting from San Francisco.  They mentioned that recently when out and about on the weekend, they stumbled upon the finish-line party for the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon.  Neither had done a tri before, but inspired by the scene, proposed getting a group together for next year's.  Not knowing the length of the race, I tentatively showed interest, but wasn't ready to commit to anything.  Today, I looked up the specifics:

• 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the shores of St. Francis Yacht Club
• 18 mile bike ride
• 8 mile run

The distances all seem completely reasonable.  The words I left out from these descriptions were "frigid", "grueling", and "demanding".

The only way to overcome this fear is to do it, right?  I'm not saying I'm 100% committed to this tri just yet, but I really would like to do one eventually.  A goal that I set for myself a few years ago is to do a half ironman one day.  I haven't made any moves towards completing that goal, so maybe this will be the start.  And if I can begin this journey with friends?  That's just icing on the cake.

Mmmm... Maybe I'll use cake (let's be honest... it's the icing that steals my heart) as my motivation.