Monday, August 21, 2017

Monday Musings: Stepping outside my comfort zone


They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this one pretty much sums up my week.   This week wasn't about any hard, gut busting workouts (there were a couple of those).  Nope, this week was about me stepping outside my comfort zone personally.  

Most of you that know me personally, probably see this fairly talkative, bubbly person that seems to have no problem when it comes to talking to groups of people.   You couldn't be more wrong.  I am petrified of speaking in front of crowds.  When we had to do speeches in grade school, I could write something witty and funny but the minute I had to get up and read or talk, I felt extreme panic and would fumble my words.  I had no choice in grade school, it was part of your marks, but moving forward in life, I always liked to keep to myself in groups.  Even in my old career, I would get sweaty palms and butterflies in my stomach when we had conference calls or pre-pro meetings that I had to speak at.  

When it comes to one on one work, I'm good.  That's my wheelhouse.  I feel I make great connections with people when it's one on one.  As a coach that's important.  But, not all coaching is one on one.  This year I told myself I was going to step outside my comfort zone and put myself out there.  The first time I did that was when I overheard two women chatting about training for a triathlon in the change room of my old gym.  I asked the one girl what she was training for and we started a whole conversation that ended with me telling her I was a coach and giving her my contact info.  (Hi Trish!!)  My next "outing" was joining the Toronto Triathlon club as a coach to lead the West end ride group.  That first night was so scary for me and I was so glad to have Eric with me.  Leading that ride on Tuesday nights has been one of the most rewarding things I've done.  It's challenged me to be creative and adaptable.  And it's helped to somewhat alleviate my fear of speaking to groups in public.  

The scariest, yet most rewarding moment for me came this past weekend.  Thanks to Miranda, a friend and fellow coach, I was approached by John Salt from Multisport Canada to be the honorary Race Director for the Toronto Island Women's Only Triathlon this past Saturday.  It was an opportunity for me to give back to the community and to put myself out there.  I was so nervous, I hardly slept the night before.   People kept telling me I'd be great but I didn't believe it.  Once I got down there and started working with John and company, the fear started to dissipate.  I got to work the finish line of the race and honestly, that was probably one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had.  I was hoarse by the end of the morning.  John was great about the whole thing, he said if I wasn't comfortable talking in front of people just to let him know.  I said I would say something.  I had to, I couldn't bail.  Time to step out of my comfort zone.  Steve Fleck introduced me and handed me the mic and I said a few words and handed the mic back to John.  The hand off was a little awkward but a few people that I knew that were down there said I was great.  It was a big victory for me and kinda has me thinking that perhaps I should take some kind of public speaking class.  One more thing to add to my list of things to do, ha ha.

The other big thing I did this past week was take my new bike out for a spin.  G was only too happy to go for a rip with me on the grass and single track trails around the Humber path.  I went whipping around things that only a year ago I wouldn't have ever even thought of attempting.  The new steed, officially called Roll The Bones,  is amazing.  I am really looking forward to taking some CX classes in the fall.   Bring on the mud, grass and barriers!


There are a couple of other crazy things that I've got lined up that are going to take me WAY outside my comfort zone.  One of them is still in the works but the other is a done deal.  G and I along with 4 of our friends, have signed up to do Hawaii 70.3.  It's our friend Rick's 50th birthday next year and this is how he wanted to celebrate.  Soooo, we're off to Hawaii for two weeks next year.  This means I really need to get over my fear of swimming in the ocean.  I am freaking petrified.  Mostly because of the unpredictability of the water and the potential for swells.  I get motion sickness so I am very worried about NOT being able to get through the swim.  Good thing we're going back to Florida in February - I've told G we need to go swim in the ocean to practice.  Even if I do it a couple of times that's better than nothing!  

Like I said, this week was a big one in terms of stepping outside my comfort zone!  Training wise this week, things got shuffled around or missed completely so I could take advantage of the opportunity to be a race director.  I didn't do a long ride, nor did I do a long run.  But that's ok.  This week is my last big week of training before I start to taper for Placid and it's going to be a good one for sure! But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's look at how this week rolled out...

Monday: OFF  

Tuesday:  7km run with my pal David, followed by a short 20 minute weight workout in the a.m.  TTC hill ride in the p.m.

Wednesday:  2600m swim

Thursday:  Awesome 30km ride around Ellis with Morning Glory in the a.m., followed by a 9km run with David.  

Friday:  25km ride on the cross bike.



Saturday:  OFF.  Meant to do my long run but was exhausted when I got back from RD duties.

Sunday:  Toronto Island Sprint.  Raced NAKED (ie no garmin).  750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run.  Although according to sports stats the distances are VERY different.  There will hopefully be a race report this week.  Suffice to say a fun time was had!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  Congrats to all the folks that raced this weekend and a huge shout out to all those that finished Ironman Mont Tremblant yesterday.  Enjoy your well deserved rest!

Happy Monday!

~ Coach PK







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