Out of the comfort zone...

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

My daughter Heidi reported on one of her recent riding events.  She doesn’t drive and so her bike is her best friend, but she has not really done it as much to train, but simply to transport herself.  However, she has challenged herself.  She rode her bike from Akron (her home) to Cleveland along the Ohio-Erie Canal Towpath a month ago and with breaks, covered the distance in 3:45.  Since then, she’s been pushing out of her comfort zone and getting stronger and faster.  Yesterday, she did the same ride in 2:26 and is now talking about longer, more challenging rides.

My friend Kathy returned from Oregon recently where she too moved out of her comfort zone by climbing a 10,400 foot peak called South Sister.  She told me it was the most exhausting thing she ever did, and she’s done a lot.  She had also ridden the Coeur d’Alenes trail in Idaho during the trip, putting in over seventy miles one day when previously, she had never gone more than fifty.

I write these things and relate stories about my own efforts simply to inspire.  I don’t think Heidi or Kathy would mind too much if I described them, like me, as just ordinary, recreationally fit, folks.  We aren’t chiseled hard bodies spending countless hours in the gym.  We do fitness-related things as part of our routines for similar reasons, but with the underlying theme that we like the things we do and the way we feel when we do them.  They are always things that anyone could do with some training and a little extra effort.

I’ve also found that I seem to be in a minority.  I talk about the Adirondacks constantly.  I find that I truly like sleeping on the ground and going into the back country and experiencing things outside of my comfort zone.  I don’t know why and I do get why others don’t want to try it.  It can be frightening.  There is the fear of failure and the unknown.  It does hurt at times.  And yet I continue and continue to encourage others because I have experienced the thrill of accomplishment in some situations and the bliss of serenity in others.  I get both only when I do go beyond what I thought I could do to challenge my physical and mental self into areas that had frightened me.  It’s quite exhilarating.

So I will continue to train and to try to write about it to inspire.  I will continue to share stories of those in my life doing the same.  In the end, it is so worth it…to do so we can continue to do. 
Hike Duration: One hour
Training Heart Rate: 100-110 bpm.
Calories burned: 500.