Adventure

One of my goals for 2011 is to be more adventurous. It started in October when I hiked the La Luz trail in the Sandia Mountains. The idea of the hike was proposed by the hubs' cousin and I didn't want to be the only one NOT doing the hike. So I put on my big girl pants and just did it. And I survived. And it was AMAZING.

Taking in the view at 10,378 feet

After the hike was done, I started to question myself. What else can I do that I wouldn't have been able to before? Or what can I actually do, even though I'd convinced myself I couldn't? So far, I haven't tried anything else extraordinary, but I have two big ones in mind.

1. I want to go skiing. I have been skiing once before in my life. I was in the fourth grade and my uncle took me to King Ridge in New Hampshire. I have not been out to the slopes since (besides the sixth grade ski trip where I tried and failed snowboarding). I know it's going to hurt when I fall...and I will fall, a lot, but I want to get out there, be cold, and ride a chair lift.

image from here

2. Complete a sprint triathlon. This is my huge-o goal for the year. I have my eyes on a tri in September...which gives me plenty of time to train and get myself ready. It's an all women tri, which seems a lot less intimidating for some reason. I just checked the website only to see that registration is now open (when I'd scoped the race at the end of the year, signing up was not an option yet). I have to muster up the courage to actually click the "Register" button, but I want to do this. I want to challenge myself with something new and difficult, and I love races. But a 5k is really the furthest I enjoy running, so I'm going to push myself to do the tri (instead of a longer running race because that just sounds miserable to me). I feel like I'm good with the running part of the race, and even the swimming (I know this is where a lot of people have trouble, but I used to be on a swim team, so I feel pretty confident). I'm more worried about cycling, so I've started the training process by taking spin classes, which I plan on doing through the nasty parts of winter. It gives me time to work on the muscles I'll need, and to find a bike. Apparently those are required equipment :)

I hope I have a lot of other opportunities to be more adventurous in the upcoming year, but these two are definitely a must.