Tough Cookies!

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Do one thing every day that scares you."


Well, I did it!

In true Allison fashion I toyed with the idea for some time before I decided that my determination to commit to a scary goal and follow it through demanded I act, not think. I am a master at conceiving an idea, completely developing it, finding 50 reasons it won't work and dropping it as quickly as it came to me. I can do that with 20 ideas in a day with one hand tied behind my back!

I have used my back issues as an excuse....no that's not true, not an excuse. I've been trying to change my behavior from pushing pushing always harder physically to learning to relax and reprogram some bad body movement habits out of my system. I used to be a big runner, aerobicizer, dressage rider. I've strained/sprained my back and ankles more times than I can count. And I overwork everything in my life, with my poor back seemingly the poor whipping post for it all. Over time, my body has compensated and made do to the point it has finally laid down the law and said NO MORE!

Pilates and Feldenkreis body work have done so much to help me that my back, while still temperamental, is definitely on an upward trend.

So, I am now a Tough Cookie who will not crumble! I have signed up for triathlon training! The Danskin triathlon takes place in June and I joined the Tough Cookies Don't Crumble training group. OK, OK, so they wear pink, and the name is a little goofy, they do a good job....no really! The Head Cookie is an inspiration.....tall, lean and fit, she is 4 months pregnant with her 4th BOY! You would never know it!

The running and cycling don't worry me too much, but the swimming makes my hair stand on end. I do not float, having my face in the water is unpleasant and unnatural, I am freezing the minute I get in the water, I canNOT figure out the breathing thing to save my life. I hyperventilate before I've done half a lap but my pride keeps my from stopping in the middle of a lap so I keep going until I am gasping at the end of the pool with black spots almost blotting out my vision.

The thought of storming a lake (oh my God! a LAKE! Deep Water!) with hundreds of other women at 7 am in the morning to swim a half mile while trying not to be kicked in the face, swum over, or humiliated is enough to make me bake some brownies, curl up with a book and an afghan and ingest 4000 calories of chocolate and butter in a single sitting. UGH!

But dang it, this is making a new me, screw scared!