Bonus Points and Facing Fears

First off, we are nearing the halfway point in this challenge so it is time for a Bonus challenge. This past week helped inspire the idea for this Bonus Challenge and Jenn's post kind of sealed the deal. So for your 5 bonus points this challenge I want you to face one of your fears and then post about it. How you decide to approach this is entirely up to you and I will allow you to interpret the challenge however you would like. I will start with my own experience this week but don't feel like you have to approach this the same way that I did.

This week I went swimming for the first time in several years. Okay I guess I should rephrase that and say I swam laps for the first time in several years. I have to admit I put it off far longer than I should because I was TERRIFIED! The last time I tried to swim laps with a friend of mine I couldn't do it. I don't even think I made it halfway down the lane before freaking out and resorting to something else. I wasn't going to let that stop me this time. After all I have to swim 350 meters in eight weeks for my triathlon so waiting any longer wasn't an option. Well Thursday morning was the day. My alarm was set I had all my swim gear together and I was going to just do it.

When got to the gym I was so relieved to see the slow lane at the pool completely empty and only 3 other people in the pool. I got in my lane and got my goggles situated and decided to just take off. I made it about 4 strokes before the panic hit and I pulled my head out of the water. The rest of my workout was done on my back. As I drove home several thoughts were going through my mind the first was that if worse came to worst I could swim backstroke the entire time. My second thought was I have less than 8 weeks to get to the point where I can swim 14 laps in the front crawl. If I did 2 swims a week that is 15 more swims. All I have to do is add one lap face down each swim until the race. Okay I could do that (I hoped).

The next day Wendi invited me to join her for a water aerobics class. After the class was over I was tempted to shower and get going but decided last minute to get back in the pool and try again. Wendi gave me several pointers and really put me at ease so I decided to give it another try and guess what? I did 3 laps in the front crawl and probably could have done a few more had we not been pressed for time! I left the gym feeling awesome and so excited for the triathlon. I still have a lot of work ahead of me but that little glimpse of what I am capable of when I don't give up was awesome and inspiring. I can't believe that I actually can't wait to get back and swim again. It is a great feeling.

So there you go gals. I can't wait to see what amazing experiences all of you are about to embark on.

P.S. I have given all of you administrative rights on the blog so you can start posting your points on the sidebar. You can update them whenever works for you. I will try to keep the total possible updated too. If you don't know how to do it don't hesitate to ask. I hope this will help everyone out.