Why You Should Do Something Which Challenges You

Hello! My goodness it's been far too long since I blogged here. Life got a bit crazy for three weeks, and when I say I didn't have spare moment, I really didn't. I know what my limits arebefore I burn out, and sadly, I was at them. But it's all good, cause everything is about to get a bit more bearable.

Onto what this blog post is actually about: facing your fears. I know, it sounds cliché, but I'm not someone who's particularly good at facing her fears. I tend to get comfortable and stick right where I am. What can I say? I hate change! But every once in a while, an urge comes about me: a little voice telling me to "give it a go." That happened a few months ago when my gym, The St. Michaels Health Club in Falmouth announced they were entering a team into the local Tuff Enuff race. I wanted to sign up, but sadly I got very sick with shingles right as the first boot camps started, so I couldn't participate.

A few weeks ago, a sign up sheet appeared in the gym for a new race: Kernow Killer. Without a second thought, I signed myself (and -without asking - Tom) up for the bootcamp and race. Did I check what it was? Nope. What came about me, I'm not sure. It wasn't until a few weeks later when I actually looked up what we were doing that I realised just how hard this was going to be. A 10 mile, muddy, dirty, hilly, wet obstacle course!

So what the hell was I still doing it?! To be perfectly honest, I'm a lot fitter now than I was a few months ago thanks to all the personal training I've been having, and I really wanted an opportunity to see how far I could push myself. I'd never run 10 miles in my life! 13 miles is a half marathon, so 10 is pretty extreme... let alone when you're crawling, crossing and climbing obstacles.

When the day arrived, I was really really nervous. Much more than I thought I would be. It had began to dawn on me just how far 10 miles was, and that I didn't have a clue if I could actually carry myself that far. But before I knew it, we were off! When I started, I'm not going to lie, I thought it was a piece of cake. The first 5 miles were great! I got muddier than I've ever been in my life and the fashion/beauty lover in me should have hated it, but I felt like a 5 year old kid again. It wasn't until mile 7/8 that I really began to feel it. Tom stayed with me the entire time, and it really showed how fit he was thanks to his crazy cycling addiction; he could have probably carried on going another 10 miles! I don't think I could have done it without him urging me to keep on going.

By the time we got to the last few obstacles, running was starting to really hurt. My knees were bruised beyond belief, my muscles ached all over, I was wet, muddy, and honestly, I stank. But that moment we crossed the finish line was overwhelming! We'd done it! I'd done it! Who knew that my body could do that?!

Kernow Killer was certainly killer, but it showed me that if I push myself just a little bit further, challenge myself to do something that I don't think I can do, that maybe, just maybe, I'll find that actually I can.

Have you ever done anything which terrified you?

We realised after looking at this that there were foot loops...