Chances, Challenges, and Change

I never win anything. I enter drawings and sweepstakes all the time and all it every gets me a ton of junk mail and spam. I do not bother with state lotteries anymore because I am that confident that I will not win. I've never won an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas. Or a car. Or a free dinner for two. Until last week, I had only ever won a blanket, a signed baseball bat, and one 50/50 drawing. (I donated the winnings back to the organization, too)

And, a free entry and registration to the 2012 NYC Triathalon.

In a pre-coffee haze a few weeks ago, I saw the headline Enter to Win a Free Entry to the NYC Triathalon. Because I never win anything and the article stated that only ten people would have their names drawn, I entered my name. Because I never win anyway, I did not worry about the two basic facts that I do not know how to swim and I do not own a bicycle. I went on my merry way and completely forgot that there was a slight chance that in the near future I would need to have access to pool, a bike, and a lot of free time.

In my ignorant bliss I cancelled my membership to LA Fitness. I signed up for two more half marathons and a fall marathon. I committed to coaching Girls on the Run in the spring. I'm learning numchucks in ninja without giving myself a serious concussion or getting Scott suspected of domestic abuse from the many, many bruises on my arms. I do not want for motivation or opportunity to exercise.

And then I got this:

Crap. Of course my office mate was gone for the afternoon and missed seeing me literally fall out of my rolling chair with shock. I DID NOT THINK I WOULD WIN.

I do not know how to swim. I have a slight phobia of public pools.

I do not own a bike nor have I ridden one since I was about fourteen.

Crap. What have I gotten myself into?

I thrive on change and challenge and have felt both missing from my life lately. Even with the shear terror of having to swim in the Hudson River and wear a wet suit in front of coworkers, I'm actually really excited about this. I have been running for three years now and am burned out. I almost dread it anymore and really only use negative motivation to get out there. I've been loving ninja lately and putting lots of energy into sparring. 

When I started running, I did not know what it would lead to. I'm now a marathoner. I do not know how to swim but I'm really excited to learn. I'm really excited that training for the bike part will give my boyfriend and me an opportunity to share a fitness activity. I can spend a few hours on a Saturday morning exercising with him instead of him waiting for me to get home to start the day. I'm excited to feel that rush of accomplishment that I just swam 220 meters for the first time ever. I'm looking forward to the change that instead of running three nights a week with a long run on the weekends, I'll have to learn to do brick workouts. I will cover more miles on a bike than I would typically run in a week in a fraction of the time. My routine and rut have been broken and it's awesome.

And one of the best parts of this is that my best runny buddy ever, Lauren Curran, was also selected! I cannot wait to share a new adventure with a good friend. We're both marathoners, bored runners, adrenaline addicts and will find a way to kick triathlon butt together! Even if we don't have bikes, a pool, or any clue what we're doing.