Comfort zone

10th May 2011 / Posted in: Comfort zone, Management, Planning and preparation, Strategy

Outside My Comfort Zone

Some of my work involves helping clients address issues they’ve been avoiding - usually because it takes them out of their comfort zone.  On Sunday I tasted of my own medicine by stepping, or should I say, cycling, outside of mine. In a moment of madness I’d let my cycling-mad brother persuade me to enter the Davina’s Diva 100 - a women only 100km cycle ride in aid of Action Medical Research (www.action.org.uk/davinas_diva100).  He knew I wanted to get better acquainted with my road bike and what better way to do it than a 100km cycle starting in Cowdray Golf Club - a couple of miles from where I live.

Preparing for the day

Friends say I’m pretty fit so I just needed to spend more time in the saddle to prepare.  It sounded logical and plausible but as the day grew closer I felt outside my comfort zone as I’d never cycled further than 68km, and what if I didn’t have the stamina; fell off and got hurt; had to ride in wind or rain; got cold - which stops me functioning; crashed - I’ve never cycled in a group. Worst of all what if I couldn’t finish.

As this daunting task grew closer I put myself in my clients shoes. I focused on the things I could control not the ‘what ifs.’ I read the event manual and planned what to wear and take with me, what to take to eat and drink, what to have for breakfast before and what time I needed to get up.  I’d seen the route before I made the decision to enter so I either had to stick with my decision or pull out. Obsessing about the number and length of the hills wouldn’t help. I knew I needed to keep a positive, ‘can do’  frame of mind. My brother and my friends believed in me. I just needed to believe in me too. I couldn’t do anything about things out of my control - like the weather. Instead I decided the weather was like a day at work - you’re never quite sure what it may throw at you but whatever it does you can probably deal with.

They’re off

The cyclists were being set of in groups of 30 and my plan was to be in the first group - start early, finish early and enjoy the rest of the day at home.  My approach was just what I help my clients to do - break down the task into  manageable chunks. With food stations at 33km and 66km the route naturally fell into three chunks, each of which was about the same distance as my cycle to work.  But, to do these in succession I knew I must cycle steadily, at my usual pace making sure I kept fueled and hydrated, as its too late leaving it until you feel hungry or thirsty.

'The start of the Davina's Diva 100km cycle ride

I kept my distance from other cyclists at the start and after the first couple of miles, I settled into rhythm and found myself not far behind the lady leading the group. She looked like a better and more experienced cyclist than me - judging by her bike and her sculpted calves! I decided to keep her in sight as her pace was similar to mine and watch what she did as my brother says to watch follow better cyclists if you want to improve. So, I observed her cadence (the number of times her legs go round) and tried to match. I watched her up hills and adopted her technique of getting out of the saddle early, the result of which made me go up faster with less effort. At last I’d found a good use for those extra 5 lbs I’m carrying! She must be cursing me for what I learned as half way round the course I found my rhythm going up the Trundle meant I was cycling faster than her so nervously I crept past her. With no-one ahead to focus on I keep an eye on my average pace on my Garmin watch until about 16km later I got overtaken by a faster rider. I caught up with her going past Stansted Park and we rode together and chatted for quite some while. Imagine how good I felt to find myself cycling alongside someone who said she could just keep going and going, had been doing triathlons for 7 years and recently completed the full Ironman!  Sadly here stamina took her ahead of me about half an hour before the end. That was the toughest bit. I was on my own, it was windy, my legs were tired and my back hurt. I’d come this far, and in a good time, so I just focussed on maintaining my pace.  Seeing a road sign ‘Midhurst 4’ gave me a real boost. I crossed the line after 4 hours 10 minutes and 8 seconds.

Pleased with my achievement

What I learned

None of the things I had worried about stopped me achieving my goal. There were a few spots of rain, it was windy and my legs were really tired towards the end but I had the right mental approach to get to the finish.  Even better, I shaped this blog in my head as I was cycling.  Conquering something outside my comfort zone gave me a great sense of achievement and reminded me that the experiencs we learn at work are often very useful to our home lives and vice versa.

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