People are afraid to try new things.

Now, watch me spin the tangent, and in the conclusion I will bring it back to running.

Friday night, there I stood examining the menu at the Asian Dinner. I thought back to a conversation I had with my best friend Iowa City Attorney while in Vancouver, seaking a place to grab lunch:

Iowa City Attorney “Do you want Indian food?”
RunColo “No, I don’t really like Indian food?”
Iowa City Attorney “Really, what have you had?”
RunColo “I can’t remember, but I just don’t like curry”

I contemplated for a moment, and wondered if my criticism for curry was unjustified. Thus, I decided to order the coconut curry chicken. My meal came, I took a bite, thought it was tolerable, ate most of it, and came to the conclusion that I still don’t like curry.

Now, let’s examine why people are afraid to try new things? The biggest concern is the cost, the individual is worried that if they try something new and it doesn’t work out they will be out the cost of the product. This is a valid concern, but often times the cost of not trying something new is greater than the cost lost.

My Asian Coconut Curry cost $9, thus the worst case scenario is that I am out $9, and that’s only if I hated the meal so much that I had to order a replacement meal. However, if I discovered that Asian Coconut Curry was a wonderful tasting dish, and I ordered it numerous times in the future, the exponential gains are tremendous.

Runners are a brand loyal group. A runner will say they prefer Nikes over Asics, etc. But how do they know what’s the best brand/shoe out there if they don’t venture out and try other brands?

Here is my plan! I go through 2-3 pairs of regular trainers per year. In 2007, I loved my Nike Air Zoom Elite III’s, and have already purchased a pair of Nike Air Zoom Elite IV’s for 2008. Now, I’m also going to try a new shoe/brand as well, mix it up, and venture out a little. Perhaps I will find that I like the new shoe better than the Zoom Elite, if so that’s a great discovery, the worst case scenario is I hate the shoe and it gets delegated as the “casual Friday shoe”.

You can also apply this logic to racing. Have you ever raced a marathon, snowshoe race, trail race, or a cross-country race, etc? If not give it a shot, step out of your comfort zone and try something new, you may love it.

Today is the first day of your life, and today has the lowest marginal cost of trying something new, not tomorrow. Think about it? If you discover today that you love snowshoe racing, you have the rest of your life to enjoy it.

However, don’t go overboard, you have to stick with what works. Let’s say you did ten road races in 2007, and enjoyed them all. I’m not saying to find ten new races in 2008, but maybe 2-3 new races, just to keep things interesting. After all, if you try new things too often you won’t be as shocked when you find something truly special.