Happiness is only real when it’s shared. This is what is written on the back of the medal that I received for the Ragnar Relay that I ran this past weekend. And I couldn’t agree more. A few years ago I had an idea that, at the time was just a dream. I have completed running events – 10K, half marathon, marathon but I needed an event that was different. I wanted to be a part of something. I didn’t know what it was but this idea kept coming back to me. Last summer I discovered Ragnar Relays. This was it! This was what I had been looking for.

Ragnar is a 200ish mile running relay. 12 runners in 2 vans each run 3 legs to complete this continuous race. As if that weren’t enough of a challenge, I chose Ragnar Adirondacks (that’s right – mountains!) As I told people about this, the common response was “Why?” or “Does this sound like fun to you?”. It did sound like fun to me, and it was. Only it was so much better that I had ever imagined.

As a swimmer and a runner I am not generally part of a team. My events are individual. Being part of this 12 runner team was incredible! Going into it I was concerned that the faster runners on the team would resent having me there, but that concern disappeared after the first leg. We were truly a team and we all played our part. Being the analytical person that I am, I created a spreadsheet with the time that each person would take based on their pace. We all used this tool and we watched as runner after runner beat their expected time. We all worked together to measure against our pace time. I was never compared to the speedy Boston Qualifiers. I was only compared to the pace that I had estimated.

My other concern was that most of the team members had never met one another and would they get along? As I sat at dinner after the race and watched conversations and interactions between people who had met only 60 hours earlier, I realized that bonds were created this weekend. We were part of a team and that brought us together, that and being in a van together for 25+ hours!

One of the funniest moments happened while we were at the start line. We were representing Canada in our red and white with the team name True North Strong and Fast. As we were having our picture taken in walked Team USA. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

This event was so much more than a running race. The support, companionship, scenery and hilarious moments strongly outweighed the difficult runs, lack of sleep and smelly vans. And while it was a competition, the support among all the teams was amazing. Cheering for other runners and even supportive words during a “kill” (when you pass another team). Being polite Canadians we used the term “I’m sorry, eh” instead of kill (and we had a lot of them!).

There is a term used within Ragnar to describe the feeling once the race is finished. I think most of our team is suffering from a “Ragnover”… I am still suffering 4 days later.

Of the 277 teams that raced we placed 13th! 25 hours and 39 minutes. Can’t wait for the next one!

Find your inner wild ~ Ragnar

Photo credits – Ryan Kovack

Today is the first day of school. I am not a student. I don’t have kids in school, but to me the first day back is a day for a fresh start. I have spent the past few months in “summer mode”.  It’s not that I didn’t do anything but there was a fair amount of time just being lazy – a little too much Netflix, days at the beach and quite a few long weekends eating and drinking too much. These are all good things and I thoroughly enjoyed the summer but there wasn’t much progress on moving toward my goals.

To be fair, my fitness goals remained my top priority. I knew that if I took a break from those, it would be a) too painful to start again (literally) and b) I wouldn’t be able to catch up or reach those goals. So I have been swimming, with the goal of 365 kms this year and running to train for the Ragnar Relay in a few weeks!

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about me feeling bad that I enjoyed the summer. It’s just time. Time to get back to routine, time to get back to my daily rituals, time to make progress on the other goals and dreams. The awesome thing is that I’m really excited to start doing things. As fun as it has been, I’ve had enough. In the past, once I started down the path of laziness it was hard to turn back. This year though I knew the free pass was for the summer only and so this morning I had no issue getting back to making progress on things. In fact I craved it!

Some people might argue that you should always be on, always be moving forward to reach your dreams. And maybe they’re right. But I think that the break helps. It is time to reflect, relax and then when it’s over, time to refocus. And there is a new energy which is even stronger than before the break. Do whatever works for you… just don’t stay in lazy mode too long!