MIND OVER MATTER

Exhilarating. Gratitude. Epic. Just a few words to describe our recent get-together. Completing Ragnar SoCal with some of my closest friends was one of the most thrilling adventures I've ever done. In fact, the last time I felt this way was after completing Booth during my Freshman year at CMU's Carnival. For those of you who don't know what that is, CLICK HERE. Any experience capable of throwing me back that far, I'd gladly sign up for again!

Doing a running race was one of those things on my mental bucket-list that I never took too seriously. Well this year I made a commitment to live a more passionate and purposeful life - one where I rise to challenges, no matter how big or small. So Mike and I gathered 10 awesome friends and registered our team of 12 under the ever-so-clever name, "SoCal Me Maybe?" (I still can't get Carly Rae's iconic tunes out of my head) for the 2015 Ragnar SoCal, 186-mile relay race guaranteed plenty of running, sun, lack of sleep, smelly vans, and good times.

Training for this race was not an easy feat. At one point, I injured my left knee from a dumb snowboarding accident which took about a month to heal. By March, I started to run again but I felt miserable. Apparently if you stop working out for just 2 weeks, you lose all of your training. With Mike's encouragement, I continued to run through the pain and began to see progress. Needless to say, a good amount of stretching, a lot of water consumption, and a healthier diet are all necessary to the process. Before I knew it, I lost almost 8lbs, felt a lot more energetic, and ran a few 10Ks in under an hour (something I never imagined I could do). It took me awhile to figure out that running is not only physical, but a total mental game.

Yet nothing could really prepare any of us for this unique experience. It's something you have to try for yourself. When you see thousands of other crazy, fun, and motivated strangers, it's a pretty inspiring thing. Although the whole thing seemed like a logistical nightmare, you have to give major props to Ragnar and their volunteers for making the entire event flow so seamlessly. What I loved most about Ragnar was the emphasis on both team work and individual achievement - a metaphor for everything we do in life. There was plenty of team morale, but when it's your turn to run (sometimes completely alone), adrenaline kicks in hardcore and you're determined to not only complete your leg, but to kill it. Though some of our friends had significantly long and painfully hilly legs, the overall experience was a positive one. Not to mention the countless inside jokes (Starbucks, anyone?) and bonding you're sure to develop in a short amount of time. Our team ranked 295 out of 731 teams, with a finishing time of 30:08:15.8. Not bad for mostly first time Ragnarians! I couldn't be more proud of everyone!

Here's how our team described the Ragnar SoCal experience. Lots of mixed emotions, yet many of us can't wait to do this again.

So if you've ever been in my shoes - someone who lacked consistent motivation to run and work out, but wants to make a change - JUST REGISTER FOR A RUNNING RACE! Sometimes you just need a little nudge to get things going. Plus, the best part about signing up for something that you're not sure if you can do is when you surprise yourself and actually do it.

You can view pictures of our Ragnar experience on Facebook HERE. To learn more about Ragnar, CLICK HERE.