The Case for the Relay Team

I've recently rediscovered how fun it is to be on a relay team. I got into triathlon some 20 years ago as the runner on a triathlon relay team and last weekend at the Leadman 125 in Bend, Or. I realized being on a relay team might be the solution to my summertime triathlon training challenge! Enjoy the whole experience (and then some) but find others stronger and faster than you to cover your weaknesses. Brilliant!

The swim start was as beautiful as it looks. And the water... COLD. Mike, our swimmer, didn't have a single speck of anxiety over it. It was wonderful to outsource the swim and rid myself of all that anxiety at the race start. In fact, I was sipping coffee, doing yoga, easing into my morning. 

LESSON: There are times when you want to face your fears and other times when you want to be gentle on yourself. Both are acceptable, but too much of one or the other and life will feel lopsided.

When you have a friend who looks this good on a bike and has the cycling talent to own a helmet like that you would be an idiot not to be on a relay team with her. She smoked the mountainous 65-mile bike course, while smiling. The runner, then, has to rise to the occasion, right?

LESSON: Know your strengths. Deferring to those more talented is a strength unto itself.

Admission, my husband (fortunately) took lots of pictures and I had to search the lot to post one where I had both feet off the ground. But this is how I felt the whole 10 miles. Feet-off-ground more accurately portrays my state of mind. I love to run. After two months off from running, this was heaven.

LESSON: Do what you love. Sure, we don't always have a choice. But when you do? Choose what you love. So. So. Simple.

Day after: We paddle boarded on the Deschutes River. I might say that when you do a relay, versus the whole enchilada, you have a little something left for active fun like this. Thing is, Mike, our swimmer, also competed in the whole 125 Race. And this was his idea.

LESSON: No matter how spent you are, having fun with friends is effortless.

Did I mention this threesome was celebrating an anniversary of sorts? In 2002--10 years ago--we all competed (separately) at Ironman New Zealand. By the end of that year we were all expecting. (That, just to be clear, we didn't do together, either.) We've all continued to find fitness in the chaos of parenthood, but not to the extent we did pre-children. Coming together for this event was great motivation and yet so manageable with our new normal. Competing as a relay was a great way to mark the anniversary, but so was planting ourselves at the Deschutes Brewery and raising a few pints (another activity we've always enjoyed together).

LESSON: True friends are mandatory for a happy life.

Maybe it's that simple: Being on a relay team is the secret to a happy life. Any other anecdotal evidence out there to back this up?