Primary Food

I just returned home from the most amazing long weekend. A trip that not only left me filled with gratitude for the friendships I made and the experiences we shared, but also filled with a renewed sense of gratitude for the home I returned to.

The trip was planned around Ragnar Napa Valley, a relay race from San Francisco to Calistoga.

12 women. 2 vans. 2 days. 1 night. 200 miles of running.

That’s a lot of running, right? But this trip was about so much more than just the running. It could have just as easily been a yoga or mindfulness retreat, a hiking adventure, or a getaway with a book club. This trip was an opportunity to get to know and share an amazing experience with 11 incredible women.

We ran. We laughed. We sang. We danced. We hugged and high-fived. We pushed ourselves and accomplished our goals. We connected with each other. We nurtured our souls.

It’s so easy in our hectic and obligation-filled lives to forget about making time for ourselves. Yet the importance of primary food is one of the most important messages I took from my courses with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. IIN defines primary food like this:

Primary food is more than what is on your plate. Healthy relationships, regular physical activity, a fulfilling career and a spiritual practice can fill your soul and satisfy your hunger for life. When primary food is balanced and satiating, your life feeds you, making what you eat secondary.

I stress the importance of creating a life rich in primary food with each of my clients. But I’m admittedly not the best at keeping primary food at the top of my own list of priorities. This trip was the perfect opportunity to do just that. But the funny thing? I almost didn’t go.

I was asked just three days before we departed to fill in for another runner, and while I’ve always been intrigued by Ragnar, it was far from within my comfort zone to leave my family for 5 days to join a group of women (most of whom I’d never met) on a road trip to participate in a race I hadn’t prepared for.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a planner. Impromptu travel and last minute races are just not a part of my world.

But the voice inside me said, “Say ‘yes.'”

So I did. My husband and I reviewed the calendar and worked frantically to make sure everything was covered. I quickly threw together my bags, and then joined four of my teammates to drive our two race vans to San Francisco. It’s a long drive from Laguna Beach, but the miles and hours flew by as we chatted away.

And the miles and hours continued to race by all weekend as we ran, encouraged each other, and accomplished our goals. We stayed on in Napa after the race and shared amazing meals, sipped wine, and bonded as we chatted long into the night. We witnessed breathtaking sunrises over the Napa Valley, and we departed for home under a beautiful full moon.

It was an incredible adventure filled with great memories, and I arrived home nourished and satiated.

Thank you blister sisters. I miss you already and can’t wait to join you on another adventure.