"We are all chasing the same feeling"
My friend Pania said this while a bunch of us had met for coffee part-way through a group bike ride. 
Pania, Cheryl and Steve had all just completed the Coast to Coast multisport race, which runs from the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, to the East Coast.  The 243km is covered by kayak,  mountain running and cycling , in either a one-day format "the Longest Day" or a two-day format.
The event has become almost a rite of passage for multisport athetes around the world. 
Pania, Cheryl and Steve were buzzing from the event and also from having all been on the podium, I had not long raced Ironman New Zealand, Alison had just run her 3rd 100km ultra and others were due to race in then next few months.  
The conversation turned to why we all trained for hours and weeks and months, while putting ourselves through learning brand-new scary skills in our late 50s (kayaking for both Pania and Cheryl).  Week after week, we  bike 100s of kilometres, run for hours, swim and kayak, go the gym, do yoga .. while working, looking after kids, parents, friends, pets, and for some including voluntary work in the community. 
Why do we do this?  "Well, we're all chasing the same feeling" - said Pania.
We were all speechless, reflecting on Pania's insight.  We got back on our bikes pondering the feeling we were chasing. 
I had to get to the bottom of Pania's statement - so I asked her to come onto the podcast and give us the  full story.
One thing's for sure  - the finish line is only a very small part of the answer.
Enjoy Pania, her amazing story, insights and the way she has with words :-)

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