I laughed, sang, smiled, and then cried...
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Hello from St Albans! The girls and I are in England, making up for our lost trip in December, and it feels so good to be home. We flew right from New York, where Steve and I spent the weekend chasing around the girls (3 and 6 in Manhattan is NOT easy!) and I ran the NYC Half with Kayleigh and Sandy. It was a beautiful day in every way; Kayleigh and I danced our way along the course, and for some reason, I didn't feel self conscious at all as we sang loudly and danced for hours on end. There is something so life-giving about being with Kayleigh; usually I would be concerned about others noticing my dancing or singing; this time though, I was just loving being with my friend and didn't care what they thought. I got a lot of attention from my skirt and climate notes on my body this time. A lot of people asked questions and appreciated that I was doing something to draw attention to runner waste. If you wanna see us finishing, NYRR made this video of the finish. It was also a big moment for me. This race was my final opportunity to run in a race for potentially a year, and when I saw so many friends (and members of the senior leadership team at NYRR) at the finish line waiting for us, tears began to stream down my face as I embraced their big, warm hugs. I know running and racing don't define me in the way they used to. I know I am doing this for my running, and I will be much healthier and happier after. And I know that I will learn so much about myself during this time, but at that finish line, it really dawned on me what I am about to do. That's still a little scary... (For the record, my foot was fine in the race.) This week on the Running For Real podcast...Here's the official description: Whether it’s serving as Race Director of the Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run, leading the Global Parkinson’s Genetic Program at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, or advocating for non-binary inclusion in races, J Solle supports and raises up others. Here's the real deal: J and I met a few months ago on the side of the road at CIM. We spoke for just a few minutes, but that day I could tell they had the kind of positivity, energy, and light that I am so drawn to. We became fast friends and I loved having J on the podcast this week, as well as seeing them in real life in New York last weekend, where J helped me with my plogging event.
Our plogging event in NYC was a big success and more people shouted "Thank you!" than at any plogging event I have ever hosted. The momentum is building and I can't wait to see you at an event soon. Speaking of which.... I will be hosting a plogging event in Boston with some of the biggest community leaders and influencers on the afternoon of Saturday, April 13th. Time is TBD and I will share who is cohosting it next week, but for now, save the date! Ever wanted to visit Costa Rica? I would love to have you join me for a retreat this November! Find out more here. I loved reading this article about evolving measures of success at world championships, and was even more excited that my boss for San Diego World Champs was the one who sent it to me. As I said earlier, momentum is building :) If you missed our International Women's Day episode a few weeks ago, be sure to go back and listen, it was so good! "Change hurts. It makes people insecure, confused and angry. People want things to be the same as they've always been because that makes life easier. But, if you're a leader, you can't let your people hang on to the past." — Richard Marcinko Thanks to our partner, AG1Wanna know what I did first thing this morning after my 9.5 hour sleep (yes, I was that tired and jetlagged!)? Yep, drank my AG1 of course! If we have been friends for a while, you may know I’ve been drinking AG1 for about five years. When I started drinking AG1 every day, I could feel a real difference in my daily health, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, knowing that I was taking care of myself. Especially as a parent, I am not always able to get in all the nourishment I need...as much as I might tell myself I will as I lie in bed each night, ha! AG1 is a Foundational Nutrition supplement that supports your body’s universal needs like gut optimization, stress management and immune support. Since 2010, AG1 has led the future of Foundational Nutrition — continuously refining their formula to create a smarter, better way to elevate your baseline health. Not only did I replace my multivitamin with AG1, but I love that every scoop also includes prebiotics, probiotics and digestive enzymes for gut support.
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Running For Real
World Athletics announced this morning that the World Athletics Road Running Championships is being moved out of San Diego to another city. My role as Sustainability Director for the event? Over. In some ways, I am relieved. I was in over my head; the imposter thoughts were loud and strong; could I really pull this off? Sure, I had the city of San Diego in my corner, but there was a LOT I didn’t know. I was feeling my way through the dark, and I felt I was doing okay at it, but never quite...
Last year, I noticed something about my sleep. If I had given myself at least 10 minutes of quiet time during the day, I was able to fall asleep at night. On days I did not allow myself that time, as I had my phone in my hand, or feeding me content as I showered, walked up the stairs, and ran, I struggled to fall asleep. It was like my brain was unable to process anything as it went through the day, and was forced to go through it as I lay in bed, finally in quiet. l'll be honest; sometimes I...
A few weeks ago, I shared that I was feeling motivated and energized to keep pushing forward this movement of doing whatever we can do to be our best selves, and to believe in the future we are working to realize. I have to be honest: My ability to do that has faltered over the past week, has been intermittent, has been tested. Yes, it does feel like every day when I look at my social media, I see some kind of devastating blow that has occurred in the past 24 hours. It feels like every day...