Last week I went up to Chicago for the Chicago 13.1, a race Chicago Event Management (CEM) puts on (they also put on the Chicago Marathon and Shamrock Shuffle). In my head, I was recovered enough to mostly do my work as usual at one of the CEM events.

I know I am a month away from starting to run, but surely by now, having been in trainers for almost a month, seven weeks post-surgery, I would be mostly good to move around.

What is funny to think about now is:

In February, I told my mentor, Mike Nishi, the General Manager, “I think I am going to have my surgery mid-May. I think I will be fine to come up to the 13.1 two weeks later, as long as I can have someone to help me.”

HA!

There is absolutely no way my body would have been able to handle that.

While my body has healed and recovered in a way that has been awe inducing to see, there is a HUGE gap between coming out of the boot, walking around the house to living my usual state of being.

I walked 0.8 of a mile from Grant Park to my hotel on Friday, and by the time I got back to my room, my heel was sore, and I had to rest.

Race morning, I did less than half the walking around and standing I would usually do, and by the end of the morning (not even making it to afternoon!), my heel was so sore I had to sit on the curb and get a friend to pick me up from the closest street.

I spent the rest of the day sitting (thankfully my Amtrak home I had both seats so I could put my foot up) and skipped any biking I intended to do.

It was tough to handle mentally as I felt I let the sustainability team at the race down and at the same time I felt shame for pushing my body when I didn’t really need to.

Unfortunately, a lot of it came down to caring what random people thought of me, something I still struggle to let go of, even as I keep growing and evolving.

Wow! She’s so lazy! She’s not even helping us!

Look at her sitting on the curb, shouldn’t she be out there with the green team?”

Of course, they likely didn’t even notice me at all as they were in their own heads!

As I write this, I am on my way to LA for the Green Sports Alliance Conference, where I am very excited to be surrounded by people who are all extremely passionate about environmentalism in sports. But I know there is a line there that will be hard not to cross if my people pleasing combined with my drive to succeed has anything to do with it.

At conferences like this, I tend to push away the warning signs from my body to make the most of interactions with people I want to get to know more, admire, and yes, hope to be able to work with at some point.

In anticipation of being at the conference today, I utilized the Southwest wheelchairs one last time, but could feel my inner critic putting words in random strangers’ heads:

That woman is cheating the system! There is nothing wrong with her!

And yes, these inner judgmental critical comments in my own head are because I know I have pre-judged other people in the past, so of course it is easy to judge myself too.

Once in my late teens, I remember being on a plane and hearing a screaming child and thinking:

Ugh! Don’t you know how to take care of your own child?!

That thought still haunts me to this day now I know how harddddddd it is to travel with children.

We all have our lessons we will be working through for life, and this is certainly one of mine.

This week on the Running For Real podcast...

Here's the official description:

Tyler Swartz believes that running should be fun, and that it’s more fun when you’re part of a community. That’s why he founded Endorphins Running, “to inspire and empower people to live happier and more fulfilled lives through movement and exercise.”

Here's the real deal:

What Tyler has built is really really impressive, and I really love that all those runners have found a place where they feel safe to explore running in a new way. When Tyler co-hosted the plogging run with me (and Matt Choi) in Boston, I really got to see his heart shine bright. Come join us for a chat!

Come join me in Costa Rica in November

I have always wanted to visit this beautiful place, and I am excited with Aire Libre, now I can. I am not someone who wants to celebrate Thanksgiving (for many reasons!), so this is perfect timing for me, and if this is you, maybe this is the sign you have been looking for.

You can get 10% off with code TINAMUIR

Former professional runner, my dear friend (and co-host of For Realisodes), Sarah Crouch’s debut novel, Middletide came out today!

Sarah has horrific insomnia, and when it was at its worst in her postpartum period, she truly made lemonade out of lemons by writing this book.

Or find it at your local bookstore.

I devoured it in a few days, and I’m not even a fiction reader. Sarah has always had a way with words that I am truly in awe of.

I was also honored to see this in the acknowledgements, I would say that sums me up as a friend well. Once I love you, I won’t let you give up on yourself.

If you want to see more about what we did (even typing we, my inner critic wants me to delete that and put “they”, the rest of the team did most the work) at the Chicago 13.1, you can find it on my Instagram here.​

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“Your body is your best guide. It constantly tells you, in the form of pain or sensations, what’s working for you and what’s not.”

– Hina Hashmi

Thanks to our partner, AG1

Fueling my body with whole foods is important, but every diet has its nutrient gaps, mine definitely does. By starting my day with AG1, I feel good about my choices the rest of the day, in fact it helps me to make better choices as I treat my body with respect and compassion when I start it this way...I also do allow myself to enjoy my food, because I know my bases are covered.

I trust AG1 because unlike so many products, the entire formula is backed by research studies, not just the ingredients.

If there’s one product I trust to support my whole-body health, it’s AG1, and that's why I’ve partnered with them for so long. It’s easy and satisfying to start your journey with AG1. Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase below:

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Be kind to one another, yourself, and this beautiful planet of ours.

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