On Thursday, I ran five minutes in the trails, my favorite trails in Castlewood State Park, as part of a seven-mile hike. I was smiling from ear to ear (you can see it here).

A few hours later, I beamed on Zoom to my team as I told them about it: Steve; my Vail PT, Ana; my St Louis PT, Sarah; my strength coach, Ryan; and in my opinion, the best PT in running, Jay Dicharry. I was finally on my way.

After catching up with some of the updates and asking some questions, Jay said something that took the wind out of me:

I am just gonna speak to what I think everyone else is thinking and say it bluntly. I'm not saying you can't run, but you don't have capacity to load that system properly. You are not ready.

My heart broke.

Five minutes?! Five minutes is too much right now?

Every single one of us admires Jay, looks up to Jay, and knows what Jay says should be listened to, but there was a part of me that found it really hard to accept what he was saying, to not throw every single "Yeah, but" I had to try to get him to take back that comment.

The team call was really helpful, and along with Ana and Steve, I processed it through over the weekend so we could have a solid plan moving forward, but at the time, that felt like a punch in the gut. A loving punch, a punch that is saving me from myself, I know Jay cares about me and was saying it out of love, but ooof, that hurt in the moment.

There is something so different about being able to run five minutes every three days from waiting just a few more weeks. While I now understand that using the limited number of hops my Achilles can handle on a five-minute run is not as beneficial as using it on intentional, purposeful hops, it felt like with five minutes of running, I was on my way.

Without it, I am still just in that recovery stage of not quite being ready.

Of course, I know that every stage has its value. Holding off two more weeks really won't make a huge difference to my return to running in terms of how fast I can feel like I am back to myself, but it does have the potential to make a big difference in my long term development. Mentally, it's still a tougher state to grasp.

I knew there were going to be ups and downs, but I didn't realize that this stage (almost ready to go) was going to be the toughest part for me, and I didn't know that I would find it so difficult to hear the professionals say to me, "You are doing really well," and having to work to believe them.

So here I wait, another week full of physical therapy and prep exercises. I know all of this adds to the journey that someday I will appreciate even more because of all these setbacks. I am still glad I made the choice to have the surgery (if you know someone struggling with Haglunds deformity/Achilles pain, send them this), I just have to be patient.

if only being patient wasnt so damn hard.

This week on the Running For Real podcast...

Here's the official description:

Jessie Zapo is passionate about creating a space for all runners, and especially about bringing women into the sport. Under her leadership, the adidas Runners community in the US has evolved to be over 60% female, with equal or more representation of women coaches. Girls Run NYC, the women’s running collective that she founded, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in September.

Here's the real deal:

I have admired the work Jessie has done in the community for many years, and it was a lot of fun to get to know her. Her work with Adidas has been impressive to say the least, she has really put their running community on the map, and everything Jessie does is very intentional and for the love of it. Well worth a listen.

David Roche spmashed the Leadville 100 mile course record, and this was a fassssscinating read about his race.​

I am excited to be moderating a panel for National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled: Climate Conversations: The Future of Sports this week, would love if you can join us

Running Chicago? New York? California International?

Grab our sustainable guides to those cities to help guide you as you make choices about race weekend. @sally can you add button to go get those please

​Six reasons runners make the best environmentalists (yes, you!) with Imagine5​

Speaking of Imagine5, if you are in New York the week of climate week (Sept 23-27), I am hosting a mindful run/connect with nature run. it will be for all paces (yes, I truly mean that!), and every time I host one of these, they end up being a beautiful mix of appreciation and gratitude.

Do not allow setbacks to set you back.

-Stacey Abrams

Thanks to our partner, Tracksmith

Through every stage of my life over the past five years, they have eben there, relentlessly supporting me through making me comfortable in my daily life, as well as my running 10 hour amrathons to three hour marathons. From when I was doing lots of exercise to almost none (when I got back to my hotel post surgery, the first thing I put on was my tracksmith head to toe, they are my saftey.). Best of all, they are long lasting, so once you purchase an item, it will see you through hundreds of runs and hundreds of days of wear, without breakdown in quality.

My faves? Brighton base longsleeve and brighton base tank, as well as the session speed shorts.

First time customer? you can get $15 off your order of $75 with code TINANEW

Already love them? you can get free shipping and donate a portion to TrackGirlz with TINAGIVE

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

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