Tina ran her first ultra, the Bryce Canyon 50 Miler, a year ago. She finished first female and third overall, and felt good afterwards, except for one thing – her heel. She learned that she had a Haglund’s Deformity which impacted her Achilles tendon. After exhausting every other option, she had surgery last month. In this episode, she shares about the operation and her plans for the future, especially her role as an environmentalist.
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She has a long recovery road ahead, but she’s in San Diego now at the La Jolla Half Marathon, which is making a potentially industry-changing move – replacing disposable cups with reusable ones and encouraging runners to carry their own hydration and fuel. It’s an initiative that is very much aligned with Tina’s stance on sustainability.
“I really feel like my role in this movement of sustainability, environmentalism, as well as my role within the running space, is crystallizing more and more. My role is to speak to the middle 50% of people. You know, there are 20% of people on the left-hand side of things who are extremist. You should be a vegan, and you should never fly, and you should take a three-day train to get anywhere. You’ve got 20%,maybe 10%, probably 10% on the other side, who have no interest in changing anything. And me trying to reach that person is just not gonna do anything. Who I want to speak to is everyone else. And that’s you listening. Environmentally curious, you wanna do your part, you wanna be better. You are anxious of the future. Even if like most of us, you stuff those feelings down a lot of the time because just the idea of dealing with it and thinking about it is too terrifying.
“There’s so much confusing information out there, so much,‘This is what you should do.’ ‘No, that is what you should do.’ ‘This is who you should listen to’. ‘No, don’t listen to that person.’ I get it. It is very confusing and very overwhelming and that’s where I wanna be the person to say, ‘Here’s where you can start. Here’s where you can get involved. Here’s how you can make choices within your own life for what matters to you. Here’s where you can speak up in your own way.’
“I want to be there to support you and I really feel like there’s a place for that because the 20% on either end are not really getting anywhere. We need to work together. We need to work as a community; we need to work as one. And I believe, I know, the running community is ready. I know you’re curious; I know you want to do your part and I wanna be a person you can trust to start wherever your starting line is. So that’s a realization I’ve come across lately and I really have been enjoying exploring that and looking at what the future could be.”
Tina will have updates about that future soon, but in the meantime, she’s started an account on Medium to share her thoughts on sustainability. You can follow her here.
Resources:
Thank you to AG1, HydraPak, and Tracksmith for sponsoring this episode.
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HydraPak is continually looking for ways to help runners and their communities lessen their environmental footprint. Their reusable hydration products are aimed not only at supporting athletes in pursuit of their personal goals, but at reducing single-use waste.
Most recently, they unveiled their Cupless Racing Partnership Program, designed to support trail and road races across the country in eliminating race day waste by offering their collapsible and reusable SpeedCup as an alternative to single-use cups at running events.
You can find out more here.
Tracksmith is an independent running brand inspired by a deep love of the sport. For years the brand has elevated running wear using best-in-class materials and timeless silhouettes that perform at the highest level and can be worn everyday, not just for running.
Tracksmith helps the environment by making comfortable, durable clothes that will last for years, rather than winding up in the landfill. They help athletes who are trying to make the Olympic trials, and they offer scholarships for creatives to work on their crafts.
If you’re a new customer, go here and use the code TINANEW at checkout to get $15 off your order of $75 or more. Returning customers can use the code TINAGIVE, and Tracksmith will give you free shipping and donate 5% of your order to TrackGirlz.
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