Summer is the time for taking a break from work! Tina went to Colorado with her family, so instead of recording an interview for this week, she’s sharing some updates on what’s been going on and what’s coming up in her personal life and at Running for Real.
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The last time Tina recorded an update, she’d undergone surgery for her Haglund’s Deformity and Achilles tendon just a few weeks earlier. Now she’s been told by her physical therapist that she’s finally getting close to being able to run again. “I feel like I had low expectations of coming back; I was really prepared mentally for whatever it took” she says. “I do feel like I’ve continued that, but it has been very slow. I really didn’t think I would be at 14 weeks post-surgery and still not even have a run on the calendar. That’s a long time. I know it’s not long in the grand scheme of my life and I know it will come back, but it still does feel like it’s a lot.”
She was fortunate to be able to visit Jay Dicharry a few weeks ago, and get his advice on dealing with her injury and preventing a recurrence, but regular physical therapy still forms the basis of her recovery. She’s conscientious about doing it, but there are still weeks when she doesn’t do all of her sessions. “While you might be seeing elite athletes who seem like they’re getting everything in, the reality is that most of us are just doing the best we can. And there are going to be some weeks where we just don’t get things in and that is okay, even though there’s that little voice in my head that says every bike workout you miss or every swim you miss, you are getting further and further behind with your fitness; that’s more to climb afterwards. But we can only do what we can do, right? And so I just keep reminding myself of that and maybe you need that reminder too, if you are someone who really tends to be the same way in keeping yourself to very high standards.”
In terms of work, she’s been spending a lot of time working on the World Athletics Road Running World Championships taking place in San Diego next year, for which she is the Sustainability Director. As the name suggests, elite runners will be participating in the races, but “regular” runners will be able to take part, as well! Registration isn’t open yet, but Tina will be providing updates once it’s live. If you don’t already subscribe, you can sign up for her weekly emails from the top of this page to make sure you’re kept in the loop about all of the activities that will be going on around the Championships!
As another part of her environmental outreach, Tina was invited to speak at the Green Sports Alliance Summit and to present the World Surf League with an Innovation Award for demonstrating leadership and excellence in environmental and social impact in the world of sports. She also met representatives of a company that she’s been a customer of for years. They’ll be working with Running for Real in the near future, so keep an eye out for that!
Tina has several other trips planned over the next few months, including one to Costa Rica in November with Aire Libre that you can join her on! Details are here. She’ll also be crewing Ryan Montgomery at the Leadville 100 in August; doing multiple events in New York for Climate Week NYC in September; and working with the NYC Marathon and Chicago Marathon on their sustainability initiatives, including hosting plogging runs in both cities.
That’s just a little bit of what’s going on for Tina currently, and there’s more in the works behind the scenes. For all of it, she says, “I’m grateful to all of you for sticking with me through these various evolutions of the work that I’ve been doing. I know I get kind of caught up in being excited about this and excited about that, but where we’re headed really feels aligned with me and what I want to do. Sometimes it can feel like I don’t have much of an impact and that the work that I’m doing isn’t making a difference, but more and more I feel the direction we’re headed in as Running for Real and with what we’re building that we’re doing something that is meaningful. We’re allowing you as the community to be a part of the solution to contribute in your own way.
“Remember that it’s better for all of us, or most of us, to be imperfect environmentalists. I do believe that whatever it is you can do, whatever your step is, even if it is something as simple as not getting a balloon for your child on their birthday this year, wherever you can start, that matters; you matter And I just appreciate you for being along with me on this ride.”
Resources:
Thank you to Runna, Tracksmith, and Precision Fuel & Hydration for sponsoring this episode.
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