As a runner I have always appreciated your writing, a professional working in the wildfire preparedness space I really appreciate you sharing the steps you took at your daughter's and the work you plan to do at home. Wildfire and its impact on communities is a multifaceted problem requiring a variety of actions and responses, with everyone doing their part. You live in an area with excellent resources. If you haven't already I would encourage you to check out https://www.cowildfire.org/.
Continued safe wishes to you and your family and all of those impacted by these fires.
I imagine it might because of the loss of your friend’s Topanga home & the risk to your wood home here. I encourage you to share your Guardian story link here for others to read. Every time I see a Go Fund Me appeal from the fire, I think of that now.
Thank you for sharing your in-laws story. As someone living across the ocean from the US, it's been so upsetting hearing about the wildfires, and wondering how people will move on from the loss of a long-lived in home. Maybe from time to time, you could share how they find a new different life after this disaster. You've got so much on your plate, but sounds like you're doing great things with great grace.
Hi, Sarah! I've been meaning to contact you now for several months, for several reasons. First I'd like to thank you so much for your extreme sincerity and frankness about your relationship with alcohol and your efforts to moderate and balance that relationship - it's been so refreshing and helpful for me to compare and see so many similarities to your experiences! I could write pages about my similar "party-hearty" youth/college/young adult background and later with professional (and then parenting) joys and challenges; then also throw in an ugly divorce when our daughters were pre-teens... and how "social" drinking slowly morphed into 'habitual' and even heavy at times over the years. Also how that (inexplicably) didn't seem to affect my running and racing performances... So many common threads between us! This has been my second year doing Dry January, largely inspired by your openness and recommendation as a "reset" month. Unlike you, however, my ability to sleep is seriously affected, and in the opposite way from you: You notice that your sleep suffers when drinking; but I sleep wonderfully with my level of 'habitual' drinking but during any period of abstinence I have terrible insomnia. Last year out of desperation I went to our local dispensary and asked for 'whatever it takes to get sleep' and ended up with gummies (minimally effective) and a very potent elixir that works but leaves me very foggy/groggy in the morning. This year I went straight to that elixir; and for added measure to avoid the sleepless torment added some Rx pills I had on hand - so was basically in a 12-hour coma each night. Not sure if this solution ends up being that much of a healthy new year start so much as simply an exchange of evils.... and mostly I'm way less functional for half the day than the other 11 months. While this makes it not particularly appealing to maintain a more alcohol-free lifestyle beyond January, I'm strongly motivated to try because of this summer's Hardrock (assuming the wait list moves up at least one spot.) So I guess I'd like to reach out for maybe some further support from you as a friend/runner/mentor into Feb - as the black-and-white of Dry Jan turns into a daily gray zone choice of better sleep vs better health/training.
My second reason is to pick your brain more on your current injury, and how it came about and was diagnosed. Asking because I feel like I might have a similar issue. I started feeling a "tight" area in my high/lateral quads last November. Because I'd started running with a new dog (largely in his neighborhood because of our early and heavy snowfall closing most trails), I figured the pavement/flat running - which I never do! - was just affecting my stride and giving a minor issue. But instead of subsiding when the snow melted and I returned to trails and hills, it's very gradually progressed and is more throughout the IT band and hip capsule, despite also having resumed some basic yoga and hip stretches. Yet it's still really only 'discomfort', not real pain - so I feel like going to an orthopod and asking for an MRI seems overkill. But I'm worried about making it worse and really screwing up the summer if I just ignore and proceed with my usual hill & mileage training. So I'm wondering how your injury presented? Thanks for all your help and inspiration! Tina Ure
Hi Tina, it’s so good to hear from you and I am touched by all you wrote. I think you have my number, so feel free to call or text and we can continue the conversation. Hopefully we can have some good training runs together if you are here in June or early July. Re sleep— have you tried a small dose of melatonin, like 3 or 5 g? I find that taking that around dinner time, combined with no alcohol and a little bit of reading, helps me sleep really well. If I wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep, then I get up and read a book. (Not my phone!) in other words, I don’t toss and turn in bed; I get out of bed, read, and that makes me sleepy and calms my mind. I got that advice from a sleep expert, who said, make the bed a “no stress zone” so if you’re having stress-induced insomnia, get out of bed and do something soothing.
I wrote about my injury in earlier post in November and December. Basically it manifest at the head of the tibia where the IT band attaches due to poor biomechanics that created a twisting force in my knee, and overuse, I ran through pain for about a year and got two Cortizone shots. On November 2, around mile 50 of a 24 hour event, I felt burning pain and had partially torn the attachment off the bone. A tendon tear like that takes about three months to heal. So that is what I’ve been dealing with. It was really stupid on my part. I am just now getting back to careful running, but will mostly do hiking to train for HR.
Take care and thanks again for reading my newsletter and reaching out.
Thank you for this piece, Sarah. I'm glad to hear that many of the challenges you and your family were/are dealing with are beginning to resolve, even if slowly. What's the line you say here? I can do more today than yesterday? I'm going to try to remember that for my own stuff now.
Thank you so much for reading (with all you have to read as an editor/publisher!). It's "I can do more this week than last week"—I'm focusing on week-to-week progress, trying not to feel overwhelmed or discouraged about all the fitness I need to regain and training to do between now and my big goal in July.
I'm rehabbing a hamstring injury right now. The hardest part isn't the rehab process itself; it's fighting to think about the injury in the same way I frame unplanned time off for my athletes.
This was a great reminder to view the (infuriatingly small) steps in the right direction as a win. Thanks for sharing!
Good morning from Brisbane, Australia Sarah. My first ever comment on a Substack post. I loved your post Sarah and it resonated with me on many levels. Thank you for sharing your journey.
As a runner I have always appreciated your writing, a professional working in the wildfire preparedness space I really appreciate you sharing the steps you took at your daughter's and the work you plan to do at home. Wildfire and its impact on communities is a multifaceted problem requiring a variety of actions and responses, with everyone doing their part. You live in an area with excellent resources. If you haven't already I would encourage you to check out https://www.cowildfire.org/.
Continued safe wishes to you and your family and all of those impacted by these fires.
Thank you for sharing that link and for your work in wildfire preparedness!
This piece really resonated with me.
I imagine it might because of the loss of your friend’s Topanga home & the risk to your wood home here. I encourage you to share your Guardian story link here for others to read. Every time I see a Go Fund Me appeal from the fire, I think of that now.
💛 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/jan/18/california-fires-charity
Thank you for sharing your in-laws story. As someone living across the ocean from the US, it's been so upsetting hearing about the wildfires, and wondering how people will move on from the loss of a long-lived in home. Maybe from time to time, you could share how they find a new different life after this disaster. You've got so much on your plate, but sounds like you're doing great things with great grace.
Nice post Sarah. You're doing wonderful things, and writing about them beautifully.
Thank you, and thanks for reading.
Hi, Sarah! I've been meaning to contact you now for several months, for several reasons. First I'd like to thank you so much for your extreme sincerity and frankness about your relationship with alcohol and your efforts to moderate and balance that relationship - it's been so refreshing and helpful for me to compare and see so many similarities to your experiences! I could write pages about my similar "party-hearty" youth/college/young adult background and later with professional (and then parenting) joys and challenges; then also throw in an ugly divorce when our daughters were pre-teens... and how "social" drinking slowly morphed into 'habitual' and even heavy at times over the years. Also how that (inexplicably) didn't seem to affect my running and racing performances... So many common threads between us! This has been my second year doing Dry January, largely inspired by your openness and recommendation as a "reset" month. Unlike you, however, my ability to sleep is seriously affected, and in the opposite way from you: You notice that your sleep suffers when drinking; but I sleep wonderfully with my level of 'habitual' drinking but during any period of abstinence I have terrible insomnia. Last year out of desperation I went to our local dispensary and asked for 'whatever it takes to get sleep' and ended up with gummies (minimally effective) and a very potent elixir that works but leaves me very foggy/groggy in the morning. This year I went straight to that elixir; and for added measure to avoid the sleepless torment added some Rx pills I had on hand - so was basically in a 12-hour coma each night. Not sure if this solution ends up being that much of a healthy new year start so much as simply an exchange of evils.... and mostly I'm way less functional for half the day than the other 11 months. While this makes it not particularly appealing to maintain a more alcohol-free lifestyle beyond January, I'm strongly motivated to try because of this summer's Hardrock (assuming the wait list moves up at least one spot.) So I guess I'd like to reach out for maybe some further support from you as a friend/runner/mentor into Feb - as the black-and-white of Dry Jan turns into a daily gray zone choice of better sleep vs better health/training.
My second reason is to pick your brain more on your current injury, and how it came about and was diagnosed. Asking because I feel like I might have a similar issue. I started feeling a "tight" area in my high/lateral quads last November. Because I'd started running with a new dog (largely in his neighborhood because of our early and heavy snowfall closing most trails), I figured the pavement/flat running - which I never do! - was just affecting my stride and giving a minor issue. But instead of subsiding when the snow melted and I returned to trails and hills, it's very gradually progressed and is more throughout the IT band and hip capsule, despite also having resumed some basic yoga and hip stretches. Yet it's still really only 'discomfort', not real pain - so I feel like going to an orthopod and asking for an MRI seems overkill. But I'm worried about making it worse and really screwing up the summer if I just ignore and proceed with my usual hill & mileage training. So I'm wondering how your injury presented? Thanks for all your help and inspiration! Tina Ure
Hi Tina, it’s so good to hear from you and I am touched by all you wrote. I think you have my number, so feel free to call or text and we can continue the conversation. Hopefully we can have some good training runs together if you are here in June or early July. Re sleep— have you tried a small dose of melatonin, like 3 or 5 g? I find that taking that around dinner time, combined with no alcohol and a little bit of reading, helps me sleep really well. If I wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep, then I get up and read a book. (Not my phone!) in other words, I don’t toss and turn in bed; I get out of bed, read, and that makes me sleepy and calms my mind. I got that advice from a sleep expert, who said, make the bed a “no stress zone” so if you’re having stress-induced insomnia, get out of bed and do something soothing.
I wrote about my injury in earlier post in November and December. Basically it manifest at the head of the tibia where the IT band attaches due to poor biomechanics that created a twisting force in my knee, and overuse, I ran through pain for about a year and got two Cortizone shots. On November 2, around mile 50 of a 24 hour event, I felt burning pain and had partially torn the attachment off the bone. A tendon tear like that takes about three months to heal. So that is what I’ve been dealing with. It was really stupid on my part. I am just now getting back to careful running, but will mostly do hiking to train for HR.
Take care and thanks again for reading my newsletter and reaching out.
Thank you for this piece, Sarah. I'm glad to hear that many of the challenges you and your family were/are dealing with are beginning to resolve, even if slowly. What's the line you say here? I can do more today than yesterday? I'm going to try to remember that for my own stuff now.
Thank you so much for reading (with all you have to read as an editor/publisher!). It's "I can do more this week than last week"—I'm focusing on week-to-week progress, trying not to feel overwhelmed or discouraged about all the fitness I need to regain and training to do between now and my big goal in July.
“I can do more this week than last week.”
I'm rehabbing a hamstring injury right now. The hardest part isn't the rehab process itself; it's fighting to think about the injury in the same way I frame unplanned time off for my athletes.
This was a great reminder to view the (infuriatingly small) steps in the right direction as a win. Thanks for sharing!
You’re a great mom! And there’s a lot of good in all this that made me feel good too!
Thank you for reading this, with all you have to read. I’m so grateful to be back with your writing group.
I was so glad
To see your face!!
Haha, glad you liked the montage round-up! I swear I get a 2-3% performance boost on a treadmill from watching the Rocky 4 montages. 😆
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scriptnotes-podcast/id462495496?i=1000684868121
You might like this pod w/writer director Jesse Eisenburg.
And I can’t believe the Blades of Glory comedy film w/montages galore did not make the cut. I need all the humor I can this week…
Cheers !
Good morning from Brisbane, Australia Sarah. My first ever comment on a Substack post. I loved your post Sarah and it resonated with me on many levels. Thank you for sharing your journey.