Apparently me. Still ALL IN on 2024, but things have been rocky lately...Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ 

From the desk of COLLEEN QUIGLEY
 

The Steeple Squigs Update: April 5, 2024
 
 

Girl goes to WATCH 6-day ultramarathon and gets injured. πŸ€¦πŸΌβ€β™€οΈ

Has anyone had a grandparent (or aunt/uncle etc.) say something like β€œmy legs hurt just watching you run!” at a cross country/track meet?

I always felt like this was an eyeroll comment, but then I went to FURTHER, lululemon’s 6-day ultramarathon in Palm Springs as a SUPPORTER… and ended the week not able to run. What happened? I still don’t even know, but the best I can understand is that this is another flare up due to the bigger neurological problem I’ve been having for a few years now. It shows up in different places in my body sometimes and this time it was a sudden, stabbing pain in my upper hamstring during a workout I tried to do after traveling to Palm Springs. I helped lululemon host a big group of media for 2 days and had a ton of fun playing MC/host, but even walking around became painful. It has now taken 3 weeks to get it calmed down enough to the point where I can start trying to run again. Now I am slowly building back to make sure it doesn’t get irritated again in the return to run.

This might be a good time to recirculate my…
 Return to Run Program 
 

2024 doesn’t owe me anything

Remember how in January I wrote to you saying that I am ALL IN on my goal for 2024 was to get back on the track for one more season and make a run for the Paris Olympics? Well, I’m IN it now. And it’s not going super great. When a setback like this pops up in the middle of a journey towards a big goal (that has a set timeline) it’s definitely a mental challenge as much as it is a physical one. For the first couple of weeks I cried every single day. When I got back to the hotel after a long day of cheering for my friends at FURTHER I would lay in my bed and tear up thinking about my own goals and how badly I want to train and work and wondering why my body keeps breaking down. It’s easy to feel like this is happening TO me and it’s out of my control. So I’ll ask myself, β€œWhat is in my control?” Here’s a couple things I came up with:

  • My attitude and the stories I tell myself, the words I use with myself, all of which can stay in the present and not pull trauma that happened in the past or worries about things in the future

  • Where I spend my time and energy- I can watch TV and wallow all day or I can research about nerve pain, do pilates or PT exercises from my trainers, do hot/cold therapy, seek help from my therapist, etc.
 

What does FURTHER mean?

For most people, the idea of running as many laps as possible around a 2.5 mile course over 6 days doesn’t exactly sound… like a challenge we would be excited to take on. And there’s nothing wrong with that! FURTHER can mean something different to everyone. My 3 main takeaways from watching were:

  1. The JOY. These 10 women intentionally chose to be joyous during their journey. Again and again they chose joy. There were surely moments that felt hard, painful, lonely, doubtful, fearful… you name it. And I witnessed each woman go through their pain and decide to choose joy again. That was damn inspiring.

  2. We are not alone. Each woman got to choose 7 people to be in their crew and each crew showed up for their runner big time. They hyped her, they fed her, they hugged her, they squeezed cold water over her, they played her favorite song, they danced for her, they went without sleep for her. Whatever we go through, we are never alone.

  3. Claim your space. Some of the women are professional ultra runner who win races and make a living from sport. Other runners do it as part of their existence but have other jobs. For example, Vriko Kwok, who I got the honor of spending time with at FURTHER, just ran her first 5k a year ago. She ran 188 miles (302km) in 6 days! She didn’t let imposter syndrome- β€œI don’t deserve to be here”- stop her from going FURTHER and claimed her space on that course. We all belong anywhere we choose to be.

Do yourself a favor and go follow all 10 women who took part in this event. Each one has a unique story and journey that brought them to that starting line. Stories in this sport are what makes it meaningful and these are some good ones.

Montana Farrah-Seaton, Stefanie Flippin, Camille Heron, Kayla Jeter, Xiaomeng Jia, Yoon Young Kang, Vriko Kwok, Mirna Valerio, Devon Yanko, Leah Yingling
 

Currently playing in my headphones:

Fred Again…

A friend recently sent me the Fred again… Tiny Desk Concert video and it sent me into full obsession mode!

It’s insane to me how powerful music can be. Lately I’ve been doing more biking and elliptigo rides and Fred again… is in heavy rotation. Some of my favorite lyrics are below.

And if only you could see yourself in my eyes
You'd see you shine, you shine

What comes next
Will be
Marvellous

You've got a life
Stay in it
You've got a life

I just know that it gets better with time
Just know that
 

Something fun I did in March

On March 28th I took the day off from cross-training, strength training, PT exercises, cold baths… all of it… and went to Disneyland with my good friend Alexi Pappas for her birthday. We rode rides, ate Disney treats, and had deep conversations in all the in between moments. We went back and forth all around the park until we were completely pooped. It was the best. Here’s some photos to document the magic:
 

To wrap it up…

Some of you are new here (welcome!) and might have missed some of the past updates. Humbly, there really are some good nuggets of info in there like how I started swimming, handling pre-race nerves, NIL advice for college athletes, and so much more! Click here to peruse the archives!

I had planned to race twice by now and announce more race plans in this newsletter, but with this latest setback with my health my racing schedule has been put on hold as I prioritize getting my body back to 100%.

One thing you can look forward to this month: I’m hosting another GIVEAWAY on IG live!!! These have been very popular and are so fun for me to interact with ya’ll and give away my favorite stuff from lululemon, Roka, and WHOOP! Keep an eye out for the date of that later this month on IG and join me live for a chance to win!

As always, feel free to drop me a line if there’s anything you’d like me to address in a future newsletter. And I haven’t done an AMA lately, so submit your questions and I’ll pick one for my next email,

Love you, besties!

Colleen
 

TEN13 Inc, 30 N Gould St ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States

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