The Ceiling Was Never Real

Hey you,

You ever do something so big that it takes a few days for your brain to catch up?

Yeah. Same.

I ran a marathon on Sunday.

Thirty thousand steps.

Three thousand calories burned.

Aggressive knee pain.

Zero quitting.

And somehow… it still doesn’t feel fully real.

One Thing to Think About This Week

It took me 41 years to believe I could run a marathon.

Not because I wasn’t capable.

But because I had built a ceiling over my own head.

I thought marathons were for “real athletes.”

For people built differently.

For people who had always been runners.

Then my neighbor’s sister (who's over 50 and has ran a few) told me, “It’s okay to walk some of it. It's very common”.

That one sentence cracked the ceiling.

I finally realized (even though I knew this about so many things in my life already... but not this for some reason:

We put ourselves in basements that don’t exist.

The sky is literally the limit… but we’re crouching.

Mile 18, my knee was screaming. I had a split second of,

“Can I actually do this?”

Zane looked at me and said,

“It’s just pain. Just move your hips.”

So I did this weird elliptical shuffle and kept going.

That’s life, honestly.

It’s just pain.

Move your hips.

Keep going.

Celebrate Your Wins

I took this whole week off from fitness to allow my body to recover (mentally drained me, but for good reason)
Madison and I celebrated 10 years together with a full recovery day.
I was able to show up for a friend this weekend with a drill in my hand (and wow, that felt satisfying).

Productivity Hack of the Week

I saw this post that said something like:

Treat your health like a job.

You set alarms for meetings.

You block time for work.

You honor deadlines.

Do the same for your body.

If you don’t make time for wellness, you’ll be forced to make time for injury repair.

Put workouts on the calendar.

Block recovery time.

Schedule your life around what matters.

Your body is your longest-running project.

What I’m Into This Week

🎬 Documentary: Final Last Words with Eric Dane

He just passed away. McSteamy from Greys Anatomy. It was his final goodbye to the world

He left four messages:

Live now. The past is gone. The future is unknown.
Fall in love — with a person or a purpose.
Choose your friends wisely. Just show up.
Fight. Never give up. Hold your head high.

He talked about losing his dad to suicide at seven. Carrying that trauma for decades. And only finding peace as his life was ending.

We all assume “that won’t happen to me.”

But what gives us that right?

Live now. Not later.

Life Snapshot

Friday felt like our January 1.

After the house all had the flu, ice storms, marathon training, family in town… we finally exhaled.

Madison and I had a day date:

Brunch at Two Hands
Massages + hot tub + sauna + cold plunge at the Fairmont
Champagne for our 10-year anniversary
Lunch at June’s
Bought plants at Home Depot
Planted everything together in the backyard (I mainly supervised)

It felt like reclaiming our time.

For months, I disappeared on weekends for 4–5 hour long runs. Then I’d come home sore and depleted.

This Friday?

We just existed together.

And Saturday, helping a friend install dog gates allowed me to:

Show up for your people.

You never know when the last time will be.

One Last Thing

I haven’t fully embraced what I just did.

I ran a marathon.

Forty-one years old.

First attempt.

Pain and all.

I used to document my life without overthinking it. Somewhere along the way, I started trying to perfect it instead.

This year? I’m going back.

Document. Don’t overthink.

Try. Don’t assume.

Remove the ceiling.

You are not in a basement.

Fun P.S.

Going to Home Depot and watching Ledger help Mads pick out flowers for our backyard oasis was so magical. He persisted on yellow and they actually look great. Madison has been wanting to make the backyard feel more relaxing and she’s created just the atmosphere. It’s beautiful.

Closing

If something has been sitting in your heart…

the race, the gym membership, the business idea, the hard conversation…

Try.

Block the time.

Take the risk.

Remove the victim narrative.

Move your hips.

You are not getting out of this life alive.

So live now.

Let’s just enjoy this.

— Trina 💛

Miss a post? You can view all Newsletter posts here. Interested what my 1:1 coaching looks like? Check out my website transformwithtrina.com

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