A run has never returned me exactly the same. I go, I grow.

I had to quit triathlons, I continued to be active and worked in advertising agency .

And when they start riding a lot of them have full time jobs and are taking vacation days to get by. All of a sudden it becomes so addictive because you're out there with a bunch of women just like yourself, well educated, taking your vacation days, not making any real money, but we're having a blast. And that's US cycling.

It's not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities.

If people are looking at me in my hometown, then every woman that races against me in the peloton is as well. I can tell you, every one of them now believes that they can do it. When I go to a Cascade or Nature Valley and they race against me, the girls that are say 30 seconds from me at the races are all of a sudden saying 'I'm 30 seconds from gold I mean why can't I do this.'

In the midst of regular life, running is the touchstone that breathes adventure into my soul.

I think I run my strongest when I run with joy, with gratitude, with focus, with grace. With that strategy in place I can push myself for pleasure, not punishment. Maybe you can only really go when you let go.