I know, I know: Two Substack posts in under a week. Wild, right? But I had a few minor epiphanies on a recent adventure trip and wanted to share them.
When I started Strong Girl Publishing a few years ago, I knew it was going to take a huge amount of my time, for very little profit—especially at first. That essentially meant adding a more than full-time job to my already more than full-time job of writing and podcasting about cycling and running (a career that sounds moderately glamorous, but trust me when I say that it’s a ludicrous amount of work to eke out a living). It would be worth it on an emotional/worthiness level, obviously, but it definitely meant that my free time was going to drop considerably.
The last time we went on any kind of no-emails/offline adventure was in 2021, when we were on a four-day hike. I started working on Strong Girl Publishing in 2022. Since then, a day without email seemed kind of impossible. Sure, I’ve done plenty of athletic adventures since then. But an actual vacation? Hardly. I was busy building.
(Speaking of building, we have a ton of new stuff over at StrongGirlPublishing.com—go give it a look!)
When my good friend/adventure buddy Karen asked if I’d help start a local trail running bi-weekly series (CORR), I said yes. It was community building, Strong Girl Publishing could support it, and it would be a nice little side hustle. Then, when she asked if I wanted to make plans to do some kind of adventure trip this summer, I was inclined to say no, I didn’t have time. I had time for a job, but no time for adventure.
Luckily, she wouldn’t take no for an answer, so we decided to reprise one of our favorite adventures: a century bike ride to Tobermory, a trail marathon the next day on the Bruce Trail on some of the most beautiful trails in Ontario, and a century bike ride the day after to get back home. We’d stay at a B&B in the small town of Tobermory, so I wouldn’t be entirely offline like I would if we were backcountry hiking.
I reluctantly said yes and we planned the three day trip between the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, since I was covering both races while doing the rest of my work.
I am SO glad I said yes. I won’t say those three days healed me or anything dramatic, but they did recharge me in a way I haven’t felt recharged in a while. Just hours and hours on the bike and on the run, chatting with a friend about any and everything. Lots of food. Minimal email interruption. It was a grueling way to reset, but one that felt just right for where my brain was in the last few weeks.
I won’t go hugely in-depth on the trip itself here, but it truly felt like every mile had new unlocks. It had me thinking about this business in new ways, it gave me ideas to add into the almost-finished draft of the fifth Shred Girls book, and most importantly, it reminded me that I do really love what I do.
We got home on Tuesday night and I was excited to get back to writing, the logistical challenges of running Strong Girl Publishing, and getting ready to #watchthefemmes starting this weekend.
All of this reminded me of a very important point: I’ve made my career for the last two decades all about the importance of getting outside and adventuring on your feet or on two wheels. If I’m going to talk about how important that is for our physical and emotional health, I’d better make sure I’m making time for adventures!
It’s one thing to write about it. It’s another to actually take the time to make it happen. And I know that many of you reading don’t have easy opportunities for trips like this either. We all have plenty of reasons that taking a long weekend or a few days off feels impossible. But even a regular weekend unplugged from work/social media/regular life stuff and instead spending a day or two out in nature can make such a difference to your mindset.
And for those reading who are in the ‘role model’ category—the moms, cool aunts, teachers, coaches, et cetera—I think it’s doubly important to show that making time for yourself matters. You would want the young girls in your life to make time to have adventures, and the best way to show them that it’s normal/fun/important to make that time is to do it for yourself as well.
A few little (somewhat related) plugs for what’s going on:
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I’m covering the Tour de France Femmes with the QueenStage Women’s Cycling Podcast—we’re doing daily recaps and deep dives so make sure you’re subscribed!
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I’ve also done a few articles about the Tour de France Femmes already for Bicycling magazine and I’ll be doing video commentary that’s more focused on tools and tips that everyday riders can learn from the racers over there.
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If my three-day adventure sounded fun, you’ll likely enjoy reading Shred Girls: Jen’s Bumpy Ride, which has some epic bikepacking adventures in it!
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For young women athletes, pelvic health is luckily something we’re talking more about these days, but there’s so much misinformation out there! Check out our Inner Power course with pelvic health physiotherapist Laura Powers—it’s open for preorder now and launches April 15.
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Consider this your sign to book some kind of fall adventure!
