THE ART OF NOT RACING A RACE

I took a random PTO day for rest/recovery. Seven miles, an hour of Italian and French wine talk, and a box of madeleines later, I'm not sure ‘recovery’ is the right word. But my Garmin says I rested for nine hours, so maybe it is.

Here's what I've learned in the real estate industry: burnout doesn't put itself on your calendar. It just shows up, usually right when end-of-month decides to start two weeks early. So this year I started taking "restorative days." Unplanned. Unannounced. My inbox hates me. My nervous system doesn't.

If your work has a similar rhythm, you know the signs - neck tension, traps tighten, your shoulders live somewhere up near your earlobes. You're answering emails at 10 PM and calling it "staying on top of things." You need a day. Not a vacation, not a spa weekend. Just a Tuesday where nobody needs anything from you.

So I took one. And this is what "doing nothing" actually looked like.

Wu Wei at the Trailhead: effortless action

I took a quick road trip to visit my daughter. We both agreed: just a shake-out run. We meet at the trailhead, 2 miles to catch up, then dinner.

But to our surprise, a local run club happened to be holding a 5K at the trail. Bibs. Banners. Music. Loud music. At our trail. On our shake-out day.

Because apparently that's how my life works. I don't find races. Races find me, and I better be ready.

We joined for part of it. Ran with the group for about 2.5 miles, then veered off in a different direction.

Total mileage, 7 miles. For the record, yes, the plan was 2, but Garmin zoned out somewhere around mile 4. And that's what we do. YOLO!

Then off to one of our favorite restaurants. Normally, we'd order frozen margaritas (even though I'm a whiskey girl.) But this time, no margarita? My daughter looks at me like I'd suggested we run a second 10k. No margarita because of my new experiment: ‘If we work out, we don't drink. If we drink, we don't work out.’

That came straight from my HRV research, we’re in recovery mode.

The Beginner’s Mind: let go of overthinking

This is where it gets interesting.

We went to Central Market because I wanted to introduce my daughter to a French organic wine I'd recently discovered. Less sulfites. No headaches. Organic. Healthy?… it's organic.

And guess who I met? A stranger. A woman with a beautiful Italian accent who introduced us to a White Burgundy, French Bourgogne, Le Minéral. We talked wine. Talked food. Talked culture.

Yes, I know. We just established a no-drinking rule. Zen masters call it "beginner's mind", releasing attachment to rigid expectations. I call it "the universe read my HRV data and said, RELAX." A stranger said the word "Bourgogne" and I folded immediately. Water flows. So does wine. I'm choosing to see that as spiritual.

The Sweetness of Non-Attachment: go with flow

This is important. Every good story needs an authentic bakery.

We found petite madeleines and brownie cookies.

Suddenly the evening became less about nutrition and more about the experience. No regrets. Zero.

Duolingo and the Dao: looking within to align with true nature

Two hours later, I'm on Duolingo conjugating Italian verbs and pricing flights to Rome. All because a stranger said "Bourgogne" with the right accent.

That was my day after a half day of work and driving 3 hours. A purposely planned random restorative day.

Why?

Not because of running. Not because of wine. Not because of HRV.

But because the whole day contradicts a belief I've been carrying for years: Recovery must look productive.

That day wasn't productive. It was restorative.

Big difference.

The Tao of the Garmin: balance, flexibility, and harmony

When I look closely, that day contained movement, family, novelty, adventure, nature, laughter, good food, and also very important - no agenda.

The day after, as I'm logging my stats, my Garmin got confused and thought I slept for nine hours. 😂 Garmin measured my recovery. It didn’t measure an interesting conversation. It didn’t measure the laughter or discovering something new. And it doesn’t measure that feeling of being back on a trail that holds so many memories and experiences of close friends and family over the years.💖

Technology can't do that. But an unplanned 7-miler, an Italian wine lady, and a box of madeleines? That's a recovery protocol Garmin should patent.