From Walk to Marathon: How Anyone Can Start Running & Build a Lifelong Exercise Habit

In this episode, Dr. Chhaya Makhija welcomes Physician and Marathon Coach Dr. Michelle Quirk, who shares how running became her anchor during a season of burnout, grief, and life transitions.

Starting with a simple jog around the block, she gradually built endurance, confidence, and eventually a coaching practice helping beginners and experienced runners nationwide.

The conversation dives into realistic movement strategies for busy adults, the science-backed benefits of running, and the powerful mindset shift that “something is better than nothing.” Dr. Quirk also explains how coaching provides accountability, lifestyle support, and sustainable habit formation — making fitness a lifelong practice rather than a short-term resolution

If this episode reminded you that movement doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful, start small today. Take a five-minute walk, try a short jog, or simply pause and reconnect with your “why.”

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Dr. Michelle Quirk is a board-certified pediatrician and a certified run coach with the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA). She founded Mindful Marathon to help women physicians use running as a path to healing, self-discovery, and sustainable wellbeing. She coaches athletes, leads Mindful Movement Retreats, and is the host of the Mindful Marathon Podcast. 

Follow Dr. Michelle Quirk here:
https://mindful-marathon.com/coachmichelle
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only. It’s not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider for personalized guidance.

Transcript

00:00
True or false? Being too busy is the most common barrier to movement. True.  Morning or evening? When do most busy adults succeed with movement?  Morning, but we can talk more about that.  One mistake people make when trying to create or start an exercise routine? Trying to go too far and too fast  when we start out.  True or false? You need long workouts to see health benefits.

00:30
Welcome to Hormones and Hope,  a podcast where we bridge science and wellness  to help transform your health.  I'm your host, Dr. Chhaya Makhija,  or you can call me Dr. Chhaya,  a triple board certified endocrinologist and lifestyle medicine physician and founder of Unified Endocrine and Diabetes Care.  Each week we dive into the powerful intersection of clinical medicine  and real life lifestyle strategies to help you feel stronger,  live longer.

00:58
and show up as your most vibrant self inside and out.  So let's get empowered.  Hello and welcome everyone. An exciting, amazing, phenomenal, rapid-paced episode today for you. This is your host, Dr. Chaya Makhija on Hormones and Hope. And today I have a coach.  I know you've listened to my own coach who's been so inspiring sharing her personal journey.

01:24
But today I actually have a physician coach, a marathon coach for you.  And you know, it's a virtual one, but she's coming all the way from Northeast Philadelphia, Dr. Michelle Kirk. I'm really, really excited for this one  because she is coaching individuals, be it in person or virtually throughout the nation on someone who is interested in running or who wants to participate in marathon. So from a beginner to someone who is very skillful and needs to up level their game.

01:53
Dr. Kirk, I know her from one of my business coaching programs,  and I've also seen many of the physicians who've been coached by her and how phenomenal they're doing, either with power walks  or with  running. So I'm really, really excited to know more, Dr. Michelle, from you,  and what can we learn  about running, about power walking, about how to participate in marathon and up-level our health. So welcome to our episode.

02:20
Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.  Yes, absolutely. So before we get into the nuances of your topic, which is going to be all about  running, exercise, and how  we align the mindfulness or our intention to our action or our purpose, tell us more about yourself. Like you're a boat-certified pediatrician. So how did you get into becoming a coach? And what's your passion?

02:46
Yeah, well, I'm a primary care pediatrician here in Philadelphia.  And I think the most important thing to say about my own running journey is that I was not always a runner. So I was a kid who really struggled with the sport and I thought that the cross country team was made of some different genetic material than I was. So I feel like the least likely person to be sitting here today, which is  a full circle moment.  So I came to running.

03:15
Really after my pediatrics residency,  I went through, I mean, I can describe it now as the time of very, very serious burnout, but  back in 2012-ish, we weren't really talking about burnout yet. And so it was just a very tough time. Like I finished my residency, moved to a new place, started a new job, was newly married, like all of  the newness of everything.

03:40
And my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away like shortly after the diagnosis. And so all of this was happening at once and I really did not take any time off. I was just stayed on the treadmill, know, full speed ahead. And I had this moment  in the ER one night I was talking to a patient and his family all about healthy habits and good exercise and getting enough sleep and good nutrition like things I talk about all the time.

04:08
And I had this moment of like, you you're talking the talk, but not walking the walk and something really needs to change.  And I chose running because it was a low barrier of entry. Like I had running sneakers getting dusty in the closet. And so I decided I was going to go home after that shift, take out the running sneakers, put them on and go just five minutes around the block. And if it felt okay, I was going to go back and do that again every couple of days.

04:37
And that's how I started running. And I like worked my way up from five minutes around the block to the first  5k, the first  10k, a half marathon. And then after I ran a marathon and I thought, if I can do it, anyone can do it. After I came back from that race, I felt like I was running evangelists, like telling everyone go run a marathon. It will change your life.  And that is how I ended up bringing people along with me on the ride because

05:05
Along the way, I brought my husband, my mother, my niece, various friends and family and started dabbling in writing training plans for people. And that was really the beginning of the coaching business, but it has grown from there. So I became a coach in 2019 and started Mindful Marathon back then. And now I have kind of a balance where I work part-time in primary care and then I'm a run coach as well. Wow. So you self-trained yourself from that?

05:34
Well, I did at first and then I also worked with a coach. So I self-trained for probably about  three or four years and then I started working with my own running coach  when I ran my first half marathon and I made so much progress, like leaps and bounds, working with my coach, you know, for just a couple of months than I had made in those four years before. And it really taught me the value of a coach and really learning the physiology behind the sport. So

06:04
I credit him with really wanting to be inspired to become a coach and learn how to do this for myself. And also  all of my own  accomplishments in running really have to do with starting to get coached early on. How impressive. So Dr. Michelle, just spilling some beans.  I don't like running. Like you make me power walk. I would love to. So I'm curious now  that can you convince me to get into by the end of the episode?

06:32
as we're going to  get to know more about what exactly you do, coaching, and just maybe the physics and the mindset aspect of it in our deep dive. So it's a great challenge for me, like what happens at the end of the episode. So let's dive into our rapid fire questions first. These are going to be one word or one liner,  and then we get into the nuances after it. So you're ready? True or false, you need long workouts to see health benefits. False.  Yes or no. Can short.

07:02
consistent movement be just as powerful as intense training? Yes. So one mindset shift that helps people, including your students, actually start moving, not just think about it. Something is better than nothing. True or false? Being too busy is the most common barrier to movement. True. Okay, I would love the explanation after this. Morning or evening, when do most busy adults succeed with movement?

07:31
Morning, but we can talk more about that. Okay, morning. All right. One mistake people make when trying to create or start an exercise routine. Trying to go too far and too fast when we start out. Okay, so it's for the big nerves, right? One simple way men and women can add movement to a packed workday. Attach it to something else that you already do. Sweet.

08:00
Okay. This was a rapid fire and I have so many questions even before we get into our actual deep dive. In a rapid fire, we talked about, you you answered a few things. So how about, can you tell us more about the morning or evening? Like when is a better time for an adult or a young adult? And why did you pick morning versus evening? Yeah, I think this one

08:24
It really depends on the person. You have to know yourself if you're more of a morning or evening exerciser. The majority of my athletes do well with morning exercise, but I do have some people who prefer to do it like in the later afternoon, maybe after work, depending on their schedule. The reason I say morning is that sometimes we procrastinate  on exercise.

08:50
And so if we put it in the morning and it gets done in the first part of the day, then we have the whole rest of the day open to us. Whereas if we say, okay, I will just get to it later, I will just get to it later. And sometimes we never get to it. So that's why I would put a little bit of an edge on  morning, but it really doesn't matter. The answer is what works best for you that will make it a consistent part of your routine. Yes. So I concur with you. I'm one of those. If I don't get it done in the morning.

09:18
it keeps getting procrastinated. And then, you know, the guilt arrives. Oh gosh, now I'm tired. I really don't feel like doing it. And then, oh,  I wish I could have done it in the morning and the vicious cycle continues. So yeah, that's very true. You know, when you mentioned about  short, consistent movement,  or is thinking about that I need to get some intense training.  Why are those  short phases, or nowadays it's called exercise max, more important rather than  only focusing on

09:48
where you can incorporate intense training. Yeah, I think uh there's a lot to say about this one. Part of it is the physical benefits and part of it is like mindset. So physically,  think  you probably know this study better than me, but I feel like there's a study about diabetes in particular where I think it's 10 minutes  of moderately vigorous activity every day will give you benefit in terms of long-term...

10:16
you know, decrease your risk of diabetes and other cardiovascular disease. So as little as 10 minutes of running every day,  which is not all that much. But my reason for this one, I love the power of consistency. And if you have something that is very doable, like I said, I started with five or 10 minutes around the block and I felt like, you know, everybody has five minutes. I mean, we spend five minutes waiting in line at Starbucks and you spend

10:44
much more than five minutes scrolling on your phone, but  take those five minutes and walk around the block or get some vigorous exercise. And you're much more likely to do that again because it doesn't feel like this insurmountable mountain, like, oh, I'm just going to go out for an hour. Like an hour feels like a lot if you're not used to that. So if you start with something small and then you get consistent with it, it takes our brain and our body about three weeks of a consistent routine to really

11:14
feel like, okay, now this is a part of what I do.  And at first you feel like you have to really make yourself tie on your sneakers, but after a couple of weeks of this, it feels like, oh, that's my default setting. Like this is what I do now. And it doesn't take that long, but three weeks is, you know, it's a good chunk of time to commit to. So I have much more luck and success when people do small bits consistently rather than trying to commit to something like an hour three times a week.

11:43
It just doesn't often get done. Yeah, yeah. This actually answered even our last rapid fire where, you we talked about when we asked about the adults or men and women, how do they incorporate that in a packed workday? You simplified it just by breaking it down into like those short bits of even five minutes. So how do we start? Now you're  coaching individuals to run.  If you can break it down for me as to  why running is important.

12:12
Number one, for anyone. Is it for everyone?  Number two, and it could be short answers. So why is it important? Is it for everyone? And then we come into, how do you coach and how does it look like if someone would benefit from running but has no idea how to start, where to start from? Okay, we'll go one at a time. You're going to have to remind me of the other ones.  Okay, so why running? Okay.

12:38
I will give first like the  science like textbook answer, and then I will tell you what my runners tell me.  So  by,  you know, the science and the medicine running has wonderful  benefits and not just cardiovascular, like everyone really  goes to those first. So it lowers our risk of heart disease and high blood pressure and lowers our risk of diabetes.  And there are  neurological benefits. It lowers our risk of Alzheimer's  and

13:08
I would say all of these things are very wonderful on paper, but you can't always convince somebody with that. And so I like to point to what my people tell me and what runners say, which is that they have more energy, they're sleeping better, they have more patience with their partners  and their colleagues at work. They have better bandwidth to take on, you know, projects and have more creativity.

13:36
Like it opens up so much more in their lives because they feel better. And so I think, yeah, if you just stand at the finish line of a race and interview a couple of people, you'll get a wide  range of answers. But I think that  it really helps both physically and mentally and helps with rates of anxiety and depression. Like runners  tend to be very happy, joyful people.  All right. Why?

14:06
does everyone need to run? Not why, but does everyone need to run and go get into running? I don't think everyone needs to run, but what I would like to say is that it is a sport that is available to everyone if you want it. And so I have a lot of people who tell me they find out what I do and they say, oh, that's really great, but I don't run or like, oh, that's really great. I would never do that. And I would just say, you know, stay curious and try it. Like I would just

14:35
urge you to give it a try because it might be something that you think you can't do, but actually when you give it a try and try it in a different way, you might actually enjoy it. So I don't think everyone needs to run. I would encourage everyone to find  what your  movement prescription looks like for you  and what you really like to do.  And if you are, you you're a brisk walker, I have a lot of friends and family and athletes who love walking.

15:04
And so what I would say to the brisk walkers out there is if you want to give running a try,  an easy way to do it is we call it the mailbox technique, but  it's like  using a run walk interval. So when you're out on your walk, you can take a little jog between mailboxes and people get very funny and they're like, do we live in the city or do we live in the country? And it's like a mile between the mailbox. I mean, just a couple of seconds, like.

15:31
you know, 10 to 15 seconds of jogging. So you're walking for maybe five, 10 minutes, you feel warmed up, and then you say, okay, I'm going to jog between these next mailboxes. And then you take a few minutes to recover, let your heart rate come back down, and then you just do it again. And that's a very simple way to do a run-walk interval. And I say, if you do a little bit of running, you're a runner. So there you go. I can do that. Yes. Okay. So you're trying to convince me and I think I'm getting convinced.

16:01
All right. So,  so this is, you know, like you mentioned two things, one, why  it's beneficial, both coaching experience and the scientific data that we have.  And, you know, again, you just modified this,  where we talked about short, consistent movements. You gave us another way of  looking at it was the mailbox. What is it called again? Mailbox what?  Oh, it's not official. We just call it the mailbox technique.  I made that up.

16:31
mailbox technical. Okay, it is our personal, by the way. You  can  trademark it.  And  now if someone is  thinking that, okay, I think I can give this a try, age is not a barrier. And you've given us some starting points. But where are, you know, there are a lot of mental obstacles to build momentum. You talked about 21 days or the three weeks where we have to be consistent until it becomes a habit.

16:58
What are the first few very, very important things? Someone's ready to run, they have their sneakers, they have the place, they have the time.  So what are the next few steps that you would encourage someone or teach someone, quote someone as they're starting their journey into running? Yeah, I think let me give you at least, we'll do three.  The first one I would say is remember your why and write that down  in a place where you can see it.

17:26
And you may need a couple of minutes to think  of what that is.  sometimes people will say, oh, well, you know, I want to run  to feel healthy or I want to run and they put down, you know, a race goal or, you know, I want to run a certain distance. I would just encourage you to think a little bit more about it. Give yourself like five minutes of quiet time and  journal if you like that, or just think quietly why you want to start this new routine.

17:56
and write it down and put it in a place where you can see it, maybe on your nightstand or in the bathroom, like where you brush your teeth or by your front door or your running sneakers so that you have that reminder as you're tying on your sneakers why you're going out the door. I think that is an important step that we sometimes skip because we're always going to the how-to.  And so I would just encourage you to think about your why for doing it. That's the first one. The second thing

18:25
would be to  start low and go slow. So  one of the biggest mistakes I see with runners, newer runners and beginner runners, as well as experienced runners, is that we are all trying to go  too far and too fast, like too quickly. We're all in a hurry. And so I think it's, you know, that's part of it. Like you're trying to fit in this workout in an already very busy day. And so I have a technique

18:55
I'm going to talk about is called the level of effort scale. And this is really easy. You don't need any fancy equipment. don't, you don't need an app or, you know, your Apple watch or a Garmin watch or you don't have to buy anything fancy. You can run using a level of effort scale. So  we think about it like the pain scale, like one to 10.  One would be brisk walking. 10 would be a bear is chasing you. Okay. And you're huffing and puffing, running away from the bear.  I. uh

19:24
would encourage you to start, you want to run at a level of effort of like a two to three out of 10. And what that feels like  in real life would be if we were jogging together, we could carry on a conversation. Maybe not as easy as we're talking right now, but you don't want to be so out of breath that you can't carry on the conversation. And so that's a way to be honest with yourself without looking at any numbers or any pace or worrying, am I going fast enough or not?

19:53
it's really based on your own,  where you're starting from and your cardiovascular system and it's a nice personalized way to do it. So start low, go slow. The level of effort skill is my way to help you go slower. And then by starting low, I would say if you're coming from the couch,  you can't go wrong trying five or 10 minutes at a time. You don't have to go out there for an hour. You can work your way up. And I think that has a better chance for you to

20:22
stick with it and stay consistent. And then  the third thing I'll say, there are a lot of  obstacles as you were alluding to.  I think time  is probably the biggest one. I think you asked me that in the rapid fire about the biggest obstacle being like busyness. I think it is. I think it is for a lot of us. And so  my tip,  I think attaching it to something you already do,

20:52
If you can  attach it to your morning routine somehow,  or if you are a person who likes to walk at lunchtime,  depending on what you do, you may get a break at lunch where you're able to go outside and take a walk. I would try to attach it to something you already do because you have more of a chance of sticking with it. So those are a couple of examples, but I do think busyness and time is probably one of our biggest obstacles.  Yes, yeah.

21:20
Can you share like, you who's been say your youngest or the oldest  student who started as a big nor had no idea. And could you walk us through like, how does that training or coaching looks like? Yeah. Yeah. I have, I have many stories. I've coached, you know, all age ranges. I've coached, you know, teenagers all the way up to people in their seventies. But I would say, you know, the average age is probably women in their

21:48
late 30s and 40s. That's probably my average. So I had a lady who reached out to me, this is probably 2021, and she was starting from the couch and she wanted to do essentially like a couch to 5K program. And so I had a program back then, it's called Ready, Set, Run. It was like my beginner program. And so she joined that program and we went through

22:13
mean, it was an eight week program. went through my version of Couch to 5K using this really start low, go slow, talking through all the obstacles and having, you know, weekly meetings. So we had some accountability. So she ran the first 5K and then  stuck with it, worked her way up. Two years ago, she reached out to me. So now that was two years later, still running. Her son had started running.

22:39
and the two of them wanted to run their first half marathon together. And so we  did a training cycle for a half marathon. She did that with her son. Last year, they want to run the same race and get faster.  So we did some speed work. They both got  a personal record and her son really, oh my goodness, he beat his time by I think over 20 minutes. And then he ended up joining the cross country team with his high school. So that's just, you know.

23:08
But that took, you know, we started working together 2021. So it takes time, but I think the best part of the story is that she started running back then with her son and now, you know, her daughter and her husband are also doing some shorter distance races. So the whole family came along for the ride and everybody is still running. So that's the nice part about this.  I wanted to get into or have a feel of, and especially for the audience to the listeners.

23:38
as to what it feels like to have a coach. And especially, say, if I was your student and you were coaching me virtually and someone who I work out pretty good with brisk walks or even power walks and hikes, but like I said, I wouldn't want to run. But think from starting with you, how does that coaching look like? Like, how are you?

23:59
in my head all the time as a coach, right? Like, what does that feel like? You know, how is that adding onto the inspiration and  motivation that you pass on to your clients or your students? Well, I think the important thing to say is that I am a kind and gentle coach. Like, I do offer motivation and accountability, but I will help you. I will hold your hand to get there. So if that is what

24:24
resonates with you, we would be a good fit for each other. Like,  I know I'm not for everyone and some people need someone who's a little more stern perhaps, but that's just not who I am.  So what we do is I have a long questionnaire, like a new athlete questionnaire. So I figure out where are you starting from and where do you want to go? And sometimes people don't always know.

24:46
You know, they might have like  an idea, like I want to run that first 5k or I've always wanted to run a half marathon, something like that. But sometimes people say I just would like to get into a consistent routine and that's  a perfect enough goal to start with. So we fill out this questionnaire, figure out where you're starting from, where you want to go. I have an app that it's called Final Surge. And so I put a training plan based on your

25:14
goals and your schedule and you kind of give me the parameters. You say like, hey, I, you know, I would like to run three days a week. These days are best. This is how much time I have. So we're, it's a custom plan based on your schedule. You kind of give me the input and then we communicate back and forth in the app. So, you know, you do your run. I'm mostly interested in things like  how, did it feel? What was your level of effort? Did it feel good? Did it feel like a slog? You know, and then we,

25:44
we think about all of the other things that are happening in your life. So we've got running here and we look at the training plan, but then when we zoom out, how is sleep and stress and your job and nutrition and are you doing strength training? So there's a lot of other things happening in  the background and we spend, once a month I do a coaching call  and we pick usually one of those other topics. So I'm rarely

26:13
I have a friend who jokes and says that my tagline should be, it's not about the running. And it's very true. So it's about the running, then, oh no, the entire lifestyle. Yes. Wow. So that's how we go. And we just go month by month. And so I would say that the majority of my people have a race that they're working toward or like a distance that they're working toward.

26:38
And so we have that as this goal, you know, in however many months in the future, and we're working toward that. But along the way, we're also talking about the rest of life and managing stress and learning some mindfulness techniques and  mindset strategy. So that's what, yeah, I hope that helps a little bit.  Oh,  I don't know anyone who coaches that much. And especially like you coach everyone nationally as people can see you in person.

27:08
But that's amazing because one is the convenience, right? So app that I could reach out to the coach for accountability.  And then the second thing is it's not just about,  you've run or these many minutes or not just those parameters, but it's also, you know, how are you amplifying the other categories of your life? Because that's going to help. That's going to help us with the results. How does someone get to know you? Like say if I had to,  like  you're in Northeast, but we, our audience are

27:37
patients who are listening or even the listeners,  if they're in California, how do you time it? Like with the availability, the coaching, the coaching call, how is that possible? Or if you had any clients from the West Coast? Yeah, actually  the example of the athlete I was giving, she lives in California. Maybe that's why have her immediately when you asked me that, but  we are sending you pictures.

28:05
I think there is  some way of some confidence and some trust that is being built, When they're sharing with you in terms of, the other aspects of their lives. Yeah, yeah. Anyone can sign up and we do like a call to get to know each other because again, it's hard for me too.  I wouldn't hire a stranger off of the internet. I mean, there have been people who found me and, you know, we talked and they said, sure. But I think that it would be good to talk and see if we are.

28:35
good fit for each other. So on my website, there's a way to just schedule a call and we do sort of a meet and greet and talk through your goals and whether or not we would be a good fit and if I can help you get where you want to go. And then we do  the coaching calls over Zoom and I make my schedule. So I'm  working part-time as a pediatrician. So usually those days are my doctor days and the other days are my run coach days. And I have

29:02
Good availability in terms of times and I just leave the calendar open and you sign up for a call when the time is good for both of us. And that's how I do it with  people on the other coast. uh Impressive. You  also incorporate it when you're talking about the mindfulness and when it comes to the metabolic health or the endocrinology practice that we have when you're looking at fitness or just some form of movement exercise.

29:30
One of the biggest challenges is that it's something similar to the resolution. New Year's resolution, great. First six months, first four months are great. And then something happens in summer, people are traveling, get busier, and then comes the fall and the holidays. Oh, let me start again. But I feel like everyone needs a coach in whatever activity movement they're learning or they're trying to. Because one, you you pointed out this very beautiful message of the slow aspect of it, like going slow.

29:58
starting slow and going slow, because that will help with sustainability. That will help with a larger transformation, a longer term, long end game, longer term results, rather than just these short bursts of feeling good, but then getting back to the old habits. So there's a lot of things that you're talking about in terms of transformation. If that's what I can see and feel in your coaching.

30:24
rather than, okay, here is our goal to run the 5K and then you're done. But it's a lot of transformation that is happening because you're touching every aspect of their lives. And you being a physician, right? So that also adds on to understand that, okay, this is your health problem or this is some of your musculoskeletal issues or how we can carve that out and still work on the activity aspect of it. You're encouraging me, I'm thinking about it.

30:51
My only obstacle is that I just don't enjoy it. That's all. It's nothing to do with aches and pains. I just don't enjoy it, but I'm taking the tip of the mailbox technique. Yeah, because there are mailboxes around and yeah, just those short bursts and how I feel. And I'll definitely share with you offline as to how that goes. One more thing was, you you talked about that you're also asking them that are they involved in some form of resistance training or

31:21
something else beyond  running. Why is that important? Yeah, so  I like to ask my athletes if there are other  sports or other kinds of movement that they like to do, because I don't like want to eliminate something that you already like to do. So if you tell me you love to swim and you play tennis once a week, we don't want to throw all of those out while we add running.  Usually the biggest factor is time and how do we

31:50
juggle all of that. But strength training is very important for a variety of reasons. But for runners especially, I had a lovely physical therapist who I worked with a long time ago. His name is Dan. And when I saw him, he made me laugh because he said, Michelle, runners only like to run. And I know what he means. A lot of runners do not like to do strength training. And I don't really love it either. I feel like it's a necessity.

32:18
to do it to stay injury free and to keep my bones strong. But,  and I do notice the difference when I don't strength train  and yeah, race performance definitely goes down, injury risk definitely goes up. And again, with the strength training, just a little bit, it's not like you have to go crazy and do it five times a week. But if you can get into a consistent routine of doing it once or twice a week, if you like it, by all means you can do more. But just having that

32:47
baseline minimum where  we have enough where we're keeping ourselves out of the woods in terms of injuries because a lot of runners end up loving running and they do it all the time and they don't want to do anything else and sometimes they can end up injured.  Great point here that you mentioned. You're making it versatile by also not losing the activity, the movement that you enjoy and what is needed or necessary.

33:15
So Dr. Michelle, you've inspired us.  You made me pretty much thinking about that, okay, this is not a big deal. I could enjoy it. And just simple steps on how to start. And it is really going to be transformational either way with the activity exercise. I love that you coach  and then you are available for coaching virtually. I feel like so many of us can benefit from that. So if you can share.

33:42
What's the website? How could we reach you? Or how could the audience or the listeners reach you?  And any of your social media handles, any of your emails, please share that along. Yeah, probably the easiest place if you're on social media, I'm pretty active on Instagram. So the handle is at mindful.marathon. And then  everything else you can find on the website, which is mindful-marathon.com.

34:08
And I also have a podcast, it's called the Mindful Marathon Podcast. And so that might be a good place to start if you're kind of like, okay, this piqued my interest, I would like to hear more. Start over there and there's a lot of episodes geared toward beginner and newer runners and a lot of interviews with other physicians and  experts. And yeah, we talk all things movement. It's not solely about running, but a lot about running.

34:34
Yeah, nice. I think that's going to be one of our resources now  for our patients. So thank you so much.  This is something I feel like you're doing. It's niche, but it is so very needed. And coming back from an expert physician is like  a gemstone here that we found.  I really appreciate you sharing your tips today. Thank you, Dr. Michelle. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.  Thanks for hanging out with me on Hormones and Hope.

35:03
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