Motion is lotion” is a maxim Sarah Spain lives by. But behind the Emmy-winning ESPN journalist’s kilowatt smile is a woman who has endured a painful journey to stay active. Raised in Lake Forest, she was a heptathlete at Cornell — until an Achilles tear and surgery left her with a shortened calf muscle and lifelong imbalance in her kinetic chain. Marathons and yoga are out; walking and hot Pilates at Chicago’s 105F studios are in. Meanwhile, she’s hitting new highs professionally. This summer, the 45-year-old published her first book: Runs in the Family, the true story of a football coach grappling with generational trauma. And last year, she launched the first daily podcast about women’s sports, Good Game With Sarah Spain. She records from her Wicker Park home, which she shares with her husband and three rescue pups.

A pair of dumbbells and an exercise mat
Photograph: Gresei/Getty Images

Pooch power walking

“For seven years doing national radio, I was a night owl. My new schedule is afternoon-based, so I start every day around 7 a.m. with a three-mile walk. I take my young dog, Indy. My favorite place to walk is Humboldt Park; a lot of people don’t know how beautiful it is.”

Temperature extremes

“I’ll walk in cold weather. When I trained to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with my mom a couple years ago, it was winter. Meanwhile, my greatest recent discovery is inferno-hot Pilates in a 105-degree room. It’s mat-based and uses Pilates principles, but without jumping or doing anything hard on the back.”

Boxing out stress

“If my mind is reeling, I use a trick from meditation: the four-count box breath [inhaling for a count of four, holding for four, exhaling for four, holding for four]. If you do it long enough, it stops you from thinking about all the other things.”

Code to joy

“I’ve read a lot of books about neuroplasticity. It isn’t going to automatically fix mental health disorders, but it helps train your brain to look for joys in everyday life. I used to stress over my weight and whether how I look will affect how I succeed in my job. Now I’m much more at peace — confident and grateful for what I do have, instead of cursing what I don’t.”