The Warm-Up Was 107 Miles on the PCT | Rebuilding After Emotional Rupture & Reinvention

Exactly one year ago, I was prepping to hike 200 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail through the Northern Cascades.

I ended up hiking 107.

Not what I planned, but those 107 miles were intense.

Snowfields. River crossings.Up and down so many mountains I lost count.

I cried three times—real tears, from real fear for my life

(and no, I’m not being dramatic).

And I still kept going.

Now, a year later… I can see it clearly.

That hike was just the warm-up.

The first six months of this year?

A triathlon for my soul.

An emotional Everest.

My inner house burned to the ground.

And I rebuilt it with my bare hands.

It wasn’t a quiet, steady transformation.

It was a rupture.

A full-body, soul-level tearing open.

And I stitched myself back together with golden strands of self-love, integrity, and standards.

I’m different now.

Battle-tested and anchored in purpose.

Moving with conviction, and going after what I want.

Fully in command of my own story.

So here we are. July 1.

The second half of the year starts now.

And I’m not waiting to see what it brings.

I’m already on the move.

Pursuing joy. Chasing purpose.

Hiking new terrain with stronger legs, better tools, and a fire that won’t go out.

Still not great with directions, but I’m going anyway.

By Katherine Tatsuda

Katherine Tatsuda writes from the fire. Grief, loss, betrayal, survival, and the clarity that follows emotional rupture and reinvention. Her work is rooted in radical vulnerability, unstoppable resilience, and grit, and the conversations most leaders and speakers avoid. She is the voice behind Reinvention Modeled, where clarity becomes strategy and healing becomes authenticity.