Rethink: Reggie

On Wednesday my Cultured Body class discussed the "invisibility of the poor" and today I experienced that full force and I really wanted to share what happened with you.

I was sitting outside of a Starbucks in DC when an older man approached me. He was slightly hunched over and very tentative when he extended his cup to me. All he asked for was the change from my coffee. As I don't carry cash I was unable to give him anything and he said that was alright and wished me a good day. I watched him walk up to the next woman who quickly started to busy herself with her toddler and then mumbled that she didn't have anything and quickly averted her eyes, flicking them up a few times to see if he was still there, as if she was embarrassed of her own response. Then he moved to the next woman, who happened to be on the phone. Without so much as even looking up she puts her finger in her open ear as if his gentle asking was as annoying as buses going by. I was immediately appalled at her audacity. To be someone with so much privilege and apparent financial stability, and still unwilling to assist others. And then I got that horrible feeling when you realize you've done something incredibly hypocritical. 

How dare I judge her, when I could have given and I did nothing? While I don't carry cash I do have resources: phone apps connected to my banking, a credit card. After catching up to the older man I told him that while I don't have cash I would be happy to buy him lunch if he wanted to go to Panera or one of the shops. He chose Subway and on the way I learned that his name was Reggie and that he was supporting his sister and daughter. His daughter is a full time student and he's very proud of her, all of the money he makes at his job on the Metro goes toward her school and he goes out to try to "pull" for his sister who's at home. He was extremely polite and careful with my safety as we crossed the road (he made sure a right turning car wasn't going to hit me). When we got to Subway Reggie ordered the cheapest thing he could and asked if it was alright order a cookie along with his sandwich. He hugged me quickly after lunch and thanked me, which really gave me something to think about: why is giving to those who are struggling such a big deal? Why isn't that the normal thing. 

Reggie didn't coerce me, guilt me, or anyway try to convince me to help him. He wasn't rude, he didn't abuse the help I was offering, and he definitely didn't take it for granted. People have so many little excuses for why they don't extend a helping hand, and that's not considered wrong. It's normal. This whole experience just really made me question why not helping is normal and accepted, and why helping makes someone a hero. Helping someone in need is an act of empathy, it's a human characteristic, why is acting like a human in specific cases such an amazing act?

Help me follow my dream? Maybe? Maybe yes?

I'm trying to be the next Tara Stiles y'all. Well not really but this is something that I am crazy passionate about and I would love some support.

V4, V3, and a twisted knee!

To finish off the week Kevin and I took a much needed trip to the climbing gym. It was supposed to just be a burn it out sesh for me. Basically just hammer on the weak spots and go for climbs that I normally wouldn't do at all. I continued working on a V3 that'd been snagging me up and started on a V4 that has a couple places where footwork is tricky. 

The V3 has two tricky sections: a barn-door move and a double sloper move. I can go smoothly through the barn-door section and up to the first sloper, but the next move gets me. I'm heel hooking with my right and my left foot is under me, and I have to do a big reach up to the second sloper with my right hand, and every time I slip right off. I'm going to keep working at it, but progress is slow.

The V4 starts simply enough, it's a low sit leaned to the right with the first move being a reach behind with your right hand. I can get through the first 4-5 moves, but there is a pinch that right after you have to switch feet in order to finish the climb. The only time I securely got the pinch and could switch my feet I slipped off. 

Long story short: in both cases my footwork was lacking horribly.

I really love both climbs and I wish I could have worked on them more, BUT when I was goofing off on a little V0 with a reachy overhang I slipped off the wall and ended up twisting my knee. I tried one more climb after that, but it was pretty clear I was out of commission.

So right now I'm typing this from my bed as I ice my super swollen knee...

Cheers!

M

The past week: Calleva and Cubs

This week started completely normal as I started work. As most of you know I work at a summer camp in MD called Calleva (which means where the paths cross) and I work with a wide range of ages, from 3 to 15! This past week I was working with 3-5 years olds and it was possibly my favorite week so far at camp!

On Monday I noticed we were a little under staffed so I recruited Kevin to join in on the week. It was awesome! Early in the week there was a huge thunderstorm so when the lightning and thunder stopped we dressed up the kids in black trash-bags (to hopefully keep them dry) and played a round of "Darth Vader Tag"!

Despite the rough weather early in the week the kids all had a great time exploring the rivers and woods of Calleva, creating art projects, meeting farm animals, and even having several dance competitions. The little Cubs (their official Calleva title) even put on a skit! And it was great to see their hard work pay off as they performed it for their peers (I wish I had pictures!)

It was a great week and made me a lot more confident in my ability to work with young kids! Seeing all of them so excited and happy for camp made every rough moment 100% worth it.

Til next time!

xx

M

This past weekend... (aka killing the game)

Hi hi everyone!

So yesterday I went back to the rock gym, but I was definitely wayy too tired from my awesome climbing Saturday. Saturday I felt great and managed to hit a sweet spot when I was climbing and finish my first V3 ever. It was fairly short with a few careful and intricate movements, and luckily (!) with my balance and flexibility I was able to do a climb that I had watched climbers better than myself struggle on.

It was amazing to finish it and I felt on top of the world, but I think my favorite part of getting the climb was figuring out the type of climber that I am. While my boyfriend is a very technical climber with lots of height, and his cousin is a powerhouse climber, I think my type of climbing is going to be more focused on balancing my body over small movement to sneak through climbs. I'm definitely much more secure on that than any other form of climb!!

Til next time!

xx

M

Did you miss me?

CAUSE I MISSED YOU!

Okay pinky promise that I will not disappear again.

Kevin and I spent a super amazing vacation up in Acadia, Maine! Tons of amazing rock climbing and I absolutely loved every minute of it. Kevin as always was a total champ and you can see all his amazing pictures by visiting his blog! (Oh yes, I've turned him onto blogging).

He's so sassy he was made for this! I mean, come on, look at that face.

I had some great climbs up there! It was absolutely beautiful and we got to climb some cliffs on the coast! The views were insane. I worked on some of my first ever traverse problems! They were much different than anything else I had climbed before, and seeing as I haven't been climbing very much in the past year I wasn't expecting much to come from it. But there was a huge crack that made my hands pretty easy so I got to focus on my feet. 

Then I started working on a V2 that definitely had a reaching section. I ended up having to half reach half dyno to a jug that ended up tearing my pinky one sweet flapper. But I was super dedicated once I got that jug and topped out a few moves later! Don't worry, I left my blood on top of the boulder!

From then on it was cake! And I got a few more good climbs before we went home!

We also did some regular mountain climbing!! And from us to all of you: GO TO ACADIA! Or honestly any national park. Climbing, hiking, swimming, bird watching, WHATEVER YOU WANT!! Just get out there and enjoy nature's beauty and your nation's gift.

xx

M

(and K)!

Balt 10 Miler and Summer romance

So no I have not fallen off the face of the planet, I've just been very busy thus far this summer! 

I completed the Baltimore 10 Miler and got a terrible time (one that I wouldn't care to put into writing). I was still have issues with the stress fracture in my right foot, which means I went into the race with little to no training in the few weeks prior. Thankfully my next race isn't until October, so I have (what I'm hoping is just enough) time to recover and train for that race, BECAUSE! that race is my second ever marathon, and beating my time last year (on the same course) would be outstanding for me! I would literally jump for joy. However I'm not banking on anything, it's been a rough year for me, running and otherwise.

When I last checked in things were going great with Kevin and guess what, they've only gotten better! I moved in with my short term boyfriend in DC so I could be closer to him and closer to work over summer. Getting to see him everyday is a huge and amazing perk that I really didn't expect to get this summer. And spending so much time together is really allowing us to share hobbies. He's started running more in some Brooks Pureflows and I'm going to start rock climbing (his passion) soon! Fingers crossed that I don't kill myself.

As always, run happy everyone!

M

My poor poor feet/toes

Say a prayer for my poor tootsies everyone! All my 100s of miles have finally caught up to my feet/toes, but let's begin with my feet.

The battle against my stress fracture (R) continues and now I am having additional ankle issues and outer sole tendons stresses. Ladies and gentlemen, pardon my French, but it's a shit show.

My left foot was holding on a little better, but alas I am back in the land of plantar fasciitis. You won't know the pain unless you'd had it. Plus it feels like I the tendon that runs along the arch of my foot is knotted and tight.

Horrid, y'all. Simply horrid.

And real quick with my toes: pulled ligament on my left foot, one bruised toenail, and on the right foot I have a split toenail on my big toe which makes weight baring and running pretty rough.

I spared y'all the pictures! (Now promise you won't tell Kevin how bad things really are?)

xx

M

Review! Frederick Run Fest - Half Marathon!

On May 4th I ran the Frederick Half-Marathon (one week after I ran the half in DC) and it was one crazy weekend. I was running the Frederick Half-Marathon as the first of three races I have to run to complete the King Crab Challenge in MD!

I planned on leaving my college on Saturday, driving the the expo (getting my packet) and then driving to my house. However I got a little turned around and ended up driving toward my house! So instead of wasting tons of gas money and time, I decided (with the help of a phone call to my boyfriend) to just drive home and pick up my race packet on race day.

So race day comes (the following morning) and I wake up at 3am to drive an hour and a half to Frederick so that I am there in time for packet pick up (which starts at 5am). I wanted to get there early because I hadn't signed up for race day pick up and it was limited to 200 runners (I didn't make the cut). I was just hoping to run.

There was no traffic at 3am so I ended up making to the race at 4am, and in a race of 7,000 runners I was the first runner at the race start. Yeah... that was strange. I got my race packet at 4:30 and took a selfie for my twitter because I couldn't believe everything actually worked out!!

So I slept in my car until the race start at 7am. I ate some fruit snacks as breakfast, drank lots of water, but mostly napped. 

The whole run was pretty nice and fairly scenic. Of course I made some friends along the way, mostly men who were shocked at the 5'3", 115lb girl that was matching them stride for stride. Eventually I ended up running up behind a familiar blonde girl, my old running buddy from freshman year of college!! For old times sake we ran a mile together, but she told me to take off as some of the hills started to get to her. 

I felt great the entire race! Even in the last mile when I was 100% sure that I was working on a stress fracture in my foot. The last mile of the race was uphill and only a horse race track! Possibly the coolest race finish I've ever had the pleasure of running. I ended up finishing the race in 1:56:52 (faster than the race I had run a week before!!)

By the time I had finished I knew I had a stress fracture, but I still when to the med tent for an eval, and they confirmed: stress fracture.

So for now I'm bandaged up and working on 3 weeks minimum of recovery, most likely it'll be more like 6-8 weeks. Not an exciting thought at all, but it's better than a break! And don't worry ladies, my boyfriend has been there for me every painful step since then. And he's not allowing me to walk very much either, so lots of driving across campus :(

My official race results!!

Review!! Nike Women's Half Marathon!

On Sunday April 27, 2014 myself and 15,000 amazing women (and a few men) ran through the streets of D.C. on a half marathon course that began at 7am. It was an amazing weekend and I loved the whole thing! I didn't have high personal expectations going into the race, because I was in the middle of an upper respiratory infection at the time of the race, but I was still so excited!

My weekend actually started early Saturday morning (the day before the race) when my boyfriend and I drove a little over an hour to the metro stop that we took into D.C. It was only my second time riding the metro and, yes, even though I'm 20 I was scared. Thank goodness I'm dating a boy from D.C. who helped me make sure I was going on all the correct trains and getting off at all the correct stops the entire weekend. I have no idea how other people maneuver the metro without a personal tour guide.

When we finally got into D.C. we checked out the expo, where I got my packet, race shirt, and saw my name along with all the other runners placed into a huge mural on the side of the Nike Georgetown store! (I didn't take a picture of the entire wall, my mistake!)

It was so cool! I loved how they made us all into one unifying display! I didn't take many pictures when I was at the race expo or race because I was doing a lot of just taking in the atmosphere! BUT something I did see that was completely amazing was Joan Benoit Samuelson and Shalane Flanagan! If you know me at all you know that these women are in my top 5 for favorite all time runners (Flanagan being #1!). Here's the picture!!

All in all the expo was really nice to be at! I would have liked to see more accessible free goodies. I mean they knew it was 15,000 women, they should have had more than 15 people working at the free fun things if they are going to so boldly advertise it. I did some shopping at the Nike store and grabbed an awesome neon tank and black spandex! I love them both (yes I'm wearing them right now). The cool thing about shopping at the Nike store was that you didn't have to wait in line to check out! You could just find an employee and they could check you out with you just standing there!! 

I also volunteered at the Nike T-shirt distribution later in the afternoon!

Then Kevin, the boyfriend, took me out to dinner which was definitely nice. I was a little out of place at the restaurant seeing as I was in running clothes, but it was still great prep for the race! (Of course, I had pasta).

I ran the whole race with my GU Energy Chews (watermelon (: my fave!!) and SaltStick tabs! I felt solid the entire race and I really think that's because I was fueling my body perfectly the whole run.

I loved running around D.C. and all the little treats Nike had for us along the way. We got the typical water and Gatorade, but there was also a whole mile where they handed out little chocolates!! Yum! The entertainment on the course was pretty good, but I wish they had compared song lists (I heard Happy 5 times and it was horrible). My favorite band was scream-o one! It was a marching band... PLAYING SCREAM-O! It was such a great pump up (: The entire race was amazing, but I think the best part was crossing the finish line under 2:00:00 and hearing my boyfriend yell for me at the same time. Made the whole thing worth it.

Oh and of course my finisher's medal:

OH YES IT'S A TIFFANY'S NECKLACE.

SO GOOD.

SO SO GOOD.

I was so excited to have my first piece of Tiffany's, but after I finished all I wanted was to find Kevin and head back to our hotel and a shower. In fact I barely relished in the finish the way I usually do (I think Kev was more excited than I was!). We walked through the Finisher's village and one awesome thing that Nike did was have a line of clothes that you can only buy if you ran the race! I got a red long sleeve zip with FINISHER across the back. The way I figure it: If you're going to run for 2hrs and feel terrible you might as well get a shirt that brags for you out of it!

All in all it was brilliant race, and I highly suggest it to all the women out there (The San Francisco half is opening registration soon!!)

My official race results:

Review! BlenderBottle! (Courtesy of BlenderBottle®‎)

This isn't going to be like a standard review (in that it will probably be more of a rave/rant and a lot shorter)!

I got my first BlenderBottle years ago and I loved it! I used it as much as I could and the little guy was such a tank! (Oh yes he is still around!!) But I've been in some correspondence with BlenderBottle and they ended up sending me this little beauty!!

I LOVE IT. Having a taller Blender is definitely a HUGE plus! (If you want my exact one you can click here and get the 28oz one!)

Company:	5/5
Affordability:	5/5
Quality:	5/5
Usage:	5/5
Overall:	A+++

I literally don't have a negative for them. It's true love.

Saturday's Run Pictures! (4/5/2014)

Rocks in my Nikes -_- bane of my existance

Beautiful little run around the trails by my campus! Every run there feels like the first time (: I was rocking the Nathan Vaporshape and my Nuun visor! Both made the run infinitely better!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR A REPEAT (:

(And of course I was running on SaltStick and GU!)

UPDATE!! (Disney, Upcoming races, and SPONSORSHIPS! Yay!)

HI EVERYONE!

I've been away far too long and I'm offering my deepest sympathies! (College has been crazy, but that's hardly an excuse for all you lovelies.)

Personally it was a bit rough around two months ago, but after one break-up (Bye Zach!), three hour long talks with my best friend (Hi Mae!) and about seventeen long runs (Sup Nikes?), I feel amazing! Don't let speed bumps turn into road blocks!

However right after the break up I went on an AMAZING trip to Disney World! And met some amazing people:

I also got to help out a little around the park (YES I'M A DORK)!

I finished the week with some time (and yoga) on the beach!

All in all it was a great week and I got to meet some really great people! But the best part of the trip was that I spent a lot of it getting to know a guy from back home, Kevin, over the phone. Our whole romance was a little unexpected, but after a month of dating it's getting pretty serious. This is our first picture together... it screams romance:

Okay so maybe we're both extremely dorky, but who cares? I really like it, and he seems to really care about my running which is a little unheard of for a non-runner! Overall he's just great and he's coming to my next race! WHICH IS IN 9 DAYS Y'ALL!!!!!

CHECK OUT MY RACE SCHEDULE HERE!

BUT THE BIGGEST NEWS!!!!

I'M NOW OFFICIALLY A SPONSORED ATHLETE!

YASSSSSS I am currently sponsored by GU Energy Labs until the end of 2014 (: I'm so excited! This is such an amazing experience and I can't wait to try new products and represent one of my favorite brands !!

Review! SaltStick Caps Plus (Courtesy of SaltStick Co.)

After much too long of a wait... HERE IT IS!

I have been training on my twice-a-week long runs with SaltStick® Caps for the past month and a half and I really like them! I tried out two types: SaltStick® Caps and SaltStick® Caps Plus, and definitely preferred the Plus, which you can get here!

SaltStick® was nice enough to send me samples, and was extremely patient while I logged my 100 miles on their product. It was easy to find someone to personally talk to, opposed to talking with a computer (which you all know is my pet peeve). 

Price wise you are paying high for a high quality product. However I've learned that skimping, money-wise, when it comes to what you are fueling your body with during a long run is just stupid. While SaltStick® is $29.99/100ct it's about 30 cents a capsule and 100% worth it. However, despite being justified, it is a steep price.

I have a tough time with salt when I'm running, but the Plus were just fine with my stomach! (So long that I didn't take them on a completely empty stomach). They are easy on your stomach because SaltStick® has added sodium citrate to this capsule and it helps to soothe you. Another thing I really liked about the Plus was the small amount of added caffeine, it was a nice little & subtle boost during my run! And I actually didn't take them with a gel, instead just an electrolyte tab!

Overall these are really great! And I highly highly recommend them (: They are definitely my salt of choice now! (sponsorship in the future? *wink wink*)

Company:	5/5
Affordability:	3/5
Quality:	5/5
Usage:	5/5
Overall:	A

Key Features! (from SaltStick.com)

• The ONLY electrolyte capsule formulated to closely resemble the electrolyte profile lost during activity: sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.
• Only 1 capsule per serving. Suggested use: 1 capsule per 20-60 minutes during activity
• Buffered salt composition that helps digestion and absorption
• Sodium citrate soothes the stomach
• Each capsule contains 190 mg sodium, 53 mg potassium, 14 mg calcium, 7 mg magnesium, and 100 IU Vitamin D plus 30 mg caffeine
• Caffeine is a legal ergogenic ingredient that increases alertness and reduces fatigue
• Vegetable-based non-GMO capsule composition; Bio-available active ingredients. GMP production in a facility registered NSF Certified for Sport®.
• Fully soluble ingredients allows option of easy preparation of a custom caffeinated electrolyte beverage with a pleasantly mild salty taste
• Contains only WHAT YOU NEED. No: herbal, trace, questionable components added. Vegetarian and Gluten free.
• No sweeteners- no high fructose corn syrup, no sweeteners of any kind
• Does not contain any World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) or International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned substances
• Unique formulation is patent pending; Engineered by a Ph.D. chemist who is also a pro triathlete
• Saltstick® Caps uniquely includes vitamin D that helps the body absorb and utilize calcium.
• Great for effective rehydration during international travel, hiking and effects of alcohol and unfamiliar foods.

Well that was not the plan

I got to the gym and was extremely tired after being kept up til 3am (!!!) by an undisclosed individual. So I decided a strength work would be better than endurance, so I worked my legs, back, and arms. It didn't seem like an intense workout when I started. But by the end of it I was already sore.

Like seriously sore.

This girl was wrecked... and I run 10+ miles for fun!

It's all thanks to the personal trainer that my beauty queen housemate has! (I was there to support her, and she was there to kick my butt). After our arms I did the "Ab Burner" from my Nike Training Club app. I can only imagine how rough tomorrow will be.

IN TOTALLY AWESOME AMAZING SUNSHINE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally finally finally entered/paid for my NWHM and my Baltimore 10 Miler!!!

Only one more big race fee to go! (200 for a 5k, 13.1, and 26.2) 

xx

Molly

Tomorrow's schedule...

Well I'm awake at 12am which is definitely not great considering I have an 8am class...

But I don't have to shower before class! I'm just going to wake up, grab some breakfast and head out! I after my lovely lovely 2 hour 8am class on Anthropological Theory I am going to head straight to the gym! I plan on getting in a nice LSD. Hopefully around 70 minutes, followed by around 20 minutes on the stair stepper!

Of course I'mma hit up my core and do some burpees or push-ups, but the main focus is jump starting my stamina again after these few days off!

Wish me luck everyone!

xx

Molly

Sick + Snow + Training

Big storm hit my campus last night, but the snow turned to rain around 3am. So my college is still having class. And unlucky me got very sick last night. I thought I was getting sick and when I woke up I had absolutely no doubt. I have a fever, sore throat, headache, and chills. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, in general I just feel absolutely run down and terrible.

But my campus still has class so I'm currently sitting in Ethical Theories and I'm heavily delirious. This post will probably be taken down and/or ended tons of times throughout today.

My biggest worry is how this will affect my training. While it's only a minor illness, this will put me out of the running game for at least 5 days while I fully recover. Also running while on antibiotics (which I have a prescription for) can be extremely rough on your liver, so I'll be waiting until my antibiotic session is over.

I just want it to warm up so I can start running again and up my mileage!

Review! NWHM Training Club Kick-Off Event!

Hey everyone! I'm finally getting around to writing a post about last Thursday and the Nike event I went to in Georgetown-DC, MD! The title of the event is a mouthful so here goes: 

The Nike Women's Half Marathon Training Club Kick-Off Event!

I went to support a friend of mine who's a brand ambassador, even though I'm not registered for the race (I missed the entrance time by one day! Drat!). We ended up metroing in from our college and arriving just as the event was starting (so I missed the scenic run which was definitely a bummer). Instead of going out for the runs (that varied in length and speed) we were on water and Luna duty. We handed out tons of little Luna bar samplers - Chocolate Peppermint! Mmmmm! - and little mini waters as the runners returned.

There was a little raffle going on and if you entered you would possibly win entry to the race, so I threw my name in (not expecting much), well would you believe that when the drawing time came the said that EVERYONE who put their name in the basket would get race entry!!! My friend didn't even know this and she works for the company!!!

I am so excited to run this race!!!!!!

It's amazing! You get a shirt, and a week of massages and facials leading up to the race, and then at the end of the 13.1 you get a Tiffany's necklace handed to you by a service man! The necklaces are specially engraved for the event and ONE OF A KIND! I love it!

A HUGE HUGE HUGE THANK YOU TO NIKE FOR MAKING THIS GIRL INSANELY HAPPY AND EXCITED!

FIX YOUR FEET! (21 free days!)

CLICK HERE

From Runnerworld.com !

I'M SO EXCITED!

TONIGHT I'M GOING TO A HUGE RUNNING EVENT IN 

GEORGETOWN, MD!

IT'S FOR THE NIKE WOMEN'S HALF MARATHON!

There will be a group run, music, FREE GOODIES, and an after party!!

Come out tonight! 

Nike Georgetown, 3040 M St NW (Washington, DC)

Thursday, 2/6 at 6:30 PM