How to not treat a customer

I try to use my blog for positive stuff, but I felt the need to share this with my local community.

Today, I went to the Exxon at 1318 Annapolis Road in Odenton, Maryland to fill up before I picked up my older son from school. This one is very convenient for me, so I probably frequent it at least 2 times a month. The last 2 times, there has been a sleazy-looking 20-something guy who was selling FW1 Wax. He was there again, today. This open letter is to him.  I hope his "manager," the employees of this Exxon station, and it's owner take note. You will no longer be getting my business because of what happened today. 

Dear FW1 Salesperson working at the Odenton Exxon,

You saw the pollen-covered white minivan and probably thought that I would be an easy target. I'm a busy mom who probably doesn't clean my car as often as I should. You have approached me the last two times I bought gas at this Exxon. Both times, I have told you that I'm not interested. This time, I thought I would save you a walk and told you I wasn't interested from 5 pumps away. You could have said "Okay, have a nice day" and turned around and walked back to your tent. Instead, you decided to continue your walk over to me just for the purpose of harassing me. I told you that you didn't need to come over and I wasn't interested yet again. Still, you continued walking over and claimed it was your job to check the trash cans and sell car wax. I asked you to please leave me alone. You changed your story and said that you were just throwing something in the trash. Sure, you had to pass 5 other trash cans to get to that one. I said that I was going to go lodge a complaint with the manager. You raced into the station to make sure the two clerks wouldn't talk to me or treat me like a human being. I had to unbuckle my preschooler and drag him into the station. Thanks for making both of the clerks not want to treat me like a human or to connect me with the manager or owner of the station. You taught my son that it's okay to treat women like they don't matter and that it's okay to harass them. 

I would like you to know that it's not okay to treat people like this. No mean no. I'm not interested means that you have no reason to continue talking or to act like I want to talk to you about your product. I am not gullible enough to buy a product for my car without research. The fact that you treated me in such a way in front of my child, shows that you have no respect for customers or women. What you did is harassment, plain and simple. You are a bully. I don't want my children to be a bully. I want them to tell the people in charge and to feel acknowledged. Your manager did nothing to help with that. You are a lucky jerk because of it, but it doesn't same much for your manager's attitude, either.

I doubt you will learn a lesson from today. I did speak with the manager of the Exxon station and he said that you would not be welcomed back. I hope this is true, but I doubt it is. I also spoke with FW1. They told me that they don't hire salespeople and have no control over who buys their product wholesale. They do not condone the behavior and gave me a contact number. I will be lodging a complaint with both them and with Exxon. 

We live in a culture that accepts bullying of adults and considers it normal. We accept that there is a "boys' club" that doesn't treat women the same way as men. If it had been my husband, I doubt you would have continued walking after he said he wasn't interested. 

Act like a man, not a boy. Treat women like human beings. No means no. Enough is enough. 

Sincerely,

The suburban mom in a white minivan

I'd appreciate anyone who can share this blog. Hopefully, someone will read it and change their attitude as a salesperson. I worked in retail for a year. A simple "No thanks!" usually stopped me from pursuing any further contact. 

Thanks for reading my rant. 

5K for Addy's 5th Birthday!

This is a short one. My niece turns 5 this month. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. March happens to be Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month and Cerebral Palsy of Virginia is hosting a 5K. My entire family is running and walking this race, including my 3 and 5 year old sons. Help us raise money for a great cause!

Click here to donate!

Loco for Sunshine Burgers

As you can see on the side of my blog, I'm a Sweat Pink Ambassador. One of the fun perks of this is that occasionally we are asked to work with products. I am excited to get to try a couple of different types of organic Sunshine Burgers. They have a delicious line of organic veggie burger patties which are excellent to promote a healthy life style. This is something I am trying to do with my 3 and 5-year old sons. We do our best to encourage them to eat healthy foods and be active. My 5-year old loves to talk about healthy foods and my 3-year old loves to cook.

Today, I'm going to talk a little about the Loco Chipotle flavor. This spicy flavored patty comes in a two pack of quarter-pound burgers. They contain organic ingredients including black beans, sunflower seeds, sprouted brown rice, carrots, chia seeds, and many spices and seasonings.

My kids like little bites of food, so I made some mini tostada bites. I took a 6-inch flour tortilla, cut it in quarters, and pushed each quarter into a mini muffin tin. I baked these for 6 minutes at 400F to make them more chip-like. You could use corn tortillas, but we keep flour ones in the house for quick wraps and quesadillas.

While it was baking, I chopped up both patties and warmed the burger pieces in a skillet.

I put a couple of rounded teaspoons of the burger mixture into each little cup.

Then I topped them with cheese. You could use a vegan cheese, if you wish.

I popped the muffin tin back in the oven to melt the cheese. I'm a messy cheese sprinkler... sorry ;)

You could serve them just like this.

I like mine with salsa and sour cream. The boys just wanted salsa on theirs. You could also put some fresh avocado or cilantro if you were making these for an appetizer.

My 3-year old is rather picky and my 5-year old will eat just about anything. These were a hit with both.

As you can see, they didn't even miss the meat. Each burger has 12 grams of protein and 9 grams of dietary fiber. The burgers themselves are gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, and are verified by the Non-GMO Project. 

In Maryland, you can find Sunshine Burgers at Safeway, MOMs Organic Market, and David's Natural Foods. To find a store near you, check out this link. 

The views posted here are my own. I was not compensated for my opinion, but I did receive free product to try.

Running as a Math Geek

I will never deny it. I LOVE math. In particular, I love statistics. A lot of what goes on in the world doesn't make a great deal of sense to me, but analyzing statistics does. I took two extra statistics classes in grad school for fun.

My running buddies make so much fun of me because I analyze all kinds of stats associated with my running and remember them. I can tell you my pace for all of my individual races. I can tell you how many miles are on my shoes, down to a hundredth of a mile. I don't need to convert pace into miles per hour, because I know it already for my speed. I store mental maps in my head. I knew the route for half of the legs for Ragnar DC this past year. My running partners for the Marine Corps Marathon were surprised I didn't have the route memorized. Yesterday, I mentioned someone who we hadn't seen in a while who pushed me through my 7-mile run. I knew exactly when it happened 17 months ago, but mainly because it was my longest run ever to that point.

Do your running partners have something about which they tease you with your running? Are you a stat head and remember dates, times, paces?

I also look for birds when I run, but that's a story for another time.

I suck at blogging... I will work on that

You may have noticed the many month lapse in my blogging. Life just got in the way. 

My last post was right before I ran my second DC Ragnar. That event was affected by the US Federal Government shutdown. Actually, my legs in particular were affected. Instead of staying on a train until the end for my first leg, I had to run WITH traffic on a busy road that had no shoulder in the dark. It was terrifying and sucked. My third leg was basically eliminated and I got to run across the Wilson Bridge with one of my running buddies. That was nice but it was miserably hot and I had a blister on the bottom of my foot from running 8 miles on a gravel road during my second leg. 

Two weeks later, I ran the Komen Race for the Cure with my gym. I got a shiny new 5K PR from that. 

On October 27th, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon as my first marathon. It was an amazing experience and I got to do it with two of my good running buddies that I talked into running the event with me. 

I haven't done much since then. I had a giant blister and some knee pain after the marathon and basically spent half the next 2 months resting. I need to get back into it because I'm doing the Ragnar Trails Appalachian relay in June. My only real fitness goal for the year is that I want to be able to do a chin-up by the end of the year. 

Happy 2014!

10K Across the Bay

This is the Cheseapeake Bay Bridge connecting Anne Arundel County to Queen Anne's County in Maryland. It is the major route connecting the DC-Baltimore Metro area to the Eastern Shore and the way the most of us take to go to Ocean City, Maryland and the nearby beaches in Delaware. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of this bridge. I have never driven over it and close my eyes whenever anyone else does. I am going to fight this fear on November 9, 2014.

How am I going to do that? I am going to run in the Inaugural 10K Across the Bay. The race will start at Sandy Point State Park, follow the eastbound span across the Chesapeake, and conclude on the other side. The views should be fabulous and the race promises to be lots of fun.

As an ambassador for the race, I can offer you a 10% discount on your race entry. Just follow THIS LINK. Select "Ambassador Referral Program" and use the code BRIDGEREP and use my referral code ABBALYSSAK. That will get you 10% off the race for the month of October.

I hope you can join me for this fun event!

Ouchies and new kicks

The Monday after I ran the 14-miler, I went to a class at my gym. A class I normally love, but I came down off the step wrong and hurt my right calf muscle. I continued with my normal training routine on the sore calf. I must have done something to the other ankle. I did the scheduled 15-miler the following weekend and that went fine. Well, the next weekend, my left Achilles' tendon hurt every time I tried to start running. I managed 11 of the 13 miles on my training plan, but I've had a lazy lazy week otherwise. I did the Arc Trainer at my gym on Wednesday and Thursday and ran 2.1 miles with my almost-5-year old on Thursday as well. I decided that maybe the high mileage in the minimalist shoes was causing the problems, so I picked up some new kicks. I still wanted lightweight and a neutral shoe. Here are my new Saucony Catalysts. I'm going to take them for a spin tomorrow.

More than a half marathon

As everyone knows by now, I'm training for the Marine Corps Marathon, my first full, on October 27th. I have only run two half marathons and a 10-miler. I have never run more than 13.1 miles. I learned a couple of weeks ago that my blood sugar has been all over the place lately and at that point, I switched to a walk-run format. I run for 4 minutes and walk for 1 minute. People say it makes you faster. I am inclined to agree on a good day.

Today was one of those good days. I had a 14-miler scheduled, but my parents were here last night to help us set up the boys' bunk beds they brought from Florida. I didn't know if I would get out and be able to do it at all. I figured I would get out the door at 6 and see how I felt. Well, I hit 7 miles and felt awesome. I figured I could get at least 10. When I hit 10, I knew I could do it. Unfortunately, when I hit 12, I was getting a little run down. I finished strong and actually did the 14 in less time than my personal record for the half marathon!

Next weekend, 15!!

Why I love going to an all-women gym

So, my regular readers know that I go to an all-women gym, Transformations Fitness for Women. I love the atmosphere of a single-sex environment. I went to the co-ed gym when I was in grad school and didn't want the same kind of thing as a married adult, so here's a little breakdown of why I enjoy it.

1. We have a very diverse community. You will see a woman in a hijab kickboxing right next to a woman in a sports bra and booty shorts. You will see a 19-year old doing Zumba next to a woman in her 60s. You have the very thin woman lifting weights next to the overweight woman. You wouldn't get that same kind of environment in a co-ed gym. 
2. My gym is small, but I love that about it. I couldn't go much for a month because of my teaching obligation. When I came back on Monday, I had lots of people ask me where I had been and what I had been doing. It made me feel missed. I feel like that kind of community doesn't exist in a larger co-ed gym. The person checking you in, doesn't usually know your name, but at a place like mine, they make an effort to know people. 
3. Childcare is very important for me with a gym. I have two small boys and I need to feel safe dropping them for an hour or so while I exercise. Larger gyms have them, but in smaller women-only gyms, the people who work there learn your children's names. I can say that because I work in the childcare area. When I run into the moms and kids outside of the gym, I always say hello and talk to the kids. 
4. I love that I'm not having to share equipment with men. I wipe down machines before and after I use them, but I remember trying to share equipment with men who didn't.
5. It's less of a meat market. Most of the women I have met who go to the gym are married, moms, or both. We come in our old clothes, with our hair in ponytails, and no make-up. For the most part, we don't care about looking sexy or cute when we are sweating. This environment makes women more likely to work out harder. I'm not saying that women at a co-ed gym don't work hard or that we don't get our fair share of women in the full make-up who hop on a treadmill for 10 minutes at 1 mph. I own my fair share of cutesy running clothes that I wear, but I'm just as likely to show up in that as I am to go in sweats. I just think that an all-female environment is conducive to encouraging women to work harder.
6. Women can be people... weird bodily functions and all.

I love my all-women gym, but I haven't done an all-women race. I prefer a co-ed race :) Do you prefer a single-sex environment for your exercise needs?

Goals for 35. Ack!

I will begrudgingly admit it... A little over a week ago, I turned 35. This one was easier than 30 because I was not miserable and pregnant.

I planned a couple of goals already for this year. I have signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon and committed to do the DC Ragnar again.

I want to successfully complete a couple of Coursera classes. I'm signed up for a Genetics class and an Evolution class. I think I can use information from those classes in the ones I teach for the Kids on Campus program.

Chip registered me for The 9/11 Heroes Run 5K in September. It's in the afternoon, but I'd like to shave off a little time from my previous race.

I might do the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler and Maryland Half Marathon again in the spring. I would love to run the Ragnar Trails Appalachian Relay in June to cap off my year.

Do you make plans and goals when you have a milestone birthday?

Free verse for a trail run

Down a trail
Past the chirping cardinals
Over the stream
Listening to the Wood thrushes and Towhees singing
Watching the rabbits nibble
Seeing a butterfly flit past
Avoiding the singing cicadas
Racing the Goldfinch
Praying the Red fox is somewhere else today
Graceful as a the Great Blue Heron landing in the pond
I went for a run

My review of Drenched 5K

I won a free entry to Drenched 5K from Her Happy Balance. I'm glad I only paid for my son's t-shirt. I won a free entry and was highly disappointed in the race and the customer service prior to the race. My code didn't work twice and apparently 48 hours is a "reasonable response time" for an email. The race was not well-organized. The t-shirts are nowhere near as nice as the ones pictured in all of the ads. Parking was a nightmare for those who arrived within 30 minutes of the race. It started late because of the water trucks arriving late. The waves of people should have been more spread out to avoid bottlenecks. The mud and rocks didn't bother me, but I did expect more stations of water things. Where were the misters? We were in the second wave and waited over 30 minutes for the slip and slide, which is the event my son was most excited about. When we reached the finish line, it was chaos where the water balloon fight was supposed to take place. I'm glad we had decided not to participate. All of this being said, my son enjoyed himself a lot and that was the point. I would not recommend this race in the future unless the sponsors became more organized.

I will post pictures later.

Running in the rain

It's summer. In this area, it means we get lots of rain. I don't generally run in the afternoon because we get thunderstorms, but I have been known to run in the rain in the morning.

Saturday, I'm taking my oldest son to do his first race: Drenched. This is a water race, so we might as well be running in the rain. Here are a few of my favorite tips for wet conditions.

Wear the lightest, quickest drying running clothes you have. I refuse to run in anything other than light shorts and a light shirt in the rain. If I was skinny, I would wear just a sports bra. If I was a guy, I would probably just wear shorts.

This is the time to break out your widest-brimmed running hat. It'll keep the water from dripping in your eyes. Essential when you wear contact lenses like I do.

Vaseline on your feet under your socks. Puts a little bit of a barrier between you and the wet socks and shoes. Might make you a little more comfortable in the long run.

If your intention is to stay dry, wear a raincoat or cut holes for your arms and head in a garbage bag.

Body Glide is your best friend. You will chafe in places you didn't know existed if you are running in the rain.

Run "naked". Don't wear any electronic devices like your GPS watch or cell phone. If you absolutely MUST have them with you, put everything in Ziploc bags, stow them away, and don't bring them back out until you're done.

Be careful during the run. I have been known to trip and fall when it's dry out, so I have to be extra careful when it's wet or icy. Oh, those annoying yellow safety bumps they put in crosswalks, even more dangerous during the rain.

When you are done with the run, stuff your shoes with newspaper. This helps them maintain their structure and to dry faster. Nothing is worse than going out on your next run and finding that your shoes are still wet and feel really weird because the shape isn't the same as it was before.

Enjoy and feel like a hardcore runner! It rained at about mile 9 during my last half marathon. It was rather refreshing and enjoyable. I actually like running in the rain.

Hold me to it...

I've been a total slacker lately. Today is the first day I have felt well in about 3 weeks. I still wouldn't race. I need to get back on track with my training for Ragnar DC and the Marine Corps Marathon, but I leave today for vacation.

I need y'all to hold me accountable. I intend on running 4 days while I'm at the beach. I also intend on adding a new state to my "I've run there" list. Remind me on here or Facebook or Twitter (@AlyKen78) that I need to run.

Do you have problems getting back on track after an illness?

A Running Vacation. A Runcation?

Next week, I'm going on vacation with my family. Just to the beach for a week. Honestly, it isn't really a vacation for me since basically we pick up our household and move to another location for a week with extended family. Since I will hopefully be better by then, I plan on taking my running gear and get in some flat miles. No, this isn't what I mean by a "runcation."

What is a "runcation" you may ask? It is a trip you take with the purpose of running and seeing the sites or doing a new race. I've taken one "runcation" in my short running career. I did the DC Ragnar last September. It meant 2 nights away from my husband and kids and running part of a 200-mile relay. The team with which I ran did the Key West Ragnar in January, too.

In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the first Ragnar, I thought I'd ask what your dream running trip would be. Is it a big race in an exotic locale like the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii? Is it just doing a major race like the Boston Marathon? Is it a more fun but competitive race like a Disney Marathon? Is it a scenic relay race like the original Ragnar Wasatch Back in Utah?

Right now, the races on the top of my bucket list (aside from the Marine Corps Marathon in October) are The Pensacola Beach Half Marathon and one of the Outer Banks races, either the OBX Half or the Flying Pirate. I'm blessed with living close enough to DC that I can hit a race that runs by lots of interesting landmarks.

What would be your dream "runcation" race?

A Cough, A 10K, and more Coughing

Those of you who know me outside of the blogging world know that I've had this terrible cough for what seems like about 10 years... Okay, it's really only been a little over 2 weeks. The little germ factories I call my beloved children decided to pick up a cold and share it with their mommy.

I probably shouldn't have done it, but I ran the Crofton Kiwanis 10K on June 8th. Aside from the fact that I couldn't breathe properly and had a coughing fit every 5 minutes after I hit 4 miles, this was a great race. There were only about 250 people. The scenery was nice, through a golf course neighborhood. There were a few hills, but nothing I can't handle. The post-race perks were great. They had Chick Fil A, Bruster's ice cream and sherbet, and Smoothie King smoothies, in addition to the normal bagels and bananas they usually have after races. The shirt was nice as was the goodie bag, which I won't really be able to use since it's for a competitor's gym.

When I got home, I crashed. I have been coughing like crazy since then. I can't go an hour without having a fit. Today is the first day I have felt a little better. Being sick has completely thrown off my training. I have only run once since the race. I did a 3-miler as opposed to the 7 miles I had scheduled.

Have you ever raced when you probably should have skipped it?

Why does my nose think it's okay to run when my feet are?

You get up early in the morning and head out the door for your morning run. You can't leave without a pack of tissues in your pocket or sports bra because you know the second you get in your groove the dripping is going to start. You dread running in cold weather because that makes it worse, but then again so does allergy season. You may have even invested in a Handana so that you can keep your gloves and sleeves from being covered in snot. Why does my nose think it's okay to run when my feet are?

This is a condition called exercise-induced rhinitis and is more common in those with allergies than those without allergies according to a 2006 study. Unfortunately, many decongestants and steroids used to treat rhinorrhea are prohibited for use in competition. You might remember the 2000 Olympics in Sydney when a gymnast had her gold medal stripped because she basically took a Sudafed for a cold that was given to her by the team doctor. Basically, a common cold pill ruined the careers of two people.

Why exactly does this happen? Well, physical exercise is a vasoconstrictor. This means that when you exercise, the muscular walls of your blood vessels are contracting and your systemic blood pressure is increasing. Noradrenaline releases into the blood stream and your nasal resistance decreases.

Cold-weather athletes are more likely to experience this condition. Actually, winter athletes have a greater incidence of exercise-induced rhinitis and asthma than summer athletes. I can speak from personal experience in this matter. During my childhood, I was a competitive figure skater. I was at the rink 3 hours a day 4 days a week. By the time I decided to end my skating career, I could not make a lap around the rink without having a coughing fit.

Stock up on the tissues, buy a Handana (I wish I had one), learn how to use a Neti Pot, find an athlete-legal decongestant and head out the door. Runny nose or not, exercise is good for you. Since I have small kids, I will end with this silliness: when your nose is runny you may think it’s funny, but it’s snot J

Music while running and tempering your breathing

During my last running club meeting, we talked a little about breathing and running cadence. I've always found that I breathe best when I inhale for 3 steps and out for 3 steps on a long run during allergy season. For some reason, the extra exhale step just seems to prevent cramping for me. 

When I'm on a treadmill, I'm pretty good about being able to moderate my breathing, but when I get on the road sometimes I get distracted by my surroundings and have problems getting it correct. This was particularly evident during my most recent half marathon when my pace group took off a lot faster than I was hoping. I don't generally listen to music when I race, but I just couldn't get in the groove after the first water stop. I popped in an earbud (just one) and started the Nike+ app on my phone. I had put my music on shuffle and was pleasantly surprised when the first song was in a waltz time. Since then, I have taken my music off of shuffle and have Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick as one of the earlier songs I play to get myself back on track if I'm having trouble focusing on my breathing.

Do you have a song that helps you concentrate on a certain aspect of running?

Running in Memory

Memorial Day: A day in the United States where we recognize those who gave their lives in service to our country. Although I do not personally know anyone who lost their life in combat, but my brother was in the Navy for a while and I know he lost comrades. I am very proud of his service to our country.

Runner's World is doing a challenge where you run at least a mile ever day between Memorial Day and Independence Day. I am sort of doing that challenge. I've decided that I will run or walk every day between those dates to honor and remember our military service personnel. Yesterday, we went on a hike with the boys and I ran one mile in the evening.

Will anyone join me in this challenge?

The mid-run bathroom break

Warning: My mother would find this post crude and inappropriate for discussion in a public forum

Admit it, please. Sometimes you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of your run. If it's a long run outside, you may run all over trying to find an open public bathroom or squat in the woods. I've definitely done the former and have considered the latter. Have you cut short a run just because you had to go? Did you go back out and resume said workout? Have you struggled to get back into compression wear or spandex because you are so sweaty?

I hopped off the treadmill mid-run today to take a potty break. I felt guilty doing it. I was only running a 3-mile tempo, but at 1.5 miles I just couldn't hold it anymore. I turned off the treadmill, ran to the bathroom, and came back and finished my workout. I know some people would just leave the thing on while they go, but my mind won't let me comp that 1/4 of a mile that I would miss.

Back in the fall, I spent 5 miles of a 7-mile run trying to find an open port-a-potty or calling friends who lived on my running route trying to find a place to go to the bathroom. I ended up getting all of the way back to my starting point and running into a community center to go.

I know you could just tell me "run faster and you'll be able to go sooner." That just makes the whole thing worse. I am not one of those people who feels comfortable squatting wherever to go. I actually stopped at a rest area on my way to my last half marathon so I could avoid a port-a-potty and warned my mother-in-law that I might drop by on my way home and use her toilet.

All of this potty talk has me worried about the potty situation for my upcoming marathon. I KNOW I cannot make it 5+ hours without going and am dreading it.

Any potty on the run advice from the peanut gallery?