Allow me to introduce you to Mary Kate Cortez! Let me just tell you some of the top reasons I interviewed this lady.

She's a runner. If you didn't already know, runner's are a different breed. Her relationship with food and exercise is naturally going to look different than most and I wanted to know what that looked like!
She can express herself extremely well, which make my job super easy.
She loves the Lord and she's not afraid to tell you how much she needs Him.

Mary Kate ran track and cross country at Louisiana Tech University and is very open and honest about her struggle and success in finding freedom in the area of nutrition and exercise. She was Athlete of the week sophomore year, conference championship team freshmen year for indoor track, and she got the Louisiana Sports Writer’s Association award for Steeple Chase.

I had the privilege of living with her for a whole year and I got to know her sweet heart and sassy personality. She’s been married a little over a year to Steven Cortez who also ran cross country and track. Isn’t that the sweetest? My husband loves to ask them about how they run together. It’s such a foreign concept for him I guess!

Mary Kate is a 3rd grade math and science teacher. Though she’s an awesome teacher, in my opinion, she’s a true counselor at heart. She's got this incredible gift of empathy. When she's listening to you, you feel like the most important person in her world in that moment. I can’t tell you how many times she loved me just by listening.

She loves being outside, going on trips with her husband, and just being with people. She says "I’m extrovert learning how to live with an introvert!"

Okay, here we go!

What were you initial thoughts when I asked you to do this interview?

I thought “I would love to do that!” And “I hope Rachel doesn’t feel like she has to interview me just because I asked about how the blog was going.. but I am so excited to do this!”

Growing up, what did balance look like for your family? What were your family’s eating habits like? What was a splurge?

My mom stayed at home so we had a lot of home-cooked meals. We didn’t eat much fast food, but there weren’t rules around it. It was normal for us to have fresh, healthy food.

It was a big deal to get sugary cereal or Toaster Strudel! My dad didn’t love that mom would buy us that stuff, because he was a big saver and didn't like all the sugar in junk food. That stuff was usually more expensive, like lunchables. It was a big deal to get a lunchable, too! Both parents were on board with the healthy lifestyle. My dad is enough of a saver to not want to spend money on junk food we didn’t need but he was also very health conscious. Mom was more okay with the splurges and still is. Overall, I never felt like food was legalistic.

What are some of your favorite foods?

I like to make my favorite comfort foods from scratch, like mac and cheese. My husband and I like dishes like pasta and shepherds pie. When I make it from scratch it makes me feel better that it’s not processed.

Dessert?

I’m obsessed with homemade chocolate chip cookies right now. I make a batch, freeze them, and bake them a little at a time so they’re fresh. Yum.

(I’ve had these cookies she speaks of. They are life.)

If I could ask everyone how often they eat dessert, I would. For me, it's almost like knowing how much money someone makes. I can't explain it. So..how often do you?

I have it just about every day. I try to make it healthier during the week like dark chocolate or chocolate graham crackers. Just so it’s not like ice cream every night! I recently made homemade granola bars and I have those for “dessert” sometimes. I tell myself it’s dessert.

How has being married changed your eating habits, exercise routine and overall idea of what balance looks like?

Eating habits: I’m more in charge of the cooking and I really look forward to dinner a lot more than he does. If anything, I’ve changed his eating habits more than he has changed mine. He’s way more laid back about it which takes the pressure off of me to make this perfect meal. I'm married to a man who has the taste buds of a five year old. Which means anything goes!

I will say, he helps me splurge when we go out to eat or go to parties. He helps me not always choose the healthy choice when we go out.

As for exercise, I have a second opinion now. Again, he’s way more laid back. He could go without it. It takes more will power with him because he has a tendency to be more care-free about it compared to me. Him being a collegiate runner and all, I thought he would be better at getting in his runs but I was wrong! He has no problem saying no! He's pretty tired after teaching all day.

He’s able to speak into some of the anxiety that I feel. If I tell him I feel anxious about choosing not to run that day he’s like “who cares?”. He allows me to believe “not running” is a viable option. I’m not breaking any crazy rules. For me, before, it was the only option. He offers options for me that make me feel at ease. I want a healthy balance, but I can be overly driven. I wish I could have more of his perspective, and I want to adopt some of his mindset towards exercise and body image.

What are some of the major struggles you faced when running at a collegiate level?

At the time, I struggled with the fact that I wasn’t the best and I felt somewhat helpless in changing that. I didn’t start actually running track until I was a sophomore in high school so I felt behind in my weekly mileage compared to the girls I was running against. I felt inferior and I didn’t have the confidence I needed to run well. I wouldn’t rely enough on my training and I would get so intimidated by the girls I was running against.

I wish I would have been more fearless and bold in my races. After sophomore year I had a little more success and I started running faster. I started to increase my mileage and it felt awesome. But I started getting obsessed with what I was eating. I felt like I couldn’t eat sugar or anything I felt would slow me down. I felt like there were a lot of limitations, and I began to hate running because of that.

So, I realized I had to find a balance and I allowed myself to have more things that I considered “bad” foods; the foods I thought would slow me down. I realized, if I was unhappy I wasn’t going to run well anyway. I needed to enjoy life outside of running to be a good runner and meet my goals. Where you are mentally effects everything in running. If you’re discouraged you’re going to suck it up! But if you feel encouraged in areas outside of running then you tend to do better.

Now looking back, where do you see freedom now in the area of running and eating?

I don’t have to. I don’t have to run! In college, if I wasn’t running, I wasn’t working towards my goals. If I didn’t get a run in it felt like the end of the world. Now, I can hop on the bike or do P90x or… do nothing. I have more freedom to choose to do what I want when I want.

There's not that much of a difference. I probably eat more sweets and I don’t have to control what I’m eating on workout days. I have a sensitive stomach so I always had to be careful.

What would you tell those that still have to train in order to be better? What are some ways they can find freedom in training?

I would say don't hold back. It can hurt to train hard. It's supposed to hurt if you are trying to run fast and for a long period of time. Don't compare yourself to other runners. God made each of you different for a reason.

You won't have a body like the girl next to you and that's NOT a bad thing. Love the fact that your body carries you for a long distance! That's amazing in itself. Don't be so hard on yourself and just enjoy racing.

It's okay to not get a run in. It's okay to not have a great workout. It's okay for it all to suck at times. It won't always be that way and that's part of the training. Do all you can and you really can't have regrets. Last thing I would say is your worth is not in your training and there is so much freedom in that!

What changes have you seen in your relationship with God through all of this?

I don’t have a coach to please, but I still have a tendency to want to train like I did in college. I feel more freedom in the Lord to say no. I am just learning how not to let performance in running define me. He created me as his child and that should be enough. No matter what my performance looks like, or how much I exercise, my worth is still the same.

That’s an ongoing process for sure. I’ll get back to you in 30 years.

What are some areas that you want more freedom?

Body image, especially since I’ve been married. I’m more conscious of it. I guess that’s because I’m not running as much as I was 2 years ago and I wish I didn’t care. I want to be at a place where I believe “if I gain weight, awesome” and “if I don’t gain weight, awesome”. I want to be able to look at my body and be pleased with how I look no matter what.

So, how are you planning to get to that place?

Praying and alter my thought process by using scripture. If I truly believe what the Lord says then I know I can be satisfied in the Lord. I’m allowing the negative thoughts in my mind and I realize I have control over that.

Where do you see yourself with running in the future?

It’s something I want to continue to do even when we expand our family. As much as I can make it an idol it’s also an outlet for me. I get all my frustration out without hurting somebody! Also, I want to do some races. I can see myself doing some triathlons as well.

I know you’ve mentioned some resistance towards doing any races right now. Why is that?

In this stage of my life, I’ve already trained as hard as I can. My goal now is to race without expectations; for the pure joy of it. That’s one way I would be able to tell I’ve let go of this idol of perfect performance and success. It’s more like learning to let go for me.

My husband’s like, why would you pay for that? Haha! Honestly, I would do a race right now. I am currently dealing with some injuries but that’s a whole other story. I’m learning to be patient right now because my goals are blocked.

Any closing thoughts or advice you would give to runners ?

Don't be afraid to say no. You're worth is not in your running. It's okay to eat a whole thing of ice cream and then NOT go run it off. You are not a slave to what you eat and how much you exercise. It feels great to get those long runs in or those early morning runs, but it's okay if you don't make it happen. Enjoy the good runs and don't beat yourself up on the bad runs. God gave you legs to enjoy running but he did not give you legs to make an idol out of it. Be at peace with how God created you and be content with where you are in life. Some seasons you get to run a lot and other seasons you don't. Seasons don't last forever, they are temporary. If you aren't enjoying what you are doing with running then stop. Find exercise you can enjoy and look forward to. YOU ARE ENOUGH.

Isn't she amazing? Look at that form. I'd be okay if no one ever took my picture while I was running.

Mary Kate gave me a glimpse inside of the heart of a runner. For that, I am so thankful. I know they aren't all the same, of course, but they share one love. Running! Lord, bless them! I hope this has helped you see what freedom looks like for you or for someone you care about.

Thank you for stopping by!