[00:00:00]
Riley: Alright. Okay. Today we have good friend McKayla Martinez on our podcast. Um,
Makayla Martinez: Um,
Riley: I'm have McKayla on here because she is, uh, well, one of the most driven people that I [00:01:00] know. She, um, has this goal right now to do a, an athletic type event, either half marathon, triathlon, that sort of thing
Makayla Martinez: of
Riley: in all 50 states.
And how, how deep are you into that goal
Makayla Martinez: goal? I have hit 24 states so far,
Riley: so far? That is super cool. So, uh, little bit of background on this. I've known McKayla since she was, gosh, I, I wanna say seven years old
Makayla Martinez: old.
Riley: and I. The whole time she's had these big dreams of what she wanted to do as an adult. And,
Makayla Martinez: And,
Riley: and we're gonna discuss some of some of those things that have taken place over the years.
So McKayla, welcome to the show.
Makayla Martinez: Thanks. Happy to be here.
Riley: Yeah, I'm so glad to see you.
Makayla Martinez: see you.
Riley: So, um,
Makayla Martinez: um,
Riley: take me back to childhood times. 'cause I remember when you were real young, you were really wanting to get into firefighting,
Makayla Martinez: Mm-hmm.
Riley: changed a bit. And so I want to
Makayla Martinez: want to
Riley: guide us to [00:02:00] that story. Like what or originally got you interested in that, and then what,
Makayla Martinez: what, what
Riley: what took place to change that direction?
Makayla Martinez: Yeah, so I don't even remember, couldn't even remember what age I was when I wanted to get into firefighting, but it was, it was young. I know I did like a, a ride along when I was like 16 with a, station here in Boise. Um, and, uh, it just has always been a goal of mine. I love that they lay down their lives for the community.
They support the community. They just are super cool people. And just the, the constant, uh, I don't know if workout's the right word, but just the constant, it's a lifestyle of health that they have. And so, uh, that was super cool to me, but then also giving back to the community and helping other people, I guess you could say. Um, [00:03:00] so wanted to do that. Did ride alongs and then, something, it's not even that cool, but I watched a, a TV show about this deaf girl who worked for the FBI and so she, uh, could read lips and learn sign language and, um. Uh, learn read lip and she could speak too. And she helped the FBI true story helped the FBI, um, like do surveillance back when they couldn't get audio.
And so she would read the lips of the bad guys and then, um, tell 'em like, Hey, they're actually meeting up later today at McDonald's or whatever. And so,
Riley: Oh, super cool.
Makayla Martinez: like, first of all, criminal justice. Cool. And also
Riley: I.
Makayla Martinez: language. Awesome. And then that was, that was probably like early twenties. So I went to college for criminal justice and then I got my sign language degree and then, uh, got a [00:04:00] job working in criminal justice.
And I, my goal was to do that through college 'cause it was a flexible work schedule and then transfer over to firefighting. Take my knowledge and experience of what I've learned with criminal justice to the firefighter side of it. And the more I worked in criminal justice, the more. Fire would like, respond to things that I dealt with and stuff.
And so, um, learned stories. I got my EMT certification. I talked to my boss to see if I could get time off because my work schedule was so flexible. I was like, maybe do fire and work, you know. But, um, I did a a, a Women's weekend, women's firefighter weekend. It was so cool. Just a little glimpse into firefighting and, realized I, I get claustrophobic.
Uh, that was a fun
Riley: Oh.
Makayla Martinez: So that was like, okay, so maybe, maybe, but then also hearing the
Riley: So,
Makayla Martinez: of my, yeah.[00:05:00]
Riley: so I'm curious, claustrophobic, was it the mask and the, the equipment? Is that what,
Makayla Martinez: that what Yeah, could
Riley: not to mention, crawling through tight spaces, huh?
Makayla Martinez: Correct. Yeah. I was like, oh, red flag. I knew if I wanted to, 'cause I'm stubborn enough, I probably could get over it, but it would take a lot of probably hyperventilating.
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: And then hearing stories from my EMT instructor about little babies and the kiddos that make the job hard. And I just, my, I love kids so much and that is the hardest part of my criminal justice job. And so I know that it would be hard for me to, I don't know if I could mentally give myself to becoming a firefighter
Riley: And you're talking about the, the tragedy that happens with children.
Makayla Martinez: yes, yes. Yep. So
Riley: Yeah, I think I've got a friend who, [00:06:00] for those of you who don't know, my son is, is a firefighter and he's, he's at the time of this recording, just a week in, and we've had that conversation at length about, you know, with some other buddies I know that are firefighters and, and yeah, they've come to me on occasion just going, man, it was a hard week and it was, this is what I dealt with.
Makayla Martinez: with.
Riley: Yeah, sometimes it involves children and there's some scary stuff in there. So with my son, preparing him for that as much as I can saying, Hey man, you're gonna see some stuff and you need to be prepared for that,
Makayla Martinez: that.
Riley: it's a big deal.
Makayla Martinez: deal.
Ahead. I just, it's also like 'cause I've dealt with some kiddo stuff with my current job and stuff and just how to, to deal I guess with it and exercise is one of the things that me.
Riley: Just so everybody knows, um, I don't want to fly by it What are you doing now? Exactly.
Makayla Martinez: So I work for [00:07:00] felony probation and parole. I work with adults who, uh, either got get out of prison or adults who get felonies and are placed on probation.
Riley: Okay. So I imagine, yeah, you get to see some, some stuff with kids there too, huh?
Makayla Martinez: too. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Riley: Yeah. I always appreciate law enforcement and how I think we forget sometimes as society, just how much you guys shield us from
Makayla Martinez: from
Riley: the dark side of what happens out there.
Makayla Martinez: It is. It is interesting, like going into WinCo or whatever, and the, the firefighters pull up and everybody's like, gosh, we love you.
And they're like, here's a sticker. We're gonna go get our milk and for dinner. You know, it was, I'm like, I literally just got cussed out for two hours while the guy is sitting in cups on the couch. You know? It just is like, But then
Riley: Shoot.
Makayla Martinez: just maybe not shielding, but just [00:08:00] there's a lot behind the scenes, I guess you could say.
Riley: No, there's, there's a lot of stuff that happens that you just don't see. it's because you guys are out there taking care of it before the rest of us have to have to deal with it.
Makayla Martinez: with this,
Riley: That, that we don't. Right. We forget that it even happens sometimes. And I did a ride along with a,
Makayla Martinez: with a,
Riley: cop friend of mine that we did the graveyard shift a couple times, and it was pretty eye-opening.
Some of the stuff that he'd go, oh yeah, this is going on over here. You know, there's this guy we've been looking for and he's usually in this spot. And then we pull in there and sure enough, there's a dude like breaking into a car, take care of that problem. And,
Makayla Martinez: care. That problem.
Riley: but, uh,
Makayla Martinez: How
Riley: yeah, it was, it's, it's wild. And then the, you know, the guy who routinely beats his wife and they.
Makayla Martinez: and they,
Riley: You know, they get that call. Um, it's crazy stuff. Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: hard.
Stuff. Yeah. Oh wow.
Riley: Talk about your life growing up and, and, uh, where, where did you, where did you grow up? Tell, talk to the audience about that.[00:09:00]
Makayla Martinez: So, grew up, uh, was born in Missouri. Moved here when I was. Six for my dad to get his master's at Boise State. Um, and then all of our family lived in Missouri, so mom's like, I miss my family.
We're going back. So we all packed up after dad got his master's and we, uh, lived in Missouri for about six months before Mom was like, yeah, I hate it here. Let's just go back to Idaho. People are friendly. Love the desert, you know. So packed up again, six months later, grabbed another U-Haul, packed all me, three of my siblings, and, uh, moved back to, to Idaho where I've been since then and grew up in Boise, downtown Boise.
Beautiful trees, hills. The hills were the backyard. It just was, it was perfect. it was
Riley: Yeah, the Boise Foothills are legend, aren't they?
The sign language thing you had mentioned earlier, are you still doing anything with that?
Makayla Martinez: that? [00:10:00] I had a few deaf people that I was supervising, um, for work and that was super cool until, um, I no longer had to supervise them. Um, and so, uh, since then, not really, besides conversation with some of my friends or beyond that, I was gonna do, um, I wanna do legal interpreting, but to do that you need a special certification and you need to be signing all the time.
And I just didn't make that work. I didn't make it a priority to make that work, so.
Riley: Okay, so fun question. Sometimes you see at these, uh, on televised events, these sign language people who make weird faces when they do it. And is that something that, uh, why are they doing that?
Makayla Martinez: You know, like voice influxion where you're like, oh, this is funny. So my voice is higher. Or This is really serious, so my voice is lower. [00:11:00] Facial expressions is pretty much the voice influxion, where you're like, oh my gosh, this is hilarious.
Riley: Well, that's what it looks like is, yeah, it looks like they're having a seizure. Not like they're,
Makayla Martinez: Yep. Exactly that, yeah, it just adds, adds, um, punctuation and adds emphasis, I guess you could say, to just the normal sign language. Yeah. It's
Riley: oh,
Makayla Martinez: hands flying. It's, it's a, it adds a better communication, I guess you could say.
Riley: yeah. Okay.
Makayla Martinez: Okay.
Riley: Well, I'll pick your word for that. I'm not sure that, uh, I've seen it where it takes, where it makes the communication better, it makes it more entertaining,
Makayla Martinez: That is definitely true. Very definitely
Riley: but
Makayla Martinez: Yes.
Riley: I feel like entertaining from a, like
Makayla Martinez: a,
Riley: easy to make fun of standpoint.
Makayla Martinez: Yep. Growing up, mom, my mom was like, Makayla, you were just always so like dramatic.
And she's like, so I'm not surprised you went into sign language because it just, it just highlighted just how perfect your dramatic was.
Riley: So, so [00:12:00] she's making fun of it a little bit too while she's saying that, isn't she? I love it.
Makayla Martinez: yes,
Riley: love it. I love it. Okay, so, um, forward, you, you mentioned the foothills and you guys lived down in the trees of downtown Boise, which for those of you who don't know, Boise Leis means tree, I believe in French.
The, um, it's the city of trees, that's what they call it. And that downtown area especially is just, it's beautiful green all the time. And,
Makayla Martinez: And,
Riley: um, but you living down there as, as you grew up. Your parents and myself and my wife and some other couples from our church would all get together and go run. And you were part of that a lot of times.
Makayla Martinez: It
Riley: It,
Makayla Martinez: like, one of my favorite childhood memories is I, I love kids still to this day, but yeah, mom and dad would have [00:13:00] over and they'd drop off their kids. I'd watch 'em and then they'd go for their long runs on the green belt. Um, and then my favorite, favorite part was taking all the kiddos right outside of the parking lot and then cheering on the parents that were running back home.
So that's what I grew up with, was the weird smell that they came back with after, after their long run. And the, the cool kids that I got to watch while doing that. Yeah.
Riley: yeah. You remember the, the smell of the parents and, and the sweats. Sickles. Do you remember the sweats, sickles?
Makayla Martinez: Yep. Yep. Just like yesterday, I was
Riley: I have a,
Makayla Martinez: that even happen?
Riley: well, I have a photo of me with like these three inch long, like sweat lactides that are coming off my neck.
Makayla Martinez: So
Riley: The wintertime runs.
Makayla Martinez: I was
Riley: That's kind of,
Makayla Martinez: like possible biologically? I don't know.
Riley: well, I thought maybe, you know, in hindsight I should have just [00:14:00] those, like a Popsicle. I could have got my electrolytes back.
Makayla Martinez: I don't know why. Yeah, Oh boy. Just stick them in your water. Get some ice water. There
Riley: There you go. Just like, yeah. Ugh.
Makayla Martinez: a little recycle.
Riley: Oh my gosh. Um,
Makayla Martinez: Um,
Riley: so, so what did that translate into in adulthood? So now you've got this goal. Um, McKayla has a goal now of doing an athletic event in all 50 states. you said earlier you're 24 into that.
Makayla Martinez: in? Yep. Mm-hmm.
Riley: Okay. Now talk to us about that. Tell, tell, tell us what that involves.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah, so, uh, my states or the,
Riley: just as far as like what, when you say athletic events, what are you referring to? I.
Makayla Martinez: Sure. Um, so I've done quite a few different ones. Um, normal half marathons.
I've done [00:15:00] trail runs, uh, like flat half marathons, I guess you would say. Um, the one in Arizona was like through cacti and half flat rolling hill type. It was actually kind of cool. Um, don't touch 'em, they hurt. Uh, and then I've done a lot of obstacle races, like Spartan obstacle races. I love doing that. Um, with my sister.
She's really cool. A good running buddy. It keeps me accountable. a lot of different Spartan race ones. If they had a Spartan race in every single state, I would 100% just do Spartans across the board. Um, but in Massachusetts, you know, they don't really, there's not a lot of populace there that would participate in a Spartan race.
So, Spartan races, obstacle course races. Yeah. Uh, I've done this last July, I didn't do any half marathons. I did five Ks and 10 Ks because I condensed it into four, [00:16:00] uh, three days. I did a race in every, I did, I went east. I went east and then hit like, what did I hit? I hit four of the tiny little states that are around and drivable between races.
And so I hit four races in three days and figured
Riley: Oh.
Makayla Martinez: like, New Hampshire, I think one's one of 'em for New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and. Wrote, I can't remember the other one, but I just hit, I like condensed 'em all, hit 'em all on a weekend. And so I gave my knees a break by doing just five Ks and 10 Ks in that weekend instead of abs.
Riley: That's incredible. I, um, I want to hear what, well, for one, what is the longest race you've done?
Makayla Martinez: been,
Riley: Um, the one that was the hardest. And then
Makayla Martinez: and
Riley: also want to, I want you to talk about kind of what it takes to prepare [00:17:00] for all these things. 'cause you're,
Makayla Martinez: you're,
Riley: you're dealing with a lot there, right? You're dealing with one, just physical conditioning
Makayla Martinez: Mm-hmm.
Riley: and then two for real, right?
You're, you're having to finance that and having to, you know, people forget about that part. It always sounds cool to go,
Makayla Martinez: go,
Riley: oh, hey, let's do a race in all 50 states. Well, that involves some time and some money. So talk about that.
Makayla Martinez: that. Yeah. So I pretty much, I think I. I set my, this, I set this goal, I think without, uh, really thinking it through of the different things that would, it would entail.
And so I was like, oh, dude, 50 states. That sounds great. I've already hit like a few surrounding Idaho. Might as well just do all 50. And then like a year and a half afterwards, I was like, oh, wow, okay, we're gonna apply this to the budget. We're going to figure out if I can hit four races in a weekend so I don't have to keep coming, like all the way back and all the way back.
And so, um, yeah, the [00:18:00] finance part of it is definitely a real thing.
Makayla Martinez: And then, yeah, budgeting for that or just like, how many can I hit this year? Because I, I wanna hit all 50 before I'm 30. And so I'm, I've got 24 and I'm, uh, 27 years old, so I got three more [00:19:00] years to hit. 26 states. And so it's like, how many can I hit?
You know? And I don't know, just the whole finance part of it is definitely, definitely a real thing. Um,
Riley: 26 more states in, uh, in three years. That's a severe budget item for real.
Makayla Martinez: yes, yes. Definitely a priority. Um, but then like, we went to Hawaii last year and I was like, fine, we're gonna be there for a week. Half vacation, half running, and, uh, everything is expensive.
Extremely expensive over there. So it's like, well, I should have maybe prepared more for that one. But then, know, the race in, I don't remember where, but it was like, oh, this is nice. Oh, it was in Missouri with family. I stayed with family. They provided my meals, you know, I was like, huh. Get used to this. Um, [00:20:00] so just different, different things for different states for sure. And then I definitely forgot the first two questions you asked.
Riley: Well, actually I just, I've got one more before I ask you
Makayla Martinez: I ask
Riley: before I repeat that, but
Makayla Martinez: But
Riley: do you find that you sort of know, like friends of friends maybe to stay with when you're out in those places?
Makayla Martinez: I really, really try, um, race in Arizona. I have a cousin out there that he was gracious enough to let me stay with him and his wife, and then they actually drove me two and a half hours to the race site at like four in the morning so I could to get there.
And they volunteered for the race too. And so that was cool and nice and definitely helped with budgeting. Um, or I'll try and invite friends with me. I, the race I did in California, I. There was four of us that went and so we just split the cost of the Airbnb that we got. And course, air airfare [00:21:00] was on our own and stuff, but we split like the rental car and stuff, so that helps a lot.
But then and we went east, the race I did in Rhode Island, um, we were there for like a family reunion and so we had like a beach house out there that I stayed in doing all those. So yeah, I definitely try and find people that I know. Um, but I'm headed east again and uh, like New York area and it's like I don't got nobody there, so. Yeah.
Riley: I ain't got nobody.
Makayla Martinez: Got nobody. Ain't got nobody. Yeah. So I try,
Riley: Do you, uh,
Makayla Martinez: is definitely, yes, I definitely try, but sometimes it doesn't work out.
Riley: do you ever get any kickback with, uh, folks questioning the, whether or not you should be doing something like that? Did you ever get those naysayers that wanna cut down the goal?
Makayla Martinez: Not the goal, per se, just maybe my way of doing it, of [00:22:00] like, like when I go, I'll be in the east for almost three weeks and I'm hitting races every weekend while I'm there. And I was like, I could just live out of the rental car during the week, so I'm not paying for, and they're like, that's a terrible, you know, don't do that.
Get a hotel. All this stuff. So it's not necessarily the goal itself. Some people's eyebrows hit their, hit their hair when they're like, oh yeah, you're crazy. You're crazy. But there's no like, don't do that. Which is, which is cool, you know, but
Riley: That is super interesting 'cause you're, you're bringing me to this, uh, the understanding here that
Makayla Martinez: that.
Riley: goals are not always, they're not always pretty. Right? There's always these, these behind the scenes kind of.
Makayla Martinez: of,
Riley: I wouldn't call it yucky, but it's kind of yucky. It's like there's this, yeah. Do you sleep in your car?
Do you, there's logistics that [00:23:00] have to happen here to make all these things.
Makayla Martinez: yep.
Riley: We always watch like the Ironman videos of CNN puts or whatever, this sports channel, and they,
Makayla Martinez: they,
Riley: yeah, it always looks amazing. It looks like everything's
Makayla Martinez: is
Riley: the glory part of it, but man,
Makayla Martinez: Yep,
Riley: it's not all glory.
Makayla Martinez: It's not all. Nope, nope. Sometimes I fly in, like Friday night there's race day packet pickups, so Saturday morning I fly in at what, 10, one time my flight was delayed, so I didn't get to the hotel at like, until, I think it was like 1230 and I was up at seven for the race to get to there at ti, you know, to get pack a pickup and situated.
And so it's like, definitely not pretty. Definitely my eyes look like raccoons, you know? And yeah, the behind the, behind the scenes, that's a little. Not as pretty.
Riley: It's not as pretty. Yeah. What's your, uh, have, have you ever gotten sick before a race?
Makayla Martinez: That is literally, I get like anxiety that I'm gonna get sick before the race. And so I'm like, am I [00:24:00] actually getting sick? But no, not yet. Actually never. So, I
Riley: that's good.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah,
Riley: That's good. I hear that all the time with, with people who compete in different, different sports jiujitsu guys and stuff. That, and then they'll put the flu the night before and then they're trying to decide whether or not to push through the event. But they've, they've already put out the plane tickets and the travel and the, you know, all that prep time and
Makayla Martinez: yep.
Riley: yeah,
Makayla Martinez: That's
Riley: it's a big dilemma.
Makayla Martinez: like really? Maybe anxiety's not the word, but just, I'm like, huh, like I just spent 400 bucks on this plane ticket and I have everything lined out. A hotel of I'm staying out, family or whatever. But it's like. Please, please don't get sick.
I'm like down in the vitamins like, we're good. We're okay. McKayla. Yeah. like
Riley: Well, you have to kind of watch that too, right? Because if you start taking a new vitamin or supplement just before the race, it could screw your stomach up too, right?
Makayla Martinez: Correct. And then it's like, am I getting sick? Oh wait, no, [00:25:00] it's just the vitamins.
Riley: Yeah. Just s took too much magnesium.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah.
Riley: That's, uh, so what race has been the biggest challenge so far?
Makayla Martinez: so far? Oh, the most challenging race, let me think. I'd say the most prep work that I've done for a race, the race itself was not like, but uh, I did three, in Seattle years ago. It was a Spartan race and I did the trifecta weekend. So I did
Riley: Ooh.
Makayla Martinez: the
Riley: tell everybody what that is. 'cause that's a, that's a big deal.
Makayla Martinez: a big deal. The, the trifecta week.
Yeah, the half marathon was on Saturday. with all the obstacles and stuff, and they're, they're spartan miles and so I think I ended up running almost 16 miles. Uh, just 'cause they, yeah. Anyways, um, so that was on Saturday and then Sunday morning was the 10 K Spartan miles again. And then Sunday afternoon was the 5K.
[00:26:00] So you do all three races in one weekend.
Riley: What, what are those racist titled they have, they have, uh, creative names to 'em. What are they?
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. So the, the half marathon is a beast. The 10 K is a super and the 5K is a sprint. So I did the super sprint and beast all in one weekend and there was a lot of, a lot of prep that went into that one.
Luckily, um, my siblings loved to go collect ice and so I. Took a very, very cold ice bath Saturday night after the race, and then, uh, prepped, I guess enough for Sunday. And so it wasn't, my legs definitely hurt, but luckily there, like the elevation gain wasn't insane. And it was mostly flat-ish for the majority of the race.
So I would say it was the hardest, but it wasn't like, I wasn't like am now dead. Actually now I'm thinking about it. [00:27:00] The one me and my sister did in Georgia, that was hard. It was or March, we fly in to Atlanta. Uh, I think it was the night before and it was raining, sleet, cold, and we look and temperatures the same for. Race, morning raining, sleet, cold. And we decided to do like the competitive, the competitive group for it. And so we got there. Our race was like one of the first that started and woke up. We actually ended up buying like a hundred dollars, uh, long sleeves at the race site because we were like, this isn't, this isn't gonna work.
People were hyperventilating on the race and getting taken out, and was, it was hard. It was a hard race. My sister, uh, got stress fractures in her feet because it was so cold. And the repetitive running [00:28:00] for it.
Riley: Oh, she just wasn't warm.
Makayla Martinez: yeah, that was just a hiking through, you know, the, uh, the creeks and stuff for it.
The constantly wet and muddy and now you have to climb this metal pole, you know, it's just
Riley: Oh, shoot.
Makayla Martinez: cold. It was just cold and miserable and so many bruises. 'cause I couldn't like the dexterity of my hands and stuff. It was just miserable and hard. That was the hardest race by far, I think.
Yes.
Riley: Yeah, I don't think people understand when you're talking about like southern, the southern US down in that humid zone down there, what cold feels like there?
Makayla Martinez: there?
Riley: You know, it gets colder temperature wise up here in, in Idaho than it does down there generally, but it's not the same.
Makayla Martinez: same.
Riley: humid just goes through you.
Makayla Martinez: you different cold. Yes.
Riley: I can imagine like the,
Makayla Martinez: the,
Riley: it's gotta be similar to that, like up in Massachusetts and stuff where they have that high humidity, but it's, but they're further north, right? So it's uh, [00:29:00] winter. There's gotta be tough.
Makayla Martinez: cut. Yeah. We went. yeah, I raced in July, but a hurricane had just come through and so it was like ultra humid. And here in Idaho it's desert. So like there's no, I didn't even know how to train for humidity, so I just ran in the middle of the day, you know, to try and get the heat.
But was like I step outta the car and I'm So electrolytes definitely were happening on that trip every single time after the race, but it was like, oh my word. Just different. Just different. Just, I didn't know how to train for it and it was just,
Riley: Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's another thing that I, I guess I didn't even think about until you just said that is when you're training in all 50 states, every one of these racists has a different environment you have to deal with. Right. What's the highest altitude you've, you've
Makayla Martinez: you
Riley: raced at?
Makayla Martinez: You know, that's a good question. I think it was the one in California. Uh, big Bear, big Bear, [00:30:00] California. Uh, and then we climbed a ski slope with s sparring race that we did.
Riley: Oh, sure.
Makayla Martinez: think the elevation itself starting, uh, was high. I don't, I don't, I couldn't give you a number 'cause I don't know, but I definitely was like, like, like
Riley: Did you feel it?
Makayla Martinez: I could feel it. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah.
Riley: 'cause
Makayla Martinez: my cells parting splitting. Yeah.
Riley: well,
Makayla Martinez: Well,
Riley: if we hadn't said it already, we, we live in Boise, Idaho, right? And that's, the elevation here is around 2,700 feet. So yeah, some of these places you can double that pretty easy up to, you know, five, six, 7,000 feet in the,
Makayla Martinez: the,
Riley: you know, this side of the country, especially in the Rocky Mountains, right? So,
Makayla Martinez: Yep. Yep.
Riley: yeah, and that's,
Makayla Martinez: think about that when I was like, oh yeah, all 50 states. Okay. What Now I have to train, I guess, for the different climates.
Riley: well, you, you should put Leadville on your,
Makayla Martinez: on your,
Riley: that Leadville Ultra. [00:31:00] Do you know about that one?
Makayla Martinez: one Uhuh.
Riley: It is in Leadville, Colorado, and it's 11,000 something feet is the base, and they climb from there. So that race is, uh, I wanna say it's a, I think it's a 24 hour race and they, they go around the clock, but they're yeah, between like 11 and a half thousand feet up to, I think 13 and a half thousand.
So it's, it's for real. It's, it's a tough one.
Makayla Martinez: I'll,
Riley: And I only say that from, yeah, there you go. That'd be cool. Your Colorado Leadville.
Makayla Martinez: Mm-hmm. Yep. Bummer. I've already done one in Colorado.
Sad
Riley: Oh shucks. That one's off the list. No Leadville for you. Well, what's, um, so we, we mentioned briefly that the amount of training you have to do to
Makayla Martinez: to do to
Riley: just stay. tip top condition, right? Because you're, you don't always get to just pick the dates when you, when these races take place. They're, [00:32:00] are when they are, right?
So what, what gets you up every day and keeps you training?
Makayla Martinez: uh, the money I spent on the race, but
Riley: I.
Makayla Martinez: of, um, that, and probably part of my childhood, watching my parents train and run and then they trained and ran the Chicago marathon and just that was their lifestyle was eating right. And Saturday long runs and bringing other people alongside 'em to run with them and stuff. And so that one, I guess, was implemented into me at a pretty young age while I was watching kiddos on Saturday mornings, you know, uh, for the long runs.
But, um, and just the, the healthy lifestyle of it gets my, my butt moving if I have a goal that I wanna reach. And so. . , Getting my, my rear end and gear of just, first of all, you paid for this race, second of [00:33:00] all the travel for it.
But then third of all, I want to compete when I actually run it. I don't want to just complete the race and Oh, yay. You know, a 40 minute 5K might as well, you know, check No
Riley: Hey, that's, that's, that's my 5K time. Take it easy
Makayla Martinez: it easy. I highly doubt that. Highly doubt that. Um,
Riley: right now. It's probably not far off though.
Makayla Martinez: off.
Riley: I,
Makayla Martinez: I also doubt that. Um, but just, just, I guess I, I would not, don't wanna walk my races because I'm out of shape, you know what I mean? I wanna compete and try and get first to my age group, or there was one. not really a bragging right, but I did a, a race in, in El Dorado, Kansas. . And then I ended up, uh, getting first female. I think I was third overall in first female that crossed the finish line. And so, [00:34:00] uh, it just stuff like that that like keeps me motivated to continue yeah, I've been running since like competitively, I guess you could say, of like running all the time since like 2019 and just it gets hard after a while or like, why am I still doing this?
[00:35:00]
Riley: Well, I, I like that you mentioned the, the part of the motivation that you experience is through your, uh, the fees you've paid, you know, the entry fees and the plane ticket and stuff you bought, because I
Makayla Martinez: I
Riley: talk about that a little bit because that's a, that's a real thing that I think people can discount a lot is motivation that comes when, when you have some skin in the game.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah.
Riley: about that a little bit.
Makayla Martinez: a little bit. Yeah. So I'm doing a, a triathlon next month and just something different. You know, something fun might as well, why not, you know? Um, but those races are like so expensive. Pro
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: and the higher the mileage, I guess you could say, the higher the fee is for it. Some of the. little races, um, in like small town, I'm doing one in like, I think it's Virginia, but it's [00:36:00] like a teeny tiny town in Virginia. And so those are like 20, 30, 40 bucks with tax or whatever. But I was thinking about it and like all told the amount of money I've spent that's actually a good old chunk of
Riley: That's a chunk of change. Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. But then also, yeah, the triathlon I think was almost, yeah, it was like almost 200 bucks of just, and that is like you said, skin in the game where it's like, okay, it's more, I don't wanna just, like I said earlier, I don't wanna just go and complete it. I wanna actually compete for it because of the hard-earned money that I put into it.
Cut
Makayla Martinez: some days I'm like, why McKayla?
Good job. I'm proud of you. And other days I'm like, why? Why? Just, why? Why are you spending hundreds of dollars to go and do this? You should really pick up knitting or something.
Riley: Well, I tell you, I think you're gonna look back in life later and be glad you took the time and the 'cause that that's some experience that you,
Makayla Martinez: that [00:37:00] you,
Riley: you're in the season of life right now where you can do it
Makayla Martinez: this.
Riley: and
Makayla Martinez: And
Riley: that will change, right?
Makayla Martinez: Yeah.
Riley: It'll be much more difficult.
Makayla Martinez: Correct.
Riley: Um,
Makayla Martinez: Yep.
Riley: so in your life, who's influenced you the most?
Makayla Martinez: Um, Jesus. But as far as a, uh, person goes, probably my father, my dad, watching him train the weekends, Saturday morning runs, but then when I first started it, he got his degree here, his master's going full circle in kinesiology.
And so he, um, knows the human body and had his own business with working with the body and posture alignment and stuff. And when I told him I was getting into running, 'cause it was free, and I was in college and playing collegiate volleyball, so I was getting chunky. I was like, I needed, I need the lifestyle again.
And so [00:38:00] he came up with workouts, he was there every morning, like, Hey, nope, do this differently or Change your hands on this one 'cause you're gonna hurt yourself and your long run. See you in a few hours. You know, stuff like that where it's like.
Riley: So he made a recipe for you, huh?
Makayla Martinez: Oh, yes, yes. I definitely would not be here today if it wasn't for my father. Well,
Riley: Well, that's
Makayla Martinez: and,
Riley: literally right.
Makayla Martinez: literally, yeah.
Riley: Oh, man. Um, through this whole thing, you know, do you have, uh, a standout, like the greatest learning experience you've ever had?
Makayla Martinez: had? Yeah, sometimes I bite off way more than I can chew, and I don't realize it till later. And this is probably one of those, but I have learned so much either from like, uh, traveling safely or biggest bang for my buck, or a pack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the [00:39:00] airport instead of a $20 hamburger. Um, or guess what? This nutrition pack didn't work for me, so now I'm trying. This one. I have learned a lot. lot. It's probably just tiny little things that have all accumulated, you know, it's not like a oh, epiphany, but just a lot of small learning things that have helped shape literally and grow me who I am today.
Yeah.
Riley: That's pretty awesome to hear. 'cause I, I think, yeah, you can, you can cut your cost dramatically by, with the peanut butter sandwich. I,
Makayla Martinez: I,
Riley: that's actually a really good fuel source for these endurance events, isn't it?
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. Yeah. That's
Riley: Um, so with the, with on this podcast, we call it the Go In Your Salt podcast, right?
Makayla Martinez: right?
Riley: And you hear that, that
Makayla Martinez: that
Riley: go in your salt.
[00:40:00] When you hear that, what, what comes to mind?
Makayla Martinez: to mind?
Sweat, suckles,
Riley: Oh my gosh.
Makayla Martinez: where
Riley: should try to find that picture and see if I can post that in this episode. I, I don't know if I still even have that picture, but
Makayla Martinez: dude.
Riley: that's legit.
Makayla Martinez: It was a good, it was a good picture too. It like very pronouncedly showed. It was like, like literally I just kind of, I remember like looking at it and you guys just all laughing and stuff and I was like, how is that possible?
It just, I
Riley: What the funny thing is, is I didn't even notice those for,
Makayla Martinez: formula.
Riley: just ran the whole thing. I was just running, having a good time, back and somebody else pointed them out like they were like this long. I mean, they, they can clear down my, almost touch my shirt
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. Oh man. But yeah, the term go earn your salt. It's not, how are you going to earn it if you don't go? I guess that was like redundant.
But, [00:41:00] yeah, I, I definitely, uh, think of it more of like sweat, you know, you're salty when you're sweating, but you gotta go earn it, you know? As far as or exercise or disciplining your body or stretching, something I've learned also. ,
Riley: I, I like what you're saying because you're, um,
Makayla Martinez: um,
Riley: my next question I ask you, what advice would you give other listeners to help them go earn, earn their salt? Right. But you're doing that right now. You're saying, you know, between the,
Makayla Martinez: the,
Riley: stretching and just the, you know, getting off your butt and getting out there and doing it, um, the.
Makayla Martinez: the,
Riley: The go part is probably the most significant part of that that a lot of people don't do.
Makayla Martinez: do.
Riley: You know, they've got ideas and they kind of do stuff once in a while, but there's that like consistency of
Makayla Martinez: of
Riley: getting up and getting after it. And I,
Makayla Martinez: it.
Riley: I hear that's what
Makayla Martinez: that's
Riley: hear you saying that I,
Makayla Martinez: There is a difference between traveling to Colorado and doing the race that I wanted to do and then coming back [00:42:00] home and yay I earned it.
Then the hours and hours and hours and hours of running, of of workouts, of weight training, of stretching, of, you know, moving your body before then that you've actually, guess what? I went to Colorado and I earned this state, and I have earned the sweat and blood when I tripped, you know, over a rock, um, that I put into it.
You know, it's,
Riley: yeah.
Makayla Martinez: a different, there's just, it's a, it's a different type of Yeah. Yeah. That's what I think of. You're earning it before you actually achieve it.
Riley: Yeah. And the crowd doesn't follow you
Makayla Martinez: you
Riley: when you're earning it, do they?
Makayla Martinez: do they?
Riley: That shows up.
Makayla Martinez: up.
Riley: That shows up only on race day.
Makayla Martinez: day. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Riley: And even then, race day crowds are kind of lame, huh? Most of 'em dunno who you are, so you only got a couple people out there cheering for you. Even then
Makayla Martinez: Yep. I did, I did a race in, in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Uh, that's where I did the race and it was , , it was definitely small town and [00:43:00] uh, like, ah, this one, this person so-and-so's from Hillsborough and so-and-so's from over the hill over on this side and, uh, MCLA, Martin Meridian, Idaho.
Yeah. It was like where they're
Riley: they.
Makayla Martinez: people. Yeah. Running Idaho. Just people running through the finish line. They read the bib and call out the name and stuff and just is like, yeah, either the crowd's super small or nobody knows actually where Idaho is. And so
Riley: Yeah. Do you ever get people when you tell 'em and you're traveling and you tell 'em you're from Idaho and they're like, oh yeah, it's up by the Great Lakes, right?
Makayla Martinez: right? Yeah. Yep.
Riley: Nope.
Makayla Martinez: I know Ohio. Yeah. Yeah. You're not even close, man. Sorry.
Riley: Not even close yet.
Makayla Martinez: close yet. Yeah.
Riley: thing.
Makayla Martinez: the potatoes. With the potatoes.
Riley: Okay. All right. So let's switch gears a little bit. Um, I've got some kind of lighter questions to ask you that are just, um, it's a little bit like a lightning round. It'll just be
Makayla Martinez: be,
Riley: some, some fun questions. Okay. [00:44:00] Um,
Makayla Martinez: Um,
Riley: tell me this favorite pastime I.
Makayla Martinez: Favorite pastime. Playing volleyball.
Riley: It is volleyball still. Huh?
Makayla Martinez: huh?
Riley: We didn't even talk about your volleyball career, that was a big part of your life that we didn't talk about.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. Speaking of like, that's probably what started my lifestyle of, or me wanting to maintain my lifestyle of health and happy and stuff.
I love it.
Riley: Oh, that's, that's awesome.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah.
Riley: Okay, so on your travels, what's been the best, best meal you've ever had while you've been out?
Makayla Martinez: Um, the race after Montana in 2020, we went to a hamburger joint and the hamburger lasted about 30 seconds.
Riley: It was a good one. Huh?
Makayla Martinez: It was a good one. It was a good one. I still, yeah, race, Montana, March, 2020. I couldn't even tell you where it was, but it was a hamburger afterwards and I just mowed it. There's something about a hamburger after you run [00:45:00] like a race, even long distance. I'm just like, come to mama.
Riley: That's a, it's a re the best recovery food ever.
Makayla Martinez: That is one of the things I was planning on saying, so I'm just gonna say it is through the years that I have been training and running and nutrition and what works for me and what doesn't, what, what worked for my parents, but doesn't work for me. And figuring that all out with protein and so much, so much that I have learned is electrolytes.
Some are extremely sweet, some are like, I feel like I'm drinking Himalayan sea salt, you know? And, um. I'm not trying to toot your horn, but salt is what I use when I did the races in one weekend and stuff. That's the, that was my, they're like my, my uh, my, my trophy salts where they sit high on my shelf uh, after long [00:46:00] runs or after, um,
Riley: It's like a hi on my shelves too. See, I got like about behind my head
Makayla Martinez: Look, you there.
Riley: actually on my shelf.
Makayla Martinez: my shelf. Actually. On yourself, yeah. Nice. Um, yeah, but I definitely, it, it treats my body than of the others that I've tried, so
Riley: I don't, you know, if you remember in the development of that, but we do you remember
Makayla Martinez: remember
Riley: when we used to run, we used to deal with certain products that you, and you probably deal with this too, but you take like an energy gel or a sports drink or something and it leaves that, that icky film in your mouth.
Makayla Martinez: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Riley: And we, we worked hard to make sure Salt didn't do that. That's that's nasty.
Makayla Martinez: Yep. And I would say it doesn't,
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: if I'm being
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: not trying to toot your horn, but Yes, it doesn't.
Riley: . Um, have, have you ever been in a fight?
Makayla Martinez: physically?
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: [00:47:00] Yes.
Riley: Do tell.
Makayla Martinez: For work? Uh, well, two days ago I
Riley: Oh crap. We almost got you with a black eye on here, huh?
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. Yeah. That would've been embarrassing. . Okay. Two days ago, uh, yeah. Doing, uh, working, somebody was hiding in a closet. came out at gunpoint. and then he decided that he got mad at mom 'cause mom told us he was in the house. And then me and my coworker fought him and uh, we gently assisted him to the floor. where he was then shortly compliant afterwards.
Riley: I love how gentle you are about it.
Makayla Martinez: yeah, it's my diplomatic answer when in reality it
Riley: is a diploma.
Makayla Martinez: and had [00:48:00] people come and lighten sirens to come help us. And was four other adults in the home that weren't too happy that we were helping brother get safely into handcuffs
Riley: Help him be compliant. Yes.
Makayla Martinez: Correct. Correct. Yes.
Riley: Does I love it.
Makayla Martinez: love it.
Riley: Does, uh, you did a little bit of juujitsu, right? Do you use the stuff you learned there in those situations?
Makayla Martinez: yes, I would say yes. A blanketed yes. Um, it helps a lot. It goes through my brain quickly when I am going hands on and trying to gain compliance of somebody. Um, but also it's, it's different because the people I roll with on the mat or the people that I did roll with on the mat, they're, they work with Yeah.
You know, you know, going through the, the steps in the, here, let's do this next time. Or, [00:49:00] you know, they stop and take a break or just 'cause they're a big strong dude. They don't just muscle through it, you know, with me at least they just, you know, look, you can move your pinky this way and you're sideways.
You know? Um, but it's, it's definitely different. Like the guy two days ago, he was. All sorts of strung out, and it's just different the, when drugs are involved, and it like the, the meth strength. , But just the, the, the, it's just different. It's just, it's not a moldy, squirmy body that you're trying to roll with.
It's, I don't know, I, I can't explain just tense and I'm not, you know, I don't know. I don't know. It's just different. That
Riley: Yeah,
Makayla Martinez: sense, but
Riley: no, I hear that a lot because you've got
Makayla Martinez: got
Riley: a [00:50:00] lot of times when somebody is fighting, especially if it's in a friendly time and you know that the pace is different,
Makayla Martinez: Yes,
Riley: if it's unfriendly, the pace is, is they're frantic, but they're also drug induced. They're not feeling normal pain sensations that would stop them from doing certain movements.
They, they'll push right through and injure themselves just 'cause they, they're not gonna feel it till later. Right.
Makayla Martinez: That's actually great nutshell. Yes. Exactly that.
Riley: So, okay. Uh, scariest moment of your life.
Makayla Martinez: Scariest moment of my life when I thought I was lactose tolerant and I couldn't eat ice cream anymore.
Riley: Woo.
Makayla Martinez: I'm just kidding. That one was definitely, it's definitely up there. Uh, scariest moment in my life. Also work related. Could have gotten shot in the face but didn't.
Riley: Oh, I'm glad you didn't.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah, me
Riley: Holy cow.
Makayla Martinez: I like my face the way it is
Riley: Yeah. Wow. I mean, [00:51:00] this, this, uh, video would look way different if you had, you know,
Makayla Martinez: be a
Riley: a gap in the middle of your face.
Makayla Martinez: A
Riley: Oh my gosh. Um, can you talk about that? Is that something you're willing to talk about?
Makayla Martinez: about, um, yeah, , a few years ago, going to this house again somebody runs to the back bedroom there was a lot of people, it was, it was just chaos. We literally walked into a drug deal instead of the loaded extended mag Glock that was on the bed, he grabbed the drugs and, uh, left in a hurry without us being able to stop.
So I think it, it, it wasn't like he picked up the gun and shoved it in my face, but it definitely was the thought of, we didn't chase him in there 'cause we were dealing with the child he ran over [00:52:00] and the mom that was screaming and four other people that were in the, tiny little residence.
Riley: It was that realization later that it could have been the gun that he could have grabbed instead?
Makayla Martinez: Yep. Yep.
Riley: Yeah. Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. I was like, maybe two years on the job I was with somebody who was got hired after me. It just was a lot of like new experiences, I guess you could say. And so we definitely didn't control the situation as we should have, and we know that now, but just the real, I guess the realization afterwards of, oh wow, there was a gun where he was bending down to, you know,
Riley: Well, part of it is the stupidity of the
Makayla Martinez: the
Riley: guys is, uh, was on your side that day, huh?
Makayla Martinez: day. Yes, yes. And
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: it, yeah, the drugs were more important so. I appreciate that actually.
Riley: And you say he ran over a child?
Makayla Martinez: , Yeah. So he ran over the kid, not with a car, but with his body.
Riley: That's what I was, I was, I was curious about, but[00:53:00]
Makayla Martinez: Yeah.
Riley: regard for the child anyways. He just,
Makayla Martinez: correct.
Riley: it's gonna go full linebacker.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah.
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: Ba salts. Yeah.
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: yeah, the, we literally interrupted the drug deal, like first time I've ever seen $30,000 in cash, and it was, it was crazy. It's crazy.
Riley: Yeah, that's, that's for real.
A, on a lighter note, what is your just fondest memory in life?
Makayla Martinez: Oh, man. Fondest memory. Dinner around a very cramped. Table at Grandma and grandpa's, , uh, little farmhouse in Adrian, Missouri with all of the family and everybody's happy. pies.
Riley: I. You know, it's funny 'cause those, those events don't come around very often, do they?
Makayla Martinez: Nope,
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: nope. Not anymore.
Riley: What, uh,
Makayla Martinez: uh,[00:54:00]
Riley: bucket list challenge is there? I mean, you've already got this 50 state thing going, but
Makayla Martinez: but
Riley: what's another bucket list challenge you have that you wanna do in the future?
Makayla Martinez: future? Oh, man. Um, short little ones, like there's a place, blue Heart Springs. I think it's in Twin Falls. I wanna go paddleboarding there. Um, I would love to go to
Riley: You should go do that with Riley and Lindsay. That would be fun.
Makayla Martinez: be fun. Really? You think so?
Riley: Yeah, we've got the kayaks. We've been wanting to do that too, so
Makayla Martinez: Seriously.
Riley: Yeah,
Makayla Martinez: It's been literally years of my life that I'm like Blue Heart Springs. Blue Heart Springs. Gotta get out there. I got a paddleboard. We kayaking paddleboard.
Riley: that'd be, that'd be perfect.
Makayla Martinez: Yep. I'll ask him. just little things like that. I guess my main one is the 50 state one, but,
Riley: , Right?
Makayla Martinez: a, a mature adult, adult being, I
Riley: Don't do that.
Makayla Martinez: that. No.
Riley: Don't ever do that. That's no fun. [00:55:00] Oh, um, what's a book? What's a book you would recommend everyone read?
Makayla Martinez: read the Bible. It's a good one.
Bible. Yeah. Everybody. Um, I'm not, I'm not that into reading for. Money makeover. That's also a good one. Um,
Riley: Is that Ramsey? Is that what you're.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I'm reading a swimming book, to Swim for Dummies. That's also a good one.
Should you want to do a triathlon and don't know how to swim? So,
Riley: So check this out. There's one, um, the, the totally immersion book. That's, that one's amazing.
Makayla Martinez: actually, that's the one I am reading. It's not How Swim for Dummies
Riley: Yeah. That book,
Makayla Martinez: that
Riley: that book changed my, my swimming abilities in a big way.
Makayla Martinez: way.
Riley: It turned out when I did a triathlon a few years ago, I was actually pretty fast in the [00:56:00] swim, but it was also my easiest event because of that.
Makayla Martinez: of that.
Riley: Um,
Makayla Martinez: Uh,
Riley: yeah, that was a,
Makayla Martinez: was a,
Riley: that's a game changer for sure. That's helps you be really efficient.
Makayla Martinez: Does that
Riley: I,
Makayla Martinez: like the steps? They have different drills of swimming?
Riley: yeah. Yeah. It has some drills in it. It has, uh, a lot of technical knowledge. And then I think there's some videos too. You can go, go watch on the YouTubes that have a lot of
Makayla Martinez: of
Riley: instructional on how that works.
Makayla Martinez: Yeah. Nice.
Riley: Yeah.
Makayla Martinez: I'm, I think it's in my nightstand.
Riley: Well,
Makayla Martinez: Well,
Riley: I sure appreciate you coming on. We're, um,
Makayla Martinez: um,
Riley: yep, we're getting close to the hour now, and I told you about an hour and so I wanna respect that.
Makayla Martinez: that.
Riley: Um, but McKayla, I appreciate you coming on. Go out there and earn your salt. Okay?
Makayla Martinez: . I
Riley: Awesome. You rock. We'll, we'll talk to you again soon.
Makayla Martinez: soon. Okay. Sounds good.
[00:57:00]