3 REASONS WHY I'M NOT YOUR AVERAGE FITNESS FANATIC

“I DON’T USE FITNESS TRACKERS”

Back when I was training to race outside, my Garmin was LIFE and if I didn't cross post my workout to Strava than I felt like it didn't even happen. I was obsessed with how far I had ridden, how many feet of elevation I had climbed and how many hours I had been in the saddle that week. One day I received a pretty nasty message from someone who had gone through and stalked out my race results, my workouts, etc. They used it as a personal attack to make me feel like I was undeserving of any sponsor I had earned and any recognition I had received. Clearly this person didn't follow my blogs on the Specialized website or actually take the time to read my Instagram posts because my entire journey was about starting from nothing, never claiming to be the best, but rather sharing the ups and downs with other people in hopes that they would get out there and try riding, too! Not too far after that incident I pretty much stopped posting my workouts. I went back and forth deciding if I stopped because I wanted to or if I stopped because someone made me feel bad about it. I didn't want to admit that someone actually got to me. Hate happens allllll of the time and most times you can let it go - sometimes you don't. Regardless of whether or not I stopped because of this person, I will say the silver lining is that when I did stop, I finally found balance in my life. The pressure was gone and I was finally working out for myself, not for the likes on Strava or to appease what I thought I "should" be doing. It's now been around a year and a half and I haven't looked back since. 

“I DON’T COUNT CALORIES OR MACROS”

Listen, I am a definite rare bird in this scenario. Most people will not relate to this, but if you do, know that you aren't alone. I fully appreciate that tracking food intake helps A LOT of people and to be totally honest, I WISH it had that effect on me. Unfortunately, every single time I've ever tried using an app to track my food it has the reverse outcome. Instead of eating better I end up only thinking about food, absolutely obsessing over it, and after awhile I lose my mind and binge eat...bad. By the end of it, I will have eaten WAY worse than if I had just went about my day eating what I wanted. After several tries of monitoring my food I had to accept that it just didn't work for me. I would rather be aware of what I'm putting in my body and try and make good choices rather than flipping a switch and completely losing control of myself. Again, most people I tell this to think I'm nuts, but if you're anything like me - I FEEL YOU. I will say, even though I don't use things like MyFitnessPal anymore, I did learn a lot about what I was eating when I was using it. I still think it's a great tool for a lot of people, just not me. 

“I EAT (admittedly) TOO MUCH JUNK FOOD BUT I’M NOT AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT IT”

Look, I grew up eating terribly. The only spinach I ever grew up eating came from a can and was cooked in a pot with loads of butter and salt. It's amazing I don't weigh at least 100 pounds more than I do and even more amazing I was able to get where I am now. However, sugar is still a massive addiction of mine. It's my HUGE personal battle, but rather than cutting it out 100% (probably not possible) or pretending that I eat salads on the daily, I use it as a means of balance. Now, do I eat 3-4 donuts for breakfast anymore? Absolutely not, but if I want one than I will have one. It took a lot of trial and error to find what works for me and a lot of feeling guilty that I wasn't the perfect health specimen. In the end I finally found that balance was king and my balance will not be the same as your balance. If you can cut sugar out than by all means you go Glen Coco, but for me, I'd rather have one donut than lose complete control of myself and end up eating that donut, plus a pie, plus fried food, plus literally whatever else I can find. IF the day comes where I decide I want to be shredded, I am fully aware that I will need to do some major adjustments, but until that day comes, I'll take my small daily food victories and accept that although I'm not perfect, I know that I've come a LONG way in my eating habits. 

I'd love to hear your journey with food. Did you grow up eating healthy? If not, how do you think that's influenced how you eat now?

Outfit by the amazing Largo Drive. Check out their blog post where I did an interview and talk about my journey in becoming a fitness instructor.
Interested in buying something from them? Use code MAE20 from now until November 11th to get 20% off all regularly priced items.

I'm wearing the Lanston Sport Slit Bra and the Lanston Sport Slit Leggings. 

Governors Island with Exploring Paths

Earlier this year a mentorship program based in NYC called Exploring Paths reached out to me. They provide their youth participants access to bikes, helmets, journals, one-on-one mentorship, and cycling activities around New York City. When I visited in January I gave a talk to the kids and a talk at an amazing fundraising event, but it was too cold to actually go on a ride with them. So when I was given the opportunity to come back this summer, I was excited to join in on their trip to Governors Island and spend two days with everyone!

We started the weekend off at the YMCA where snacks, water, food, and all of the cycling gear was provided to the kids and mentors. We headed out using paved pathways with plenty of support to ensure an extremely safe ride to the ferry. Once we boarded the ferry (with our bikes) we had a great view of the city and a nice cool breeze. We started riding to the urban farm, but not without stopping to go on the slides and take photos in front of the Statue of Liberty first. 

At the urban farm, called the Teaching Garden, we were taken on a tour of their vegetable beds, educated about their recycling program, fed goats, got close to the chickens, and played with worms. We ended the ride around Governors Island with a tasty snow cone before boarding the ferry. With colorful tongues and a full belly, we headed back into the sunshine and biked the streets of New York City where we ended at the YMCA. `

It makes my heart so happy to know this program exists and these kids are being exposed to an active lifestyle, nature, leadership, and fun. I'm very grateful to have met these kids and their mentors and I hope they never stop exploring paths! 

A huge thanks to Katherine Long for having me, Specialized for gifting the kids hats and shirts, and Oakley for gifting the kids sunglasses. 

Saris SuperClamp EX 2-Bike Review

If you follow me on Instagram stories, you would have seen just how proud I was when I put together this bike rack by myself - even the FedEx guy who stopped by was impressed. Full disclaimer, this rack was sent to me to review, but opinions are always my own, so here I am telling you allllll about it. 

This is the new Saris SuperClamp EX 2-Bike, it retails for $469.99, and I've been using it for mountain bikes only so far. It was pretty simple to put together, a one woman job, and everything needed to assemble was included except for the adjustable wrench. The rack weights 35lbs so I have no problem taking it on and off my car. I'll list the detailed specs below and elaborate on some or my favorite and not so favorite things so far. 

First off, I love that the lock is integrated. I live in Atlanta and bike theft is rampant so that is a MUST have if I'm taking my bikes anywhere at all. Make sure you feed the cord towards to middle of the rack and through the frame rather than coming towards you and back into the rack (I hope that makes sense). The cord is just long enough with no extra slack so it's nice and snug. Like I said, so far I have used this rack with two mountain bikes and I'm happy to say that they are both easily secured. I was able to tighten everything down myself which I was happy about, as this has actually been a problem I've had with another bike rack in the past. A few simple pushes on the wheel-clamping hooks, a couple of clicks, adjust the straps at the bottom for the wheels, and you're ready to rock and roll. This rack also has zero contact with your frame, another pervious problem I've had, so I'm very happy about that! Lastly I love the tilting mechanism. I can fold it up when I'm not using it and tilt it back with the bikes on to access my trunk. 

Cons: So far the only problem I've had was loading TWO downhill mountain bikes on at the same time. It was a two lady job as one person was needed to hold the first bike steady as I loaded on the second one, and then brought the arms up. In the future, it would be nice to see a version that has the arms independently adjustable in order to put on bigger bikes one at a time. Realistically, this won't be much a of a problem as my go-to bikes are small enough to load each bike in one at a time with ease. 

There you have it! The new Saris SuperClamp EX 2-Bike rack in all of it's glory! If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Check out the detailed specs straight from the Saris website below:

• Platform style hitch rack

• Carries 2 bikes, up to 60 lb/each.

• Two shepherd's hooks hold bike by top of both wheels -- does not touch the frame of the bike.

• Sleek, compact and lightweight design transports two bikes on a single bar.

• Adjustable arms and wheel trays fit almost any type of bicycle, including those with fenders, mountain bikes and ebikes; bike spacing accommodates widest combination of bicycles.

• Integrated locking cable secures bikes to the rack.

• Locking hitch pin secures rack to the car

• Tilting feature allows access to rear of vehicle, even when fully loaded, and folds up when not in use.

• Ratcheting arms pivot on case hardened brackets for superior strength.

• Reflectors on outside wheel trays ensure extra visibility in low light.

• Bottle opener integrated into tilt handle.

• Built and tested to outlive the elements.

• Universal hitch works with 1¼” and 2” hitch receivers.

• Rack weight: 35 lb

• This rack fits a wheelbase of up to 48”.

• Universal wheel trays accommodate a wide variety of bikes and wheel sizes (up to 4” tires).

• Wheel straps are provided for the rear wheel if needed for kids bikes, e-bikes and bikes with fenders.

• For use with tires wider than 4”, add the Fat Tire Wheel Holders.

Here are some stock photos incase mine just aren't doing it for ya!

A weekend in Florida

This post was written for Specialized. See the original post here.

Well, it’s definitely no secret that my Camber and I have become quite the pair. My boyfriend and I have even started making a tiny course to practice on in our backyard AND I signed up for a Women’s Downhill Camp that’s happening in July. I pretty much jumped in with both feet to say the least. I’m still SO incredibly new, but very set on learning. 

This past weekend we took a trip to Destin for a little beach vacation and while we were there we thought we would visit a local MTB trail. We reached out for suggestions on social media, found the address of a trail near by, packed up our stuff, and headed out. The trail head had no map of the trail system, but plenty of bear warnings. As we’re riding along I’m thinking to myself how flat it is, no one would need anything more than a CX bike out here, easiest trail ever, so and so on and then BAM I over correct and throw myself into a tree. Just goes to show you that you can literally fall anywhere so use this as my friendly reminder to wear a helmet while riding. Regardless of the tiny scratches (and slightly hurt ego) I ended up with, we had fun, explored through the path of palm trees, admired the crazy amount of white moss, and of course stopped to take photos.

We finished the ride, stopped for acai bowls, and ended our day playing in the ocean while enjoying Floridas white sandy beaches. Bikes, food, and the beach - I’d say this is one of my favorite ways to spend a day. 

Meet my new Specialized Camber

*This post was written for Specialized. See the original post here.

Meet my new beauty - the Specialized Women’s Camber, but first let me give you a little back story as this was not an overnight decision.

Nearly a year ago I felt some major and loving peer pressure to get a mountain bike. Considering my first experience prior to that was awful, I wasn’t too keen on getting back on one, much less buying my own. Unfortunately I made the mistake of borrowing a bike much too big for me, slammed my lady bits on it within the first five minutes, and felt as if I was going to fall off at any point. Let’s just say I was not one with that bike and because of this experience I thought I hated mountain biking.

Sometime in the following year is when I joined an off-road cycling team (for CX) where the majority of those girls also love mountain biking. Lucky for me they gave me the itch to give it another try. After hearing I wanted to try MTB again, my friend Carol reached out to me and offered to let me borrow her bike and have a mini clinic with me as she was in the process of getting her certification to be an instructor. I took her up on it and wow, what a difference that made. When I met her at the trails she took the first 20 minutes or so to set up the bike to accommodate me. We went out and did a mix of riding and skill training where she would take video of me to better explain either what I was doing right or wrong. Long story short, this made a massive difference and I became hooked. I spent the next few months trying to educate myself on the various types of bikes and figure out (with the help of others) what would be the best bike for me.

Once I decided on the Camber I spent a solid few days visiting my local Specialized Dealers to try a few sizes and chat with them about sizing. Because they didn’t have the exact bike in stock, it took some side-by-side geometry comparing to really figure it out.

Fast forward to this week when the bike arrived and I rode it for the very first time. I LOVE IT. It was a process to get to this point, but completely worth it. I’ll be sharing my MTB adventures (the good and the hilariously bad - as I always do) in the next coming months!

The best cycling shoes in the game

Clean or dirty, old or new, indoor cycling or outside - THESE BABIES are my tried-and-true when it comes to PEDALING DAT BIKE! By day I teach indoor cycling at Flywheel Sports so I’m teaching 8-11 classes a week (on top of any classes that I take) and boy do I get stopped while wearing my baby blue S-Works 6 shoes in the studio. I keep these for indoor cycling only so that I’m not tracking in my smelly outdoor road shoes, plus I’m not mad that these have stayed in perfect condition - I mean, look how pretty they are! 

On the other hand, my white ones have been trained in, raced in, wrecked during a crit, worn in the rain, and I’m pretty sure they need to be retired. However, because they are so broken in and comfortable I haven’t had the heart to upgrade them just yet. Also, just in case you’re wondering, I have no trouble keeping them white (except for the areas that hit the pavement). 10/10 would recommend. Also, if you have narrow feet like me, it wouldn’t hurt to add Footbed inserts to really make sure you’re foot is snug as a bug.

Original blog post written for The Specialized Digest. Click here. 

Smart Eyewear : Oakley Radar Pace

"Okay, Radar - What's my workout today?" I say out loud as I'm getting on my bike. "Today, you're practicing group cycling. We'll be going 38.5mi and climbing 2,910ft," is the response I hear through my smart eyewear.

Yep, that's right - I'm talking to my sunglasses. 

The above photo is by the amazing @wildermonster & @ncruzimagery

The above photo is by the amazing @wildermonster & @ncruzimagery

On October 3rd, Oakley and Intel released Radar Pace, a hands-free virtual coach built into your eyewear to use for cycling and running. With moveable and detachable earbuds, you can listen and respond back to the glasses to do to various things such as receive feedback about your workout, ask questions like, "how am I doing?, listen to your music, and accept phone calls. Using the free Radar Pace app, Bluetooth, and smart technology, the glasses will collect and analyze personal performance data including power output, heart rate, speed, cadence, time, pace and distance. If you'd like to read more about specs, I'll point you into the direction of the professionals and tell you to click here.

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Kona, Hawaii during the Ironman World Championships and actually put the Oakley Radar Pace glasses to the test. With both the Intel and Oakley team there, we started off on Thursday with a demo day learning all about the glasses. At the Ironman Expo were two large shipping containers turned into a really rad Oakley booth where you could shop Oakley gear, create custom glasses, and of course, watch a live demo of the Radar Pace. 

At the demo we watched a guy as he started running on a treadmill while talking to seemingly no one. A female voice responded through the speakers commenting on his stride, heart rate and water consumption. He responded back with questions, and the female voice would respond in real time. While totally hands-free the runner was receiving feedback about his workout via the smart eyewear. My eyes got huge and I immediately had SO many questions. "Can you import your own workouts?" I asked. "No, but the free app has tailored workouts for you based on what you're training for and when the event is." Wow, so the glasses not only talk to you, but the connected app has customizable workout plans. That's pretty awesome. After that, a lot of technology words were throw around and that's where I was a little lost. As much as I love gadgets, I'm 100% into the experience while numbers and fancy words go in one ear and out the other. At this point, I'm totally hung up on the fact that my sunglasses can talk to me! Like, hello - is this real life? My next question was, "can I remove one of the earbuds? Safety first, you know? The answer is yes. You can either bend the arm of the earbud to hover it above or below your ear, or completely detach it. 

Later that day, the team took us outside where helmets, kits, shoes, bikes, and Radar Pace glasses were waiting for each of us. I'm a kid in a candy store at this point. I'm taken up to a table where someone works with me one on one to walk me through the process of fitting the earbuds to my ear, adjusting them to make everything as comfortable as possible, and syncing them to my heart rate strap, power meter, and phone. As we are setting everything up, I'm being told that the glasses charge via micro USB, hold a charge for 4-6 hours, come with additional clear lenses in addition to the PRIZM Road lenses, and feature touch sensors on the left side to do things like control my music and adjust the volume. After the glasses are ready to go, another person fits me to my bike, puts brand new cleats on my shoes, and the next thing I know - I'm riding around on a sweet Specialized Roubaix with Di2! What is my life right now?! My heart is full and my mind is blown. 

The next day we meet up for a sunrise ride/run with three time world champion, Craig Alexander, where everyone is decked out and ready to test the Radar Pace. I turn on my phone and glasses, ask what my workout is, and a group of us get going. As I'm riding, I'm asking her various questions for fun. "What's my cadence? What's my heart rate? What's my power? Is that good?" She responds with the stats and I keep going. The only thing I wish I would have done is attach the aero clip because when it got really windy going downhill, she couldn't hear me because of the microphone interference. So noted, always use the aero clip. What really got me was when she reminded me to drink water, or better yet, told me that I'm coasting too much (we stopped to take photos, ok?!) haha. 

The above photo is by the amazing @wildermonster & @ncruzimagery

Overall the experience was great and immediately I thought of my friend Liz. How perfect are these for someone who doesn't currently have a coach, but trains and wants an efficient workout? I met up with her last night to tell her all about it and she's sold. With the price point at $449, I rate this as fair. Considering the Oakley PRIZM road glasses (without additional lenses) range from $120-$250 just by themselves, you're also getting headphones with great sound quality, additional clear lenses, an app with customizable workouts, and of course the two-way conversation real-time coach that calibrates to you and just gets better the more you use it. 

The above photo is by the amazing @wildermonster & @ncruzimagery

A big thank you to Oakley for allowing me to be apart of this experience. It's one thing to try a product, but another to meet the people behind the brand, hear about the two years of hard work that went into making the product, and actually have the creators help us out first hand. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you. 

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If you'd like to see Radar Pace in action, please view the video below. 

Giveaway! A Burley Tail Wagon for your pets!

Hey guys! I'm here to admit something because I have a problem. I feel like I might be the biggest dog mom of all dog moms and Burley has totally enabled me to take it to another level with this Tail Wagon. I mean look at it! It's SO dang cute! So I took Sweetpea for a ride and surprisingly she did really awesome with it. I'm not going to lie, I really wasn't sure how she would react but to my surprise she loved it. I'm super excited that Burley is going to giveaway one of these Tail Wagons to another dog/cat/animal mom or dad out there! AH, you guys - I just love it and I can't wait to see one of you guys use this! So here is how you enter:

Contest Rules:
Begins Tuesday, May 24th and ends Friday evening, May 27th

HOW TO ENTER:
1. Follow @MaeElizabethG and @BurleyDesign on Instagram
2. Like this photo on my Instagram account
3. Tag two friends in the comments section of this photo on IG

*You guys are going to have a go at me again, but sorry, this contest is only open to USA residents.. Not my decision I promise! I love all of you international babes. 

One winner will be announced on this photo on Friday May 27th - Good luck!