My identity has been questioned since forever. I grew up constantly being asked, “What are you?” and I used to call myself “Mexican,” because that is what my dad was taught to call himself. But we didn’t really speak Spanish at home and none of us were born south of where the border is now. Our ancestors were around before these borders existed. And before Spanish, there was/is Nahuatl and Otomí and Maya and many other languages and identities. To be honest, I didn’t even know to think of my dad, his parents, or my maternal grandfather as “people of color” until I moved to Colorado. As ridiculous as that sounds, it’s actually quite interesting to me. I didn’t have such language to separate them from others growing up. Now that identity politics are everything, I’ve learned a lot. But whether or not I “look the part” is not my problem, and it isn’t anyone’s place to decide. This is my family. This is me. I am a descendent of both Indigenous ancestors and Spanish ones. Plus, my mom’s mom is 100% Irish. I can’t change history or who my grandparents and parents chose to love. I am light skinned because of all of this. Does that suddenly mean I don’t belong to them and their stories? Their languages? I belong to all of it. The colonized and the colonizer. Sure, debate who I am and where I belong, because that is the epitome of my existence and it is exactly what colonization wants. But my dad? His mom? My maternal grandfather? Nope. You cannot deny they’re brown, and I will not let anyone deny their belonging to Turtle Island. Bad Bunny performing yesterday stirred up a lot of emotions in me. I think about my family’s assimilations and removal from culture and language. And yet here we are, celebrating cultures that were supposed to be eliminated and forgotten. I love my roots. I love that my ancestry came from both the southwest and farther south. I love that I continue to wander down the path of reconnection. Thank you, @badbunnypr for lifting us all up, all “Americans,” from the north to the far far south, we are still here. F&ck 🧊 and f@ck the haters of complex identities and history.
#soyquesoy #delatierra #badbunny #mixedrace #identitypolitics
2025 was all about letting go. I began the year with a run streak to savor the lead up to my double mastectomy, Feb 26th. I even set a short FKT the day before surgery. After, it was all about recovery. Walking. Hiking. Strength and mobility PT. Some running. But, I had to surprisingly deal with IT band issues, which threw me into more PT. Then, I had to move up my second surgery, a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, due to insurance. I withdrew from the few races I’d signed up for in the Fall. More recovery time. But I got to go backpacking and enjoy the slowness of just moving my body. I’m still strength training more than running right now, but I’m so excited for the return to the sport I love. Despite having 4 less organs, may 2026 be the ultimate comeback with this new version of myself. Thanks for all the love and support along the way. Fingers crossed for some more badassery, community, and falling in love with the land over and over again. 🫶🏽✌🏽
#delatierra #brcastrong #brcaprevivor #brca1 #postsurgeryrecovery #toughyear #goodbye2025 #2025 #athletelife
“ Every time I was slowing down and feeling like maybe I just can’t do this. Like, no, I need to think about the women that I am here to honor. That just made sure I was at least willing to keep trying.” - @oyesaranda
Sara Aranda inherited a genetic mutation that took her mother’s life far too young. In the years since, she has turned to storytelling, adventure, and ultra running as a way to honor her mother’s memory and keep fighting forward.
In 2024, Sara set out on an audacious FKT attempt along a 130-mile route from the lowest point in the continental U.S. to the highest, carrying grief, grit, and purpose every step of the way.
Listen on Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts! (Link in bio)
Big high fives to our sponsors for The Diaries: @kuatracks , @obozfootwear and @darntoughvermont
Produced by: @marco_gonzales14 , @beccacahall , @fitzcahall
Thank you Rene and Patrick for also sharing your story.
Perhaps Mother’s Day should also be about honoring matrilineal cultures. P and I booked two Ranger tours at Mesa Verde National Park yesterday. It was not only stunning to see the dwellings and learn more about cliff life, farming, water, etc but I was really glad the Rangers talked about how these places are direct relatives to living people today. Countless Pueblos spanning across the Southwest are connected to this region and to these very sites. We visited Balcony House, the Petroglyph Trail, and Cliff Palace. Tho the word palace is weird to attach to a culture whose priorities were very different from what a palace means. There was no rich vs poor here. They were families, farmers, craftspeople, traders. They domesticated turkeys and dogs. Corn thrived atop the mesas. Matrilineal society meant women held sacred, cultural leadership and power, and that is still the case for many living descendants.
My mother’s paternal-grandmother’s lineage is from a group of Ancestral Puebloans, though no one knows from where. My grandpa simply knew his grandma as, “Indian Grandma.” For a while, my grandpa was trying to research this lineage, but then he had a stroke. I, for a while, attempted to pick up where he left off. But, thanks to Spanish conquest, such knowledge was purposefully erased or made impossibly elusive to find. I may never figure out whose culture these women were taken from, but I think about them often. And I think about my dad’s mom, too, though her lineage is from much farther south. All these women, though they were descendants from matrilineal societies, grew up in patrilineal ones dominated by Spanish and English colonization. It’s hard not to want to imagine how things would have been different if the assimilation/oppression hadn’t been what it was. All I can do now is talk about them, lift them up. They are not forgotten. Thankfully, my dad’s mom is still alive.
I honor the ancestral women of this world who kept their lives and families afloat, who bore and raised and managed and believed in better futures. Every single day is yours.
Ultra runner Sara Aranda inherited a genetic mutation that took her mother away at a young age. In the years following, Sara has woven together storytelling and adventurism to pay tribute to her mother’s memory and empower herself to keep fighting. In 2024, @oyesaranda made an audacious FKT attempt on a route that travels 130 miles from the lowest point in the continental United States to the highest.
Listen on Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts! (Link in bio)
Big high fives to our sponsors for The Diaries: @kuatracks , @obozfootwear and @darntoughvermont
Produced by: @marco_gonzales14 , @beccacahall , @fitzcahall
Artwork by: @waltronic
Photos: Anya Kuznetsova
Nada ni nadie es perfecto; ciertamente mi lengua, mi cuerpo, mis deseos e intenciones, no lo son. Pero, ¿dale no más, no? Ya voy. Ya pruebo. :)
My tutor recently asked me to write poems in Spanish, scroll to read one (translation is in my Insta story today). I wanted to play with how lengua means both language and tongue, but to also write about a deep insecurity of mine. It’s a simple poem, perhaps solely cathartic. But at least it’s mine.
#delatierra #poemas #poesía #learningwhatmyfamilylost
Humo was the most psyched on the @guenergylabs chews packaging haha. Shopping for all the variety of nutrition/fueling products is what makes @thefeed unique in my opinion. Too bad for Humo they don’t sell cat treats. Discount code for The Feed in my bio LinkTree :)
#thefeedapril #cats_of_instagram #cute #runningfuel
Returning the girl to the alpine. 2026 summer, I can’t wait. Still sponsorless but maybe I’m meant to do things my own way. Vamos.
#brcaprevivor #brcastrong #postsurgerylife #delatierra #alpinegirls
Come check out these upcoming events. And if you feel like you’re too slow for run club, don’t! Join the early group or look for my name as sweeper and we can hang (sweepers start with main group but are purposefully there to chill) 🤗
Lots of things happening with La Plata Coalition. Dan King is speaking but I will also be there.
And I am presenting on behalf of @runners4publiclands on May 6th.
I don’t really understand the algorithm but whatever. Updates from me: reacquainting myself with old writing of mine, slowly becoming whatever athlete I guess I’m supposed to be post surgeries, a photo of my mother in her 20s, my PE shirt from Jr. High, fluffiness and raininess and entering literary contests and starting my coaching business (thanks to the two trial clients I have thus far) and I guess there’s a thing called millennial cringe and I’m (maybe) here for it.
#delatierra #justkeepswimming #whatisreal #socialmediaiswhack #millenial
Medal Monday: I opened up a box I’ve been meaning to go through for several years 😅. It’s so cool to look back and metaphorically embrace my younger selves. She was a perfectionist but also someone so willing to try very hard and give anything her all. From Jr High “track meets” to music in high school to triathlons and 5Ks in college to graduating magna cum laude to my first trail races, my eagerness to prove myself was one of the only things I felt I could truly control in my life, especially given that all of this coincided with my mom’s divorce, cancer, and eventual death. The fire to always do well still exists in me and sometimes it still makes me too self-critical, but it has also given me so much joy and pride. I sure knew how to kick butt! The woman I am today owes so much to this driven girl. When I become self-conscious, I remember her. She showed up. She won things thought impossible. She struggled with immense grief, but knew such successes would one day mean something more. Nina Williams, during her panel at No Man’s Land Film Festival, talked about giving her younger self more credit. Younger Sara, you were always such a force of nature. Thanks for never giving up. 🤗
#delatierra #brcastrong #celebrateyourwins #lookingbackmovingforward #medalmonday🏅
