San Jose woman, Molly Cuevas, completes month one of cross-country run to benefit challenged athletes
NEW MEXICO (KGO) -- The Miles by Molly journey has hit the one month mark.
On April 1, San Jose native Molly Cuevas began her three-month, 3,000 mile journey across the United States to help raise funds and awareness for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
TOTAL MILES RUN: 1,065
"So far so good!"
That's the feeling that San Jose native, Molly Cuevas, has after completing her first full month on the open road.
Cuevas is running across the country to help raise funds and awareness for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF).
She began with a goal of raising $20,000 by the end of the journey.
She is now past that amount and aiming for $50,000 total fundraising.
"The support has been crazy good," Cuevas said. "People that I don't even know are reaching out to me and saying that I'm so inspirational. I was not expecting any of that. I'm just doing this run to promote CAF. It wasn't really about me. But people are now messaging and texting me that they went out on a run or a walk because of me. They say the 40 miles that I'm doing inspired them to do five. It's great."
The journey has not gone on without a few bumps along the road.
Just after her first full week completed, she ran into something she had not dealt with in her sports career: an injury.
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"The second week I had an achilles injury and that put me back a couple of days," Cuevas said. "I had to cut down on mileage and skip a day. I went to a chiropractor in Scottsdale and he was able to do treatment. I got acupuncture and some cupping done."
That was the physical side of things, but she said it mentally took a toll and it caused her to change her course a bit.
"I had to tell myself that it's only my second week and just get over it," Cuevas said. "I said it was going to be fine, I just had to keep doing what the doctor said and it will get better. It set me back a couple days and that was a tough pill to swallow. I had it in my head that I had to do 40 miles a day because I said I was going to do it. So now I've changed my mileage so it's not 40 miles a day. It's now 40, 40, 40, 35 and 30 miles per day."
Many would assume this was the most difficult part of the month on the road filled with running hundreds of miles weekly.
But it's actually something most people take for granted.
"The most difficult part of the journey has been eating and keeping up the calorie count," Cuevas said. "I should be eating about 5,000 calories per day, but I think I've done that once. I'm getting in 3,500 to 4,000 and that's hard for me."
Thankfully along her journey, her friend, Whitney Kanavel, and her mom have been helping her in so many different ways from keeping everyone informed about her travels and any other needs that Cuevas faces.
"My mom and Whitney are incredible," Cuevas said. "They are planning where we're going to stay next and where to get food. They prepare all my food so when I come in, it's ready and I can eat. It's just crazy what they do and how easy it has been on me because of it."
The support from Whitney and her mother is not the only support that she receives.
There has been an outpouring of love from people across the country in the form of fans, sponsors and onlookers that have joined the "#MilesByMolly" journey.
But Cuevas says the work is not done for her or for those looking to help her out.
"It's been amazing that I have so much support," Cuevas said. "Don't stop please, because it helps me get through my days. I do look at my phone during the day and I love looking at my phone and see random messages from everyone. Donate to CAF!"
If you'd like to donate to the cause and follow along with Molly's journey, you can on Instagram, Facebook and her website.
ABC7 will be providing updates throughout her journey.
