Today, a man who has verbally expressed that he is able to touch women without their consent due to his status was named the 45th President of the United States of America. He now sits in one of the highest leadership positions one is able to possess. He's now the leader of my country.

I've had a few weeks since November, 8th to process the thought that he had been elected as our new commander in chief. As disheartened as I was that night, I've pressed forward, contemplating how to express myself in midst of it all. I have indeed pressed forward, and I have clung to hope, but I have not in any way accepted that silence and acceptance is the answer. Just "getting over it" is never the answer when it comes to injustice and what is right and wrong.

For those who tell people to simply respect the position at hand and to quit "whining" (there is a big difference between expressing dissent against your elected leader and simply whining), I feel as if this quote sums it up best: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” - Theodore Roosevelt

It's okay to be dismayed. It's okay to be afraid. However, in the face of opposition women don't accept defeat and we definitely don't settle quietly into the shadows as we've been expected to do our entire existence; to be seen and not heard. No, women fight back. We may have days where we are not the loud voice screaming against the powers that be on the rooftop, but we continue until those days come. We keep going. We always persevere.

I'm also quite aware that the fact I'm a young woman living in America gives me a major dose of privilege compared to my many sisters around the globe. I don't risk death for typing this article expressing disdain toward my newly appointed President. The fight for equality is far from over, and in many places it has only just begun. I will always respect the women before me who allowed the freedoms I have today, and revere the millions of women far less privileged than I around the globe who would sacrifice so much just to have what I have. I'm also aware that my LGBT and other brothers and sisters who are in other minority groups have a different fight than I have at times, and I'll fight alongside you and respect our different struggles in this life.

The past few weeks I've felt discouraged. I've felt insignificant. I've felt like my voice doesn't matter, and I've felt helpless. I see all of the injustice happening and re-read the words our new leader has spoken about women, and I know, these in of themselves should be enough to get me off the couch and do something about it. But lately all of this has just made me feel even more hopeless than before. All of these things continue to happen he's saying all of these horrible things, and yet people still think he is qualified and worthy of the position he holds. It gets tiresome.

I think sometimes the biggest opposition standing in our way in the process of change is ourselves and our own mindsets. I can't go make change happen if I'm not even feeling confident that I could make that possible.

So, how do I express myself in this time? How do I feel encouraged again? The biggest emotion I have felt throughout this process is helpless, and I don't like feeling that way. I needed something to boost my own morale; to get me fired up again to want to keep fighting. When you feel like you're helpless, there is a step you have to take before you're able to keep fighting. You need to recharge.

Right before I began this post, I got home from work a little later than expected and decided to watch some Netflix. I found a really neat documentary discussing the history of marathon running with an emphasis on the history of women's participation in the sport. It was titled Free to Run.

I rarely cry during romantic films, but get me a movie or documentary involving a sports story or women's rights and I'll cry for days.

I love running. Running is my therapy and biggest anxiety killer. I feel alive when I run, and I'm not sure what I'd do without it. I feel like I can conquer anything. Women I've always been proud of and looked to for inspiration are runners like Kathrine Switzer, Wilma Rudolph, Julia Chase-Brand and Bobbi Gibb. There are many more who paved the way for women runners today as well.

Few people are aware of this, but women were not always allowed to participate in track and field sports the way we are today. In fact, women were banned by the AAU and the NCAA to participate in long distance running events longer than a mile and a half because we were told we were too fragile. Our bodies and our minds couldn't handle a marathon, much less two miles. Even in the Olympics, where the top athletes perform, women were not allowed to compete in races over 800 meters long. They didn't think our bodies or minds could handle even over two laps around the track, even at the highest level of fitness. This wasn't in some ancient time period either. All of these restrictions occurred in the 1960s. My mother was born in 1968. This wasn't that long ago.

In 1961, the AAU didn't allow any women to participate in any road race at all no matter the distance. Julia Chase-Brand was a girl who in the same year, ran a six and a half mile race without officially entering due to the ban, and ended up beating multiple men during the race. According to the NY Times, '"The New York Journal American wrote: “Under questioning, Miss Chase said she is 5-4 ½, weighs 118 pounds and does not know her other dimensions. (Eyewitnesses report her other dimensions are very good.)”' and newspaper headlines from that day included: "“Coed Just Likes to Run, Yet Burley Males Object” and “She Wants to Chase the Boys.”

Even her own father suggested she play tennis instead. She went on to continuously defy the rules banning her from running by entering races without registering and by refusing to leave when threatened of being banned from AAU road races for life.

In 1966, Bobbi Gibb unofficially ran the Boston Marathon without a race number or registration, becoming the first woman to ever do so. The following year, Kathrine Switzer registered to run the race using only her initials, leading the race officials to assume she was male. Switzer is one of the most famous female running pioneers. She gained her notoriety after a race official attempted to physically rip her race number off her shirt while running, and then attempted to pull her by the arm off of the course. Think if you were on course to finish 26.2 miles and a grown man tried to physically push you off the course because your dainty female body was not equipped to handle the run. That was literally what women dealt with in the 60s. Kathrine Switzer among others started a revolution and eventually, less than ten years before I was born, the women's marathon was allowed for the first time in an Olympic games.

The film I had been watching shortly before writing this article discussed this revolution in great detail. When I was watching it, and I saw the look on the women's faces when they crossed the finish line, saw the famous photos of Kathrine Switzer getting literally man-handled against her will in an attempt to keep her from running, and listened to their stories, it happened. I got my spark back. I got my inspiration and my fire back. I remembered why we have to keep fighting. I fell in love with being female all over again. Nike, one of the biggest athletic companies who grew to popularity through runners themselves, was named after a goddess, after all.

I'm not a perfect person. I lose my temper sometimes when I'm passionate and I don't always know the eloquent thing to say. I don't have a law degree to make change happen through law and legislature. I don't have thousands of dollars to put together conferences and travel to the source to let my voice be heard. I'm shy at times and terrified of public speaking. But I can run. I know, I know. I know what you're thinking. Wow, Halie you can run, that's great, that literally does nothing to stop the injustices in the world. But it does! Because whenever I run, I remember all the women before me who couldn't. When I enter races, which I will do in April for either my third half marathon or first full (yikes!) I remember that this is something women had to work for me to be able to do. When I run I feel empowered! I feel alive and I feel as if I can accomplish great things. I learn how to work towards something I'm afraid of and see my hard work pay off. I learn how to face obstacles and distances I never thought I could overcome and see them fall behind me in the background. I feel as if I can conquer anything in my path, whether it be applying to graduate school or fighting injustice and inequality in the world.

We all sometimes go through slumps where we feel defeated and insignificant or helpless. For me, running breaks me out of that rut. I remember that so many women just decades ago weren't allowed to run what I do and they worked hard to break free from that. Running reminds me I'm strong and capable. Running starts a domino effect, which leads to actual change happening. When I feel confident and strong, I feel as if I can actually make a difference when I march with my fellow sisters, or write letters to my representatives, or let my voice be heard. If you're afraid, or you're feeling incapable find the thing that encourages you and inspires you again, so that you may go out and use the gifts you have to bring change to your nation and your world. I want to help fight what is happening in our nation, but I felt like I was worthless to do that. It wasn't that I was becoming apathetic or that I stopped caring, I just didn't think I mattered. Then I got my spark back and running helped me do that. I hope you get your spark back, too. You have a sister cheering you on, and we have too much to lose.