Racing Into Shape with Molly Huddle

This week’s guest is 2-time Olympian, many-time national champion, and 10,000m American record holder Molly Huddle. In addition to being a top-tier professional runner for Saucony, in recent years Molly has become a podcaster, writer, and leading advocate for women’s sports, as well as becoming a mom earlier this year with the birth of her daughter.

We had a fantastic conversation about the journey back to racing from childbirth, Molly’s changing relationship with running and plans for her professional future, and her perspective on the relationship between track and field and social media. Molly is a wealth of wisdom when it comes to training, racing, and growing the sport, and we appreciated the chance to pick her brain about everything from her training partner Emily Sisson’s American record performance in the marathon, to her tips for the upcoming NYC marathon, to her feelings on racing for fast times versus chasing the win. Molly is planning on running the BAA Half Marathon this month and the Houston Half in January as she returns to fitness and prepares for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials

Apologies in advance for some sub-par audio quality during the episode – we had some equipment challenges on our end, but we didn’t want to deprive the listeners of this awesome conversation. Enjoy the episode and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review us and all the other CITIUS MAG shows wherever you get your podcasts.

On returning to running from childbirth:

“My plan was to race into shape because I actually thought it would be less pressure than to wait and not know where I’d be in relation to my old performances. I’d rather just show where I’m at as I’m progressing, and I love racing.”

“After giving birth, your body globally is not able to careen back into shape like I used to [following injury]. Your body’s doing something else at the same time and it’s slower; it’s different.”

On her plans through 2024:

“I look at this as a fun time in my career. You can take risks and do what you want with races. Whatever I enjoy the most, that’s what I’m going to put my focus on. I do think I can still PR in the marathon and there’s motivation there to do something I haven’t done before.”

On working with coach Ray Treacy:

“When someone knows you so well as an athlete, there isn’t a coach who can do it better. If you can be with a coach long enough for them to always know what’s best for you as an athlete, that’s really special.”

On marathon race strategy:

“The governor is always how you’re feeling on the inside, and until you hit that limit, you can race within that range. Women’s elite fields can be thinner and you can find yourself between packs a lot. It feels less like a race and more like a really long, hard workout.”