Fast Women Podcast Highlights, March 27
This week’s newsletter was getting long, but I didn’t want to skip the podcast section, because there were some good ones. So here’s this week’s overflow content:
BYU coach Diljeet Taylor was great on I’ll Have Another. She says that she really encourages athletes to embrace the changes that come with puberty, and the sooner it happens, the better it tends to be for their running, so she doesn’t want anyone to fight it. She said that a lot of the freshmen on her team run only 40 miles per week, because consistency is important and she likes to leave room for them to progress. Taylor also spoke very openly about the rift that was created within her family when she decided to pursue collegiate athletics. Host Lindsey Hein also talked to Whittni Orton Morgan, who is coached by Taylor and just had a breakout indoor season. It was interesting to hear her talk about brands losing interest in her when she bombed at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships, but I bet they regret that now.
Ali Feller had a fun conversation with Erika Kemp on the Ali on the Run Show. Kemp talked about her race at the NYC Half and said she would give herself a B for her performance. Kemp said it didn’t help that the race fell right before her period began, when she tends to feel her worst. She talked about the ups and downs of the transition from running for the B.A.A. to running for Brooks, and she said that after living in Boston for almost five years, it feels right to make her marathon debut there.
I loved Molly Huddle’s NYC Half race report on Women’s Running Stories, but right after I listened to it, I saw her update on Instagram indicating that what she thought was a hip flexor strain turned out to be a stress fracture. Runners who breastfeed are at higher risk of developing stress fractures, and Huddle seemed to be bucking that trend, until now. Huddle pointed out in the podcast that she has never raced a marathon in super shoes. “I guess that might have an effect on the race,” she said, laughing. We’ll just have to wait a little longer now to see it.
Colleen Quigley spoke candidly on Convos Over Cold Brew, saying she spent four or five years “overtraining to the max” with the Bowerman Track Club. When she left, she thought she’d back off and feel great right away, so it was tough to realize her body wasn’t going to recover that quickly. Triathlon training is working very well for her, though, and she says she’s much happier now. Quigley said she thinks that the more people embrace different ways to train, the better Team USA is going to be. She said that among other things, she’s considering racing the USATF LA Grand Prix and the USATF Road Mile Championships.
Professional sprinter Chloe Abbott is on The Voice this season. (More on that here.) In addition to watching the show, you can follow along via her Instagram account. She went on the FloTrack podcast last week and answered some questions about the process and the experience. (She comes on at the 53:45 mark.) It was also interesting to hear her talk about the evolution of her team, Formula Kersee.
On The Sub Hub, Arkansas standout Lauren Gregory talked about her future racing plans. She said the trails are where her heart lies, but she hopes to do a mix of both trail racing and track racing. For now, she has one track season remaining in the NCAA, and her focus is fully on that, and then she’ll explore sponsorship opportunities.
On RunChats with @RonRunsNYC, Australia’s Lisa Weightman, 44, talked about running a personal best of 2:23:15 at the Osaka Marathon, spending time at Tokyo Disneyland during her “recovery” week, and running 2:31:42 at the Tokyo Marathon a week later. Weightman hopes that her 2:23 will earn her a spot at her fifth Olympic Games. She said she wasn’t planning to run Tokyo, but she was there, and she wanted to get her fifth World Marathon Majors “star.” It was interesting to hear Weightman talk about having so many tibial stress fractures when she was young, only to go on to have a long career.
If you enjoy geeking out about training, you might enjoy Coach Grete Koens on the Sweat Elite podcast. Koens coaches many of Europe’s fastest distance runners, including Diane Van Es, who recently ran 30:29 for 10K.
Additional Episodes: Syracuse Standout Amanda Vestri on the Lactic Acid podcast (highlights are in an article here) | Krissy Gear and Abby Nichols on Midday Treat with HOKA NAZ Elite | Lauren Fleshman on The Feisty Women’s Performance Podcast | Allie Ostrander discussed eating disorder recovery as a pro athlete on Female Athlete Nutrition