Pregnancy, Running And HotTakes

Molly Catches up With Grayson Murphy about the twists and turns 2025 has taken and what she's looking ahead to.Check out Grayson's Substack here for more "HotTakes" ( thoughtful discussions really) and her Coaching and Paper company here: stats on our topic of online abuse of women athletes here 

 We couldn't let National Breastfeeding month go by without a research spotlight,  we hear from Dr. Nicole Danos.  Dr. Danos talks about the limits of human metabolism being pushed during lactation, how the body may adapt to this, and how this affects an animal's  (and woman’s) muscles and tendons. Not much is known in scientific literature about lactation and the complex effects it has on the body. Thankfully Dr. Danos is doing this important work in understanding womens health and she broke it down for us to understand today. Running Moms- this one speaks to you!Dr. Danos received her PHD in Biology from Harvard and is currently an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of San Diego. She is a broadly trained Vertebrate Comparative Anatomist who uses model and non-model organisms to study relationships between form and function.  Her studies focus on anatomy and mechanical properties of tissues, especially soft tissue,and how these might contribute to critical organismal functions like walking, and eating. We talk in this episode about a few papers but mostly reference her recent paper called , you can read it here:Effects of pregnancy and lactation on muscle tendon morphologyHer recent study

Don't forget to support Meridia at the virtual mile this weekend Aug 9!Register here-I'll race ya!https://www.movemint.cc/events/meridia-mile/registerColleen Quigley updates us on her training and racing and we hear all about her new Woman led training group and how it's breaking the mold and aiming to better serve Track and Field athletes .follow on instagram @teammeridiasubstack www.wearemeridia.com

Marta Pen Frietas grew up in Portugal not knowing professional running was a valid dream- now she's an NCAA champion, National Champion, and 2 time Olympian.  She takes us through her start in the sport (doing many events well-like 400 hurdles!) to her current day as a Brooks Beast where she is navigating a breast cancer diagnosis and first year of treatment. On the fun side we hear about fashion, houseboats and awkward kisses. Marta also educates us on egg freezing as an option for women who want to feel more freedom in around fertility.follow her at @martapenfreits on instagram for more ! 

Keeping Track speaks with US 800m runner Valery Tobias about her start in the sport, her time on the team at the University of Texas, transitioning to professional Track and on making her first World Champs team ! Tune in to her first round race 11:15 am March 21st on peacock!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 I talk to Erika Kemp, who 6 weeks ago ran a big PB with her 2:22 runner up finish at the Houston Marathon. We tried to pivot from race talk since it’s been re-hashed on many a pod so for those links check out our episode page at www.keeping-track.com (and sign up for the email list to stay up to date on future episodes show notes and links)! Erika bettered her record as the fastest American-born Black Woman Marathoner and landed 12 on the US women's marathon all-time list. We talk about her unique and a little stressful position as being 5th in line for the World Championship team berth this summer, and we cover her colleg experience, confidence, book recs, fashion and the city of Providence!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're realizing stereotypical sports fandom is actually male sports fandom- but the numbers are in, and they say the ladies are here and they love sports too! In fact Wasserman Collectives newest data set shows that over 70% of women surveyed from 30 countries consider themselves an avid sports fan! With a majority control of discretionary spending, they are an invaluable demographic. How do women experience sports fandom differently, and what's not so different? Why does it matter and how can it be better harnessed by the sports industry? Let's hear what the Vice President of the Wasserman (yes, that Wasserman, the big sport and music agency one!) Danielle Smith has to say.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aisha Praught-Leer is an Olympian, the 2018 Commonwealth Games Steeplechase Champion, and has held Jamaican records from the 1500m to the 5000m....but some of her favorite moments in sport are from the parts you never got to see! Molly and Aisha also get into how she decided to structure her retirement, what she is doing now, the mental transition and it's challenges, what she'd like to see improve in the sport as a whole and what gives her hope. Thanks for Keeping Track!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alysia and Molly talk about some of the &Mother initiatives and beyond in how to support Mother Athletes at the Olympics and Paralympic Games. "What we want for female athletes is to allow them to be holistically themselves....this is what I tell my daughter. You have an opportunity to be yourself, you have an opportunity to be an upstander and you have the opportunity to leave the world better than you found it and if you listen to every negative voice....you are going to be the one who's on the bottom of the floor. What you want to do is be the one climbing the ladder and bringing people up with you"-Alysia Montaño on racing while pregnant and not listening to negative commentsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jessica Gall Myrick was a 3 time all American distance runner while at Indiana University and went on to become a social scientist and full professor at Penn State University. We talk about her work studying Media Psychology and health and given her running background we dive into how it relates to women’s sports- which she is equipped to speak on. In 2020 she did a study to see what happens to audiences when commentators use sexist language around women’s sport .Links to Jessica’s published works including her text book and her articles via her website emotionsandmedia.com. She’s also currently needing feedback for a study on college athletes so we link her survey as well https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5zOXFRNpB19RFdkRecap and links are posted at our site as always www.keeping-track.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices