Keeping Track

Molly and Alysia talk anti-doping. We’re speaking on doping cases like Shelby Houlihan’s recent case where accidental contamination is named as the cause. How are the many cases like these in the USA alone over the last few years potentially affecting clean athletes and the progress toward anti-doping? We talk about the concerns around setting a precedent for escaping a ban, on trying to avoid our own biases, exlpain more about the AIU, learn of Alysia’s experiences fighting for clean sport and talking to Yuliya Stepanova, and note how we are waiting to hear the other side of the case annnnnd we leave you with why there are still real amazing performances out there.This Episode is sponsored by Whoop! Head to Whoop and use code TRACK for 15% off!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk to Keturah about  her Covid Year, why mentorship is important to her, Rule 50, her training , her challenging moments and the mantras they taught her, what it's  like to train with a legend like Brittney Reese and why it's important to know Keturah is more than an athlete. Thanks to Whoop for sponsoring this episode! Head to whoop.com and use code TRACK for 15% off a recovery band!also check out Keturah's great blog keturahorji.comand thanks to Saucony.com for supporting our season 2 production costs!check out our blog for full show notes  on this epsidodewww.keeping-track.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our first women's sports pod cross promotion is with Cherie Louis Turner's Stride's Forward Podcast. We sent her our Dawn Harper Nelson Episode last month and we host her interview with ultra running star Courtney Dauwalter.Big Thanks to WHOOP for sponsoring this episode. use our code "TRACK" for 15% off!Annnnnd anyone needing motivation to race-check out these two virtual events supporting maternal health causes like Every Mother Counts!EMC Global Run Challenge which ends June 2!Also the Made to Move Virtual RaceLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Ro and Molly talk with Michelle Carter who is a three-time Olympian, American Record Holder and Rio Olympic Champion in the shot put. She tells us how this past year has gone, how she harnesses her confidence, her plans outside of track, what it was like during that gold medal throw, her special relationship with her coach and sports star Dad, and how she’s thrived by as she states it by "embracing all of who she is." How to follow Michelle:Instagram @shotdivaFacebook @ShotPutDivaWebsiteShout outs from the intro:Katie Burgess at Garrison Hughes is up for Addy awards for the work she did on our Instagram account this JanuaryPre-order our S1Ep6 guest Tianna Bartolettas book Survive and AdvanceRoisin and Lauren Fleshman's Believe Training JournalAlysia’s book Feel Good FitnessSupport &Mother with a virtual 5kOur PatreonAnd thank you to Saucony for covering Season 2 production costs and to Gatorade Endurance for sponsoring this episode! This month the focus is Personalization Is Power. How are you tailoring your hydration and fueling to you? Check out the new Gx Sweat patch here and get 20% off Gendurance products with code TRACK20 (Offer good until 12/31/21).As always, check out our website for more episode information including show notes, transcripts, and more, and follow us on Instagram. Thanks for Keeping Track!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk to Irish record holder, mama, cancer survivor and our good friend Mary Cullen about her start in the sport, her days at Providence College, her pro-career, injury struggles and recent battle with cancer which occurred during her pregnancy with baby Ellis. Mary has always been a strong one, and we hear it from her today. Thanks for Keeping Track!Intro: Molly and Alysia intro Mary and Alysia has some shout outs:You can support &mother as they support Mother-athletes chasing Olympic Dreams this year Also can support them by signing up for their virtual Mom Forward 5k, with maternity fitness brand cadenshae and Altra running! reg opens March 23 As always check into our website and block keeping-track.com for transcripts and more show info! Thank you for Keeping Track!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we talk to Michelle wheeler. She is a wheelchair racer in the marathon on the roads and Paralympic hopeful on the track. We talked to her about her life as Mom, as an athlete and as a professional mental health counselor. She tells us how she has been doing over this Pandemic year, and we discuss how Paralympic athletes could be better represented and supported as well as how she has been a role model for other kids to enter the sport. See our website (https://keeping-track.com) for show notes with links and a full transcript.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We spoke to scientist, distance runner and trans woman Joanna Harper about her book Sporting Gender. In it she covers the history and science of DSD and transatheltes in an interesting read that gives deeper information on the discussions about women’s sport you likely have seen in recent news as well as an inside view of some of the IAAF rulings on DSD and Trans athletes. We also hear from 800m runner Kate Grace (as well as Alysia) on their perspectives in an event that has seen dominance by women with DSD and how they’re both honestly still figuring out how to talk about this complex topic and all it’s intersections in a way that’s fair and supportive for all involved. (full transcript and show notes with links at our site)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gals catch up for a bit then we talk to newly professional runner, NCAA XC and 10,000m champ Weini Kelati. We talk about her recent year during Covid times at school in New Mexico, her decisions to go pro and where to go and who to sign with, and then we delve into part of Weini’s backstory . She tells us about how she found running in her rural Eritrean village, and how she hopes to inspire a wider view of  what’s possible for women back home.Catch up: 0-6 Alysia’s Diastasis Recti surgery recovery- prioritize your body’s peak functioning!8-Ro’s post baby life update. Resource yourself!14-Molly: Alexi Papas  Op Ed on clinical depression and Aliphine Tuliamuk baby announcement!17-athlete mental health risks19-having something outside of sport as an athlete can help you keep perspective and joy25-Weini’s introduction and our takeaways from the conversation33: intro Weini @kelatiweini twitter and @weini_kelati  instagram and Weini Kelati facebookHer life this year during covid: school, class online, training, no racing34-On going pro!Importance of seeking and making your own support group as an athlete (like a family away from your family)How she made her decision to go to Flagstaff (Dark Sky Distance with Steven Haas and Under Armor)42- Weini’s journey into the sport as a girl from rural Eritrea and how she got to USA and stayed at 17 years old45-she walked to meet 5 hours away!53 “(in my village in Eritrea) Your family has no vision for you as a girl. All they know is you can get married in a few years, and you have to learn what your Mom does. I didn’t see a lot of runners, I hadn’t heard of runners or anything.’“I want to be the best example I can be-I want to through running inspire the women and young adults (back home)....I want to show that they can be independent and do things bigger than what’s expected” 55-misguided beliefs about women’s health and sport back home, disapproval of letting kids go away overnight to meets57-courage to go against the normRo wants to share this video , explaining barriers to access to physical exercise, (such as Weini describes back home and we see in the USA as well!)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgClXqDxtZg&t=1s&fbclid=IwAR1piTvXrsTWAHGfRyPPo70vDg8Qvfljv_jZvqKJ1dVF3cSsSJAl-hWaVYULearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Alysia, Ro and I catch up then Alysia and I talk to USA Long Jump Legend Brittney Reese. She is a 7 time World Champ gold medalist , 2012 Olympic champion and 2016 silver medalist, and indoor American record holder. We talk to her about her pandemic year, training at the Olympic Training Center, life with her son, how she is giving back to the kids in her Mississippi home town and what she has planned for the future. 0-4:  Ro and Alysia catch up-juggling kids during Covid and working for yourself: saying yes to too much5- post election emotions 10-Hour Track record14-Intro Brittney Reese (alysia is pumping -Mom at work!)2012 goldBrittney is legendary athlete, and opening herself up more as a shy but impactful presence in the community.17: Brittney Reese InterviewBased at Oly Training center in Chula Vista-what changes w Covid:Brittneys Fam: son Alex is 13Balancing training and him/distance learning/his sports schedule etc21-Future plans: Just got her Masters in entrepreneurship22- we need more meet opportunities in USA “I don’t think we have enough meets to meet those needs for everybody outside sprinting and distance”26: she gives back to the sport and her community In many ways-“The end goal for me is to be a track coach. I want to give back to the sport that’s allowed me to be successful .. but I also want to take that knowledge and go home (to Mississippi) and start my own track club”30: Making the big push for these last 2 years of her career31- wants to support her son as he gets more seriously into sports 32- what things are like right now in training35-Being seasoned and marinated!36- does her son ever come to practice?37: Background on how she came to adopt him43: doping:  robs athletes of money, exposure and when it’s good people that miss out it hurts (link her op Ed)- side note, the Rodchenkov Anti Doping Act recently passed in Senate46: life at the Olympic Training Center (Drug tests once a month)- what’s practice like48: can she dunk though?WNBA plans?(Link to league pass!)we got ours!52: On trying to put herself out there more to affect change and reach the kids, engage in community 56“I could care less about the spotlight...but now I’m trying to open up a little bit more and give back a little bit more and I know that the youth is where it starts, which is why I have camps back home, which is why I want my own track club- I invest in the youth that’s my thing, they’re who is going to carry the sport”57: why be closed off as an athlete? Protect your zone and mental focus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk to Mary Wittenberg, lifelong runner, current president of EF cycling, former CEO of Virgin Sport’s Virgin Group, and for 17 years she was CEO of NYRR. We talk about Mary’s start in the sport and how she went from a law career to leading the NYRR, her visions for the sport, how she intentionally marketec the pro athlete and advocated for the female athletes, and what her goals and visions are in the cycling space.0-10-Molly And Ro discuss some recent world records: Letesnebet Gidey’s 14:06! And Peres Jepchirchir’s women’s only 1:05:15 to win the recent World Half Marathon Champs 11-14: what about cycling and running draws Mary in as a fan and participant (although she is a runner for life)14-18: Notre Dame connections: Mary somewhat of a trailblazer for ND women’s XC team How her early experiences racing behind Joan and the best lead to realizing the inspiring power of promoting and relating the pros to the other participants19-first marathon experience was trial by fire of sorts in stacked field “I think my whole why in life has been to help other people unlock their potential”“It was a big advantage playing sports with men, because  in my career i didnt think twice about saying it straight,and expecting that I should be in the room and at the board room table too because that was the case with sports. It helped me unlock my best, and so in wanting that for others I’ve always appreciated that professional athletes who rise and fall every day and don’t have these straight trajectories, they can be really really inspiring to regular people so I’ve always liked to establish that connection whenever I can”22-How Mary got to NYRR30- As an industry we have to keep learning and striving for equality“Athletes are never going to have leverage, they have it late in career but, that’s where leadership comes in at all these companies...it’s hard for young athletes and young people to have leverage”33-she’s focusing on safety for all ridersWhy not well covered womens’s fields? Less financial support etc. “It’s overdue”36: what we can learn from pro cycling in covering endurance events well 44“I don’t think women’s sports are a charity-I think women’s sports are good because they’re great athletic performances and I think these leagues and the like can be great businesses over time-maybe that’s something we learn- don’t treat it like a charity treat it like an entertainment prospect treat it like a business treat it like a movement’45-expanding the diversity in cycling48- what’s it take to be a great cyclist? Part endurance part dare devil (link BelieveIAm worrier vs warrior blog and quiz)51-Mary’s story: “ We get to keep going and learning. …”@Marywitt@marywrunsGreat article here on Mary via ThriveLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices