Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Why Intentional Rest Matters: Emma Grace Hurley on Her Record-Breaking Chicago Marathon Debut, Training With Purpose & Eyeing 2028

Transcript

Why Intentional Rest Matters: Emma Grace Hurley on Her Record-Breaking Chicago Marathon Debut, Training With Purpose & Eyeing 2028 · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: God has had a plan since the beginning and everything
0:02
Speaker 1: has worked out ahead of me, like exactly the way
0:04
Speaker 1: it's supposed to. And I'm very fortunate that those things
0:07
Speaker 1: worked out in a way that like I can see
0:09
Speaker 1: and experience in the moment that are good.
0:26
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody. Emily Abadi here.
0:28
Speaker 3: You are listening to another episode of Hurdle, a podcast
0:32
Speaker 3: featuring the mindset secrets and true stories of the most
0:34
Speaker 3: inspiring women in sports and wellness. empowering you to live
0:38
Speaker 3: a healthier, happier, more motivated life, and of course, conquer
0:42
Speaker 3: your own hurdles.
0:43
Speaker 2: This week's guest is recent.
0:46
Speaker 3: Chicago Marathon top American woman, shattering the American woman's marathon
0:53
Speaker 3: debut record, Emma Grace Hurley. Emma didn't follow the typical
0:58
Speaker 3: early specialization path into distance running. In middle school, she
1:02
Speaker 3: ran track as a secondary sport through the discus and
1:05
Speaker 3: played volleyball well into high school before the running bug
1:09
Speaker 3: truly took hold. After collegiate success in competing with the
1:13
Speaker 3: Atlanta Track Club, Emma Grace faced a period of major
1:17
Speaker 3: uncertainty and anxiety when her coaches moved, ultimately making the
1:21
Speaker 3: leap to follow them to Indianapolis to continue training with
1:25
Speaker 3: Andrew Begley. That move kicked off an undeniable rise to
1:28
Speaker 3: the top ranks of the sport.
1:31
Speaker 2: Earlier this year, her grit was on full.
1:33
Speaker 3: Display at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta. Running
1:38
Speaker 3: in podium position near the front of the race, she
1:41
Speaker 3: and the lead pack were famously led off course by
1:44
Speaker 3: a misdirection snafu from the lead vehicle with less than
1:47
Speaker 3: two miles to go. And despite that chaos and bizarre finish,
1:51
Speaker 3: her poise and standout performance earned her recognition as an
1:54
Speaker 3: honorary co-second place finisher. And that helped her secure her
2:00
Speaker 3: spot in representing Team USA at the World Running Road
2:04
Speaker 3: Championships in Copenhagen. That resilience and quiet discipline culminated just
2:08
Speaker 3: days ago on the streets of the Windy City. There,
2:12
Speaker 3: she made her 26.2 mile debut at the Chicago Marathon.
2:16
Speaker 3: where she stunned the field with that amazing 2-20-47 finish.
2:21
Speaker 3: In this conversation, we talk about the power of keeping
2:25
Speaker 3: life chill between hard training blocks, what it felt like
2:27
Speaker 3: to genuinely smile through the first half of a world
2:30
Speaker 3: marathon major, and how learning to embrace temporary discomfort on
2:34
Speaker 3: the roads has shaped her life off of them. We
2:37
Speaker 3: also chat about what it's like to be an A6 athlete,
2:40
Speaker 3: the excitement she has for what's to come, and her
2:43
Speaker 3: big hopes for LA 2028. Make sure you're following along
2:48
Speaker 3: with Hurdle over on social.
2:50
Speaker 2: It's over at Hurdle Podcast.
2:51
Speaker 3: You can also check out I Heart Women's Sports over
2:54
Speaker 3: at I Heart Women's Sports and me over at Emily Abadie.
2:58
Speaker 3: Listen to Hurdle with Emily Abadie on the I Heart
3:00
Speaker 3: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
3:05
Speaker 2: And with that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.
3:14
Speaker 3: Today, I am sitting down with Emma Grace Hurley. She
3:18
Speaker 3: is a pro runner for ASICS, and she recently ran
3:22
Speaker 3: the fastest ever US woman's debut in a marathon to 2047.
3:27
Speaker 2: Emma Grace, welcome to Hurdle.
3:29
Speaker 1: Hi, thank you for having me.
3:31
Speaker 2: How are we doing today?
3:32
Speaker 3: And I want you to answer really honestly, how do
3:35
Speaker 3: you feel in this moment?
3:37
Speaker 1: In this moment, I am tired. I'm about like 11
3:41
Speaker 1: days post-marathon-ish, and... We were just in Michigan for an
3:46
Speaker 1: ASICS event and yesterday was like such a packed day
3:48
Speaker 1: and I'm so used to like running and then sitting
3:50
Speaker 1: on the couch all day. Not in like a lazy way,
3:53
Speaker 1: but like in like a productive way. And there was
3:54
Speaker 1: like a lot of going, a lot of things going on,
3:57
Speaker 1: all excited, but I'm tired. Yeah, I literally just got home, so.
4:01
Speaker 3: I mean, you, yeah, even if you hadn't been traveling
4:05
Speaker 3: to and from Michigan, I would say that 11 days
4:08
Speaker 3: post the effort that you put in, you're still allowed.
4:11
Speaker 2: To be pretty tired.
4:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, the legs feel good. The legs are good.
4:15
Speaker 1: I've run a grand total of 15 miles since then,
4:18
Speaker 1: which I feel like people are getting back to running
4:21
Speaker 1: earlier and earlier after marathons, but I feel like 15
4:24
Speaker 1: is like a sweet spot to be at right now.
4:26
Speaker 3: I actually totally agree with you from the non-elite POV.
4:31
Speaker 2: I feel like.
4:32
Speaker 3: It's become commonplace in the age of running is wildly popular.
4:38
Speaker 3: Everybody is doing it that not only are people running
4:40
Speaker 3: a marathon and then going for a jog the next day,
4:43
Speaker 3: but we're also seeing people run three marathons a season.
4:49
Speaker 1: Couldn't be me.
4:53
Speaker 2: Absolutely not.
4:57
Speaker 3: I also really appreciate the sentiment of I have only
5:01
Speaker 3: run 15 miles. What was your first run that you
5:05
Speaker 3: did after the big day?
5:07
Speaker 1: My first run after the big day was the race
5:11
Speaker 1: was Sunday. And then the Monday, a full week later,
5:15
Speaker 1: not Monday, the next day, I ran three miles.
5:18
Speaker 2: Okay. Three miles. And you know what? I'm sure those
5:21
Speaker 2: miles weren't anything crazy. Is that right?
5:23
Speaker 1: They weren't. They were so chill. Yeah, no, just up
5:26
Speaker 1: the path and back.
5:28
Speaker 2: The sexiest pace. We love that. Well, I'm so excited
5:31
Speaker 2: to have you on the show today.
5:32
Speaker 3: And although I do want to talk about all things Chicago,
5:36
Speaker 3: I think it's really important for us to dial it
5:39
Speaker 3: back as one does. Tell me a little bit about
5:43
Speaker 3: what first excited you about the sport of running.
5:46
Speaker 1: I always ran track as like a secondary sport in
5:49
Speaker 1: middle school. But I mean, I like I also jumped.
5:52
Speaker 1: I also threw the discus. I would race anything from
5:55
Speaker 1: the 200 up to the 1600, never the 32. Dear God,
5:58
Speaker 1: that was too far. And I remember the first time
6:03
Speaker 1: I broke six for the mile in eighth grade. Well,
6:06
Speaker 1: first I got beat. Another girl who's still my friend,
6:09
Speaker 1: Catherine ran like 514 or 513. I actually, I think 514,
6:15
Speaker 1: like insane. I thought that was so cool. And second,
6:18
Speaker 1: I don't, I guess I just like wasn't educated in running.
6:21
Speaker 1: Like I didn't know girls could break six period. And
6:23
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe we
6:25
Speaker 1: did that. And then I just like got the bug.
6:29
Speaker 2: And then I got the bug.
6:30
Speaker 3: I think that's so fun though to like really get
6:33
Speaker 3: to a place where you two at one point were
6:36
Speaker 3: a beginner. And I think that people forget that when
6:38
Speaker 3: we talk about women's running, especially when average people are
6:43
Speaker 3: watching you absolutely crush it on the race course. Yeah.
6:47
Speaker 1: Thank you.
6:48
Speaker 3: Yeah.
6:48
Speaker 1: No, I mean, it is so funny to think about.
6:50
Speaker 1: And I feel like people are like, oh, like this
6:52
Speaker 1: girl is running so fast in middle school, like they're
6:54
Speaker 1: going to be something. And it's like, well, like a
6:57
Speaker 1: lot of people who like are pros are like, well,
6:59
Speaker 1: we didn't even like really know what running was till
7:01
Speaker 1: high school. So it is interesting to like see how
7:05
Speaker 1: different people get to it. But yeah, no, I think
7:07
Speaker 1: eighth grade was the first time I got the bug.
7:09
Speaker 1: And then like I didn't run cross country until like
7:11
Speaker 1: the very end. Like I played volleyball in ninth grade
7:15
Speaker 1: and then like I ran like a couple of races
7:17
Speaker 1: after volleyball was completely over. Like I wasn't doing both
7:19
Speaker 1: at once. So I really didn't become a runner until
7:22
Speaker 1: like almost like the telltale end of the cross country
7:27
Speaker 1: season when I was a freshman.
7:29
Speaker 3: And what was it about running that perhaps enticed you
7:32
Speaker 3: more than all of the other things? You also mentioned
7:34
Speaker 3: discus and throwing. So you had a lot of different
7:38
Speaker 3: hats to play with.
7:39
Speaker 1: From a middle school perspective, like it was just fun
7:42
Speaker 1: to be good at something. But also like as time went,
7:46
Speaker 1: like it's always been where my brain feels the most
7:49
Speaker 1: quiet is when I'm on a run. And I mean,
7:52
Speaker 1: I have a very quiet, very chill life. And it's
7:54
Speaker 1: almost like the most restful time, like at least mentally
7:58
Speaker 1: is when I'm just like on an easy run, whether
8:00
Speaker 1: that's like with friends or by myself. But that's always
8:02
Speaker 1: been something that I really loved about it.
8:04
Speaker 3: It sounds like you've done that intentionally. Is that something
8:07
Speaker 3: that's very important to you to have this more chill,
8:11
Speaker 3: more restful life?
8:12
Speaker 1: I do feel like we've gone to altitude training once
8:15
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, wow, I'm doing like a
8:16
Speaker 1: lot more because like other people are here. And so
8:19
Speaker 1: that was interesting. But I do feel like the kind
8:22
Speaker 1: of training we do is like pretty intense. And I
8:26
Speaker 1: do require like a good bit of rest between like
8:29
Speaker 1: Tuesday and Friday, which are our hardest days to like
8:32
Speaker 1: be able to do both of them well. So it
8:35
Speaker 1: is pretty intentional, but also I feel like my training
8:38
Speaker 1: like requires a pretty full rest between hard days. Yeah.
8:43
Speaker 2: Yeah.
8:44
Speaker 3: So when you think about taking a full rest, what
8:46
Speaker 3: does that look like for you?
8:47
Speaker 1: I do run. Oh goodness. Probably if we're looking at
8:51
Speaker 1: a week, Monday is usually Monday and Saturday are usually
8:54
Speaker 1: like the lowest days. Wednesday will be like 12 to 14.
8:56
Speaker 1: Thursday will be like 14 to 16, but in two runs,
9:02
Speaker 1: but both of those are very like slow, easy. And
9:06
Speaker 1: then just like, obviously like our running errands, I clean
9:10
Speaker 1: the house, I walk the dog. But other than that,
9:12
Speaker 1: just as much as I can like be off my
9:14
Speaker 1: feet and reading or watching something or talking to someone
9:19
Speaker 1: on the phone, as much as I can like be
9:22
Speaker 1: off my feet and make sure I like get to
9:24
Speaker 1: bed at a good time and eat good food, which
9:25
Speaker 1: obviously like, is a huge part of it. The eating
9:29
Speaker 1: and sleeping is a huge part of it. So, but
9:32
Speaker 1: as much as I can do like lower level, like
9:36
Speaker 1: very calm activities to get me from day to day,
9:38
Speaker 1: the better.
9:40
Speaker 3: Isn't it crazy now when you talk about it in
9:42
Speaker 3: that way that you recognize that some things that people
9:45
Speaker 3: just don't even really put too much effort or thought
9:48
Speaker 3: into eating and sleeping, like they're actually a crucial part
9:52
Speaker 3: of what it is that you do for your work?
9:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is so interesting. And like, I definitely have
9:57
Speaker 1: the benefit of like when I go to run a marathon.
10:00
Speaker 1: it's it's my priority for like the three months before
10:02
Speaker 1: it like that, that's first priority. And I like that's
10:06
Speaker 1: such a privilege, because I know for most people, it's like,
10:08
Speaker 1: just where I am in life right now, like I
10:10
Speaker 1: live alone with my dog. And like, obviously, she's a priority.
10:12
Speaker 1: But like, really, like, my training gets to be my
10:15
Speaker 1: first priority. So it is crazy to me when people
10:17
Speaker 1: have families and jobs and still make time to train.
10:20
Speaker 1: I find that really inspirational. But yeah, it is interesting
10:23
Speaker 1: because my priority can just be those things that get
10:26
Speaker 1: me from day to day. Yeah.
10:28
Speaker 3: And I know that you mentioned following your coach, Andrew,
10:31
Speaker 3: to Indianapolis. Talk to us a little bit about what
10:33
Speaker 3: that adjustment was like for you and how you're feeling
10:37
Speaker 3: settled into this newer place. Right.
10:40
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I've been here almost three years now. And
10:44
Speaker 1: I think I had a pretty good adjustment. I'm one
10:46
Speaker 1: of those people that can be like base level happy
10:49
Speaker 1: almost anywhere, which is kind of nice.
10:52
Speaker 2: Why do you think that is?
10:53
Speaker 1: I don't know. But yeah, like I didn't make a
10:57
Speaker 1: ton of friends the first year, but I did like
10:59
Speaker 1: the second year, I feel like. But even that first year,
11:01
Speaker 1: I was just I just signed my first contract with
11:04
Speaker 1: Asics and I was starting to like do a little
11:06
Speaker 1: better in races. And so there were things that were
11:09
Speaker 1: like exciting along the way, even though like I didn't
11:12
Speaker 1: know a soul that first year. And obviously now I
11:15
Speaker 1: have like a little bit more of a full life here,
11:18
Speaker 1: which is good. But yeah, it was, it was a
11:20
Speaker 1: good transition. It, I feel like it allowed me to
11:24
Speaker 1: like do a little better at running because I actually
11:27
Speaker 1: wasn't like going into an office for the first time
11:29
Speaker 1: in like the two years I had been with the
11:31
Speaker 1: track club. So that was cool. And yeah, I mean,
11:34
Speaker 1: it was good. It was cold. It was really cold.
11:37
Speaker 1: But yeah, because I moved in like January or December.
11:40
Speaker 1: And then so the first full month I was here
11:42
Speaker 1: was January. But it was overall, I'd say like a
11:44
Speaker 1: pretty smooth adjustment for me.
11:47
Speaker 3: How do you feel now with that aspect of not
11:50
Speaker 3: going into an office and having a little bit more
11:53
Speaker 3: free reign over your schedule?
11:56
Speaker 1: So it's so interesting. I actually just stopped working in
11:59
Speaker 1: July of this year. And I was like pretty excited
12:03
Speaker 1: about it. And the last 11 days, the amount of
12:07
Speaker 1: times I've almost sent that I'll work for free text
12:10
Speaker 1: is like twice a day.
12:12
Speaker 2: Yeah.
12:14
Speaker 1: I miss having something to do. Like it's, it's just
12:16
Speaker 1: part of yourself that I guess I didn't realize like
12:20
Speaker 1: how much I obviously like I worked hard at it
12:24
Speaker 1: because like you're supposed to like, that's good. but I
12:28
Speaker 1: didn't realize how much a part of myself that it was.
12:30
Speaker 1: So that's been really interesting. I liked the like going
12:34
Speaker 1: into the office every quarter or so and getting to
12:37
Speaker 1: wear the outfit. And yeah, that was fun.
12:39
Speaker 3: You're like, so I'm doing really well at this running thing,
12:42
Speaker 3: but I'm also like, what else could I be doing?
12:44
Speaker 2: Question mark.
12:45
Speaker 1: No, I do think I like, I definitely have been
12:48
Speaker 1: a better athlete just doing one thing.
12:51
Speaker 2: Yeah.
12:51
Speaker 1: And the last two weeks I've been like antsy, but
12:56
Speaker 1: we'll get back into training. first, like for serious and
12:59
Speaker 1: about like eight days just came off of Michigan, which
13:02
Speaker 1: was great. And then I'm going to New York next week,
13:04
Speaker 1: which will be super fun. So we filled the time,
13:08
Speaker 1: but that first week I was like, what do I
13:10
Speaker 1: do with myself?
13:13
Speaker 2: What is going on here? Okay.
13:14
Speaker 1: And you're too sore to like do projects around the house.
13:17
Speaker 1: So like, you know, like I wanted to organize my closet,
13:19
Speaker 1: but I'm like too sore to do like the bending
13:22
Speaker 1: down and the picking up. And like, so it's like,
13:25
Speaker 1: feasibly that wasn't going to work on that week, but
13:28
Speaker 1: it's okay.
13:29
Speaker 2: It's okay.
13:29
Speaker 3: I mean, again, understandable that you're feeling a bit sore
13:33
Speaker 3: right now. I know you did have going into Chicago,
13:37
Speaker 3: some lofty goals.
13:38
Speaker 2: Would you say that it exceeded your expectations?
13:41
Speaker 1: I think so. Yeah. My biggest goal going into Chicago
13:45
Speaker 1: was to be in the top 10, which looking at
13:47
Speaker 1: the start list, it was crazy. It was just like
13:51
Speaker 1: the wildest start list I've ever seen. And I was
13:54
Speaker 1: just like, Oh my gosh, like, why did I say
13:56
Speaker 1: this out loud? Uh, and then on the day, like,
13:59
Speaker 1: it's just, it's amazing how much things open up if
14:02
Speaker 1: you just kind of like focus on the effort and
14:07
Speaker 1: like let the race happen. And I found myself in
14:11
Speaker 1: there and, um, It did end up being a warm day.
14:15
Speaker 1: So I'm glad we weren't really focused on time because
14:18
Speaker 1: I probably would have been disappointed. And instead I'm like
14:20
Speaker 1: really happy with it. So yeah, no, I definitely think
14:24
Speaker 1: it exceeded my expectations. And then as far as like
14:27
Speaker 1: the process of racing went, I've never had so much fun.
14:30
Speaker 1: Like I feel like I smiled the whole first half,
14:32
Speaker 1: which is just like kind of crazy because in other races,
14:36
Speaker 1: you're not like, like even a half marathon hurts like
14:39
Speaker 1: pretty early. So yeah, I had the best time.
14:44
Speaker 2: There's so much to unpack here. Okay.
14:46
Speaker 3: The first part is let's talk about the fun in
14:49
Speaker 3: that you're smiling because you feel like the effort is
14:52
Speaker 3: hard and doable.
14:53
Speaker 1: I think I was just so happy. I was finally
14:57
Speaker 1: there because we thought about it for so long. And
14:59
Speaker 1: I don't mean like just this year. I mean, like
15:01
Speaker 1: we've thought about running a marathon for like years. And
15:04
Speaker 1: so I was so excited. That was finally there. I've
15:06
Speaker 1: had FOMO at Boston last year. Cause I wasn't even
15:08
Speaker 1: like running the five K. So I wasn't there. I
15:11
Speaker 1: wasn't in New York last year. I had FOMO then too,
15:14
Speaker 1: or Chicago. I hadn't been at a major even watching
15:18
Speaker 1: in over a year. So the environment there is just
15:22
Speaker 1: so special. And not just because of what we're doing
15:26
Speaker 1: in the elite race, but because of how many people
15:30
Speaker 1: are there and how much hard work goes into it
15:32
Speaker 1: for everyone. I just think it's so cool. So yeah,
15:35
Speaker 1: it was my first one that I was even spectating
15:38
Speaker 1: at in... Almost two years. Yeah, I was just like
15:42
Speaker 1: so happy to be there.
15:44
Speaker 2: Just happy to be nominated. Just happy to be around. Yeah. Yeah.
15:48
Speaker 1: Thanks for including me. Thanks for inviting me.
15:51
Speaker 2: You were more than included.
15:52
Speaker 3: It's just a testament to the vibes that can be
15:54
Speaker 3: there if you open yourself up. to being supported by
15:58
Speaker 3: the crowds around you. I know that to each their
16:00
Speaker 3: own when it comes to listening to music or not
16:03
Speaker 3: listening to music. But if you allow yourself to be
16:06
Speaker 3: carried by the people that are there to support you,
16:08
Speaker 3: then so much goodness can happen.
16:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was wild. The first 10K especially was just
16:13
Speaker 1: like a wall of noise. Like it's crazy.
16:15
Speaker 2: Ha ha ha. a wall of noise.
16:18
Speaker 3: And then the other thing that you are talking about
16:21
Speaker 3: is truly the starting list and how you felt like, okay,
16:25
Speaker 3: I was a little scared that I put this out
16:28
Speaker 3: into the world. Let's talk about your goal setting process.
16:31
Speaker 3: Are you someone who likes to put your goals out
16:34
Speaker 3: into the world? Do you think that that does you
16:36
Speaker 3: a service?
16:38
Speaker 1: I don't really prefer that. It's just I was asked
16:41
Speaker 1: so many times and there's only so many times you
16:43
Speaker 1: can like evade the question. I did it to myself
16:46
Speaker 1: by running a world championship like three weeks before the race.
16:49
Speaker 1: But no, I'm not necessarily secretive about them. But I
16:54
Speaker 1: do like try to keep things a little bit closer
16:56
Speaker 1: to the chest. But it's okay. It's fine.
17:00
Speaker 3: It's fine that everyone knew that you wanted to be
17:02
Speaker 3: in the top 10.
17:03
Speaker 1: Yeah. But I also feel like that's a super obvious goal.
17:05
Speaker 1: Like everyone there wants the same thing. So I'm like, okay, like,
17:09
Speaker 1: This is nothing special.
17:10
Speaker 3: I also think that it's really beautiful that you are
17:13
Speaker 3: an example of how it doesn't need to be a
17:15
Speaker 3: time-based goal for you to find success. I think so often, again,
17:19
Speaker 3: especially in this running boom, we're seeing so many people
17:23
Speaker 3: continually talk about time. And although that is in essence,
17:26
Speaker 3: a component of what you deem to be successful on
17:29
Speaker 3: that day, it wasn't the only thing.
17:32
Speaker 1: Right. Well, and we did kind of like, Like anyone else,
17:36
Speaker 1: I had a pacer there that we had certain splits
17:38
Speaker 1: we wanted to hit. And of course, we wanted to
17:41
Speaker 1: set it up for 220 or under 220. But that
17:45
Speaker 1: was more about where in the race do we want
17:47
Speaker 1: to be and just looking at the entries. That was
17:49
Speaker 1: where we had to go through halfway or 25K or
17:52
Speaker 1: even 30K to be in the position to be where
17:54
Speaker 1: I wanted to be.
17:55
Speaker 2: In the race.
17:56
Speaker 1: So it's not that time doesn't matter because it does.
17:59
Speaker 1: And obviously records are there for a reason and coming
18:02
Speaker 1: away from the eight K coming away from the half.
18:04
Speaker 1: And then today, like those are times where I ran
18:07
Speaker 1: like quite fast and none of the goals on any
18:10
Speaker 1: of those days were a certain time, the eight K
18:14
Speaker 1: a little bit more on the front end. And then
18:16
Speaker 1: I got sick and then I fell and it was
18:18
Speaker 1: no longer the goal. It was just to like, have fun.
18:22
Speaker 1: But on race day for all three of those times,
18:25
Speaker 1: like the goal wasn't necessarily X time. It was like
18:30
Speaker 1: where I wanted to be in the race or how
18:32
Speaker 1: I wanted to feel. Yeah.
18:33
Speaker 3: Right.
18:33
Speaker 2: Exactly.
18:34
Speaker 3: Breaking it up into little doables. And then that also
18:36
Speaker 3: you saying how I wanted to feel. I think that
18:39
Speaker 3: that is something that a lot of people lose sight
18:41
Speaker 3: of as well. It's like, Obviously, depending on what your
18:45
Speaker 3: overall goal is, if you're a professional or recreational runner,
18:48
Speaker 3: these things are going to differentiate. But at the end
18:51
Speaker 3: of the day, if you're not having fun with it,
18:54
Speaker 3: and you said you had so much fun in pursuit
18:56
Speaker 3: of your goal, that is so important.
18:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely is. And don't get me wrong. It
19:01
Speaker 1: is work. And I take it very, very seriously. And
19:05
Speaker 1: getting to call this work is such a privilege. And
19:07
Speaker 1: that in itself has allowed it to be a lot
19:09
Speaker 1: of fun because I appreciate the opportunity so much.
19:13
Speaker 3: When you started taking running more seriously, did you anticipate
19:17
Speaker 3: that this would become your work one day?
19:20
Speaker 1: No. Literally not until it happened. So I definitely appreciate it.
19:27
Speaker 1: And yeah, even like that first year when I was
19:29
Speaker 1: with the Atlanta Track Club, like I, you don't really know.
19:33
Speaker 1: And towards the end of the year, I started having
19:34
Speaker 1: a better idea. But yeah, even that first year, like
19:37
Speaker 1: when I had like When I was on the team,
19:41
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, I'm not that good at this.
19:45
Speaker 1: This is definitely temporary. And obviously, Andrew's goals were bigger
19:49
Speaker 1: than that. So I was like, okay, I can stay
19:50
Speaker 1: around for a little bit. But it wasn't until later
19:53
Speaker 1: that I was like, oh, okay.
20:10
Speaker 3: Talk to me a little bit about what your relationship
20:14
Speaker 3: has been like with the way that you talk to
20:17
Speaker 3: yourself and how that's evolved over the years as you've
20:21
Speaker 3: really come up in the sport.
20:22
Speaker 1: I kind of do well with tough love. Sometimes my
20:25
Speaker 1: self-talk is a little negative, like, don't be a baby,
20:27
Speaker 1: you can do this. But I think everyone has to
20:30
Speaker 1: know themselves well enough to know what works and what doesn't.
20:32
Speaker 1: And so, yeah, sometimes it's a little bit of tough love,
20:35
Speaker 1: but I also feel like I approach things with a
20:37
Speaker 1: lot of like excitement and gratitude that I get to
20:40
Speaker 1: do it. So at the same time, like it balances
20:43
Speaker 1: out in that way. But a lot of my early
20:45
Speaker 1: belief in self wasn't even like about me. It was
20:48
Speaker 1: like Andrew said, I could do whatever. And based on like,
20:53
Speaker 1: where other people were when he started coaching them and
20:55
Speaker 1: then where they got, I was like, well, okay, it
20:57
Speaker 1: worked for them. Like I may as well see how
20:59
Speaker 1: this goes. And so a lot of my like initial
21:03
Speaker 1: self-belief wasn't even like belief really in myself, but like
21:06
Speaker 1: looking at other people and then being like, okay, well,
21:09
Speaker 1: if it worked for them, like, Hopefully, I don't screw
21:12
Speaker 1: it up.
21:13
Speaker 3: This is so important, though, because it's such a testament
21:16
Speaker 3: to the importance of having good people around you.
21:19
Speaker 2: Yes, in this instance, it's you and a coach.
21:21
Speaker 3: But when someone looks at you and says, I believe
21:24
Speaker 3: that you can do it, sometimes that just cultivates a
21:26
Speaker 3: conversation that maybe you're a little scared to have with yourself.
21:31
Speaker 1: Right. And I think at the time, being on a
21:33
Speaker 1: bigger team was really valuable because I did have examples
21:37
Speaker 1: to look at versus now, I've proven it to myself
21:40
Speaker 1: and I know internally what's there versus like at that time,
21:44
Speaker 1: like I needed a little bit more external validation, not
21:47
Speaker 1: necessarily in people like being like, you know, like verbal,
21:51
Speaker 1: but I needed external validation and like, I guess like
21:54
Speaker 1: the collective momentum that a team can bring. And obviously
21:56
Speaker 1: teams can have the opposite effect, but that was the
21:58
Speaker 1: perfect first couple of years of running for me was like, okay, yeah,
22:01
Speaker 1: I'm going to go run this like little road race,
22:04
Speaker 1: but my two teammates just ran a diamond league. Like
22:06
Speaker 1: I've got to do, I've got to do something well.
22:08
Speaker 1: So yeah.
22:09
Speaker 3: Yeah.
22:10
Speaker 2: And you do a lot of things well.
22:12
Speaker 3: I think we can also talk about team when it
22:15
Speaker 3: comes to, obviously, the recent world championships for you to
22:19
Speaker 3: have this opportunity to be in women's distance running right
22:23
Speaker 3: now at a time where the American women are on fire.
22:27
Speaker 2: What does that mean to you? And how has that
22:29
Speaker 2: impacted you?
22:31
Speaker 1: It's been super exciting. Something that I want to continue
22:36
Speaker 1: to be a part of is pushing us forward and Obviously,
22:39
Speaker 1: even with news today, the news that came out today
22:43
Speaker 1: makes us feel so far away from that, from reaching
22:46
Speaker 1: podiums and doing all of these things. But I do
22:48
Speaker 1: feel like we're getting closer and closer and we're closing
22:50
Speaker 1: the gap even with doing things the right way. And so, yeah,
22:55
Speaker 1: I just want to be a part of continuously closing
22:58
Speaker 1: the gap between us and the rest of the world
23:00
Speaker 1: and I absolutely think American women and men belong on
23:05
Speaker 1: podiums at majors and world championships. And that's really exciting
23:09
Speaker 1: to me to be part of that. And on that day,
23:13
Speaker 1: we had talked about maybe getting a bronze medal as
23:16
Speaker 1: a team. And I love the feeling of when things
23:21
Speaker 1: get hard, being able to think about someone else that's
23:24
Speaker 1: out there physically doing the same thing and also relying
23:27
Speaker 1: on you for their outcome. I think that's super fun.
23:29
Speaker 1: I think that's something that brings a little bit more
23:32
Speaker 1: out of me than I get even just like racing
23:35
Speaker 1: for myself or my coat, you know, not that I
23:38
Speaker 1: raced like for anyone else, but like you're representing the
23:40
Speaker 1: whole group behind you.
23:42
Speaker 2: Right. And I.
23:45
Speaker 1: Don't know. I just like the feeling of like physically
23:47
Speaker 1: having teammates out there doing it with you. And it
23:52
Speaker 1: was just, it was, it was amazing to be part
23:54
Speaker 1: of that day and turning around and seeing that, um,
23:59
Speaker 1: It was very clear based on like there were three
24:02
Speaker 1: Kenyan athletes in front of us and then just pretty
24:05
Speaker 1: much no one else that I knew had. There was
24:08
Speaker 1: one Rwandan athlete in front of us, but I don't
24:10
Speaker 1: think that they had a full team. So it was
24:11
Speaker 1: just like very clear when we were fifth, sixth and
24:13
Speaker 1: seventh that obviously we had the silver medals. That was
24:16
Speaker 1: a really fun moment to to know with certainty when
24:19
Speaker 1: I turned around and saw them that that was the outcome.
24:23
Speaker 2: Yeah.
24:23
Speaker 3: And I think what you're talking about, about this power
24:26
Speaker 3: of like, it's bigger than myself, that is something that's
24:30
Speaker 3: both so commendable and also speaks volumes about the person
24:34
Speaker 3: that you are, someone who's a team player and someone
24:37
Speaker 3: that really hopes to uplift other people.
24:41
Speaker 1: Well, that's so nice. That was my favorite part of
24:44
Speaker 1: college was being on a team. And that's something I
24:46
Speaker 1: miss about like cross country and, but yeah, no, I,
24:50
Speaker 1: I just love that feeling. It's so fun.
24:52
Speaker 3: It's really cool. I, too, had a volleyball era in
24:56
Speaker 3: high school, although it was short-lived. I played just my
24:58
Speaker 3: freshman year, and then sophomore year, I didn't make the
25:01
Speaker 3: team because I couldn't run a mile in under 10 minutes,
25:03
Speaker 3: which is comical looking back on it, considering where I'm
25:06
Speaker 3: at now.
25:07
Speaker 2: But with that said.
25:09
Speaker 3: I went to my first high school girls cross country
25:13
Speaker 3: meet as like an adult. I believe it was maybe
25:18
Speaker 3: 2019 NXN in Portland and standing there watching these women compete,
25:24
Speaker 3: these young women compete and seeing the camaraderie and seeing
25:29
Speaker 3: what that team aspect meant to them.
25:31
Speaker 2: I was like, this is truly something that every young woman.
25:34
Speaker 3: Should have access to, should have the opportunity to get
25:37
Speaker 3: involved in whether or not it's about running. It's like,
25:40
Speaker 3: how can we put them in situations that they have
25:42
Speaker 3: the opportunity to grow these really special relationships?
25:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, that's funny. I never did an accident
25:49
Speaker 1: in high school, but, um, some of my like longest
25:52
Speaker 1: lasting friendships have been from like Foot Locker in high
25:54
Speaker 1: school because, um, Logan Jolly, who's still running, she's an
25:58
Speaker 1: A6 athlete. We did an event in DC this summer
26:01
Speaker 1: and it's like, kind of like you just pick up
26:02
Speaker 1: where you left off and it's been like known each
26:05
Speaker 1: other for 10 years. Same with Wainey. Like we were
26:07
Speaker 1: on Foot Locker teams in 2014 and 2015 together. So yeah,
26:12
Speaker 1: it's really cool.
26:13
Speaker 3: So now as we sit, you having this new American
26:19
Speaker 3: record debut time, how do you feel like this changes
26:24
Speaker 3: what happens for you when it comes to what happens next?
26:30
Speaker 1: Honestly, it doesn't really change anything. Either way, I wasn't
26:35
Speaker 1: planning on running a spring marathon. I think I can
26:40
Speaker 1: get a little faster at the 5K, the 10K, and
26:42
Speaker 1: the half. Not that the times physically in the races
26:47
Speaker 1: are the goals, but I think I can still work
26:49
Speaker 1: on those skills a little bit more before becoming a
26:52
Speaker 1: full-time marathoner, I guess. It really didn't change the plan.
26:56
Speaker 1: I think it made me more excited to do another one,
26:59
Speaker 1: but it didn't change that. I agree that probably the
27:01
Speaker 1: best thing to go into 2028 feeling fresh. And if
27:06
Speaker 1: I put it together in St. Louis and make the team,
27:10
Speaker 1: showing up at the games feeling fresh would be to
27:13
Speaker 1: take like a spring to do like shorter events.
27:17
Speaker 3: And I mean, arguably to say it didn't change much
27:21
Speaker 3: is understandable. And do you think it changes the way
27:24
Speaker 3: that you interpret what people are expecting or hoping for
27:27
Speaker 3: from you?
27:27
Speaker 1: I don't know. I felt a lot of expectations on
27:31
Speaker 1: the front end.
27:32
Speaker 2: Yeah. Talk to me about how you manage those, Emma Grace.
27:36
Speaker 1: You know, it's all excitement. I didn't feel like there
27:40
Speaker 1: was any like negative attention maybe with like, yeah, no,
27:45
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like anything was like negative. So I
27:47
Speaker 1: was like, it's all excitement. And it was my first one.
27:50
Speaker 1: So ultimately, like, who really knows? Like, we all think
27:55
Speaker 1: we know, but it is like twice as far as
27:58
Speaker 1: I've like raced, raced before. Um, cause I did run
28:03
Speaker 1: the 25 K, but I kind of like ran it
28:05
Speaker 1: like at marathon effort or what I thought marathon effort
28:08
Speaker 1: like would be just to like practice that effort with
28:11
Speaker 1: the bottles. So as far as like where I've gotten to,
28:14
Speaker 1: it was an all out race from the gun. Like
28:17
Speaker 1: it was twice as far as like I've ever raced before.
28:21
Speaker 1: So it was like, okay, like we can all have
28:23
Speaker 1: the expectations and excitement, but like, I still have to
28:27
Speaker 1: do it. And I think that I felt like if
28:31
Speaker 1: I were in someone else's shoes, I'd be understanding of
28:33
Speaker 1: it being the first time. And ultimately, no one else's
28:36
Speaker 1: expectations of me really matter except for me and the
28:41
Speaker 1: people that are, I guess, in my small circle. And
28:43
Speaker 1: of course, you feel a little bit of pressure. But
28:46
Speaker 1: of course, it's hard to not see it because especially
28:50
Speaker 1: with social media and everything, you get tagged in it.
28:53
Speaker 1: You don't have to go looking for it. It just
28:55
Speaker 1: comes to you as a notification. So of course, I
28:58
Speaker 1: see it. And it doesn't really change how I feel
29:03
Speaker 1: about myself on the day. There were a range of
29:06
Speaker 1: things that I would have been upset about, but most
29:09
Speaker 1: of all would have been like not giving my best effort.
29:11
Speaker 1: And I knew that, and that's in my control. So yeah,
29:15
Speaker 1: I wasn't, it didn't bother me too much. It's really fine.
29:19
Speaker 2: This is a really commendable mindset.
29:21
Speaker 3: And it's one that often takes people a lot of
29:24
Speaker 3: time to adopt to recognize like, okay, I get the
29:27
Speaker 3: opportunity to be in control of these things. These are
29:30
Speaker 3: the things that I'm going to focus on. Is this
29:32
Speaker 3: something that you've always been good at? Or is this
29:35
Speaker 3: an acquired skill as of late?
29:38
Speaker 1: A lot of it is also like I was careful
29:41
Speaker 1: about like what I put out into the world. Like
29:43
Speaker 1: we obviously had multiple goals within that and was very
29:48
Speaker 1: vague about things. And like a lot of like the
29:51
Speaker 1: set time goals or whatever were more things that like
29:54
Speaker 1: other people threw out. So yeah. you know, there is that,
29:58
Speaker 1: but also I don't know. Like, I think I have
30:01
Speaker 1: the benefit of coming to the marathon, not necessarily old,
30:04
Speaker 1: but having observed it for a few years and known
30:07
Speaker 1: that I would get there and got to watch other
30:08
Speaker 1: people go through it and do it. And so I
30:13
Speaker 1: think I've not like lived it before, but seen it
30:16
Speaker 1: before and seen what happens around it. So it wasn't
30:19
Speaker 1: something that was surprising to me. I mean, it was
30:23
Speaker 1: surprising that so many people cared that I was running
30:25
Speaker 1: my first marathon, but I've, I've seen a similar cycle
30:31
Speaker 1: play out over the last few years. And I've definitely
30:34
Speaker 1: been paying attention and trying to learn from other people.
30:37
Speaker 1: So yeah, just observing.
30:41
Speaker 3: So many people observing, including some of the greatest to
30:43
Speaker 3: ever do it. I know you talked about having the
30:46
Speaker 3: opportunity to chat with Joni and Dina. What were some
30:50
Speaker 3: of the words of wisdom that two of the greatest
30:54
Speaker 3: to ever do it gave to you?
30:56
Speaker 1: Dina is super cool. We just, she was just in
30:59
Speaker 1: Michigan and she just worked. I think she worked so
31:02
Speaker 1: hard when it was time to work hard and put
31:03
Speaker 1: a hundred percent in when it was time to put
31:05
Speaker 1: a hundred percent in. And she made sure she was
31:07
Speaker 1: like rested between things, but I still don't think that
31:10
Speaker 1: we've equaled her peak in like the new, I guess,
31:14
Speaker 1: like super shoe era. So that's something that like, we all,
31:18
Speaker 1: we've got to go get that. Um, we've got to
31:21
Speaker 1: go figure that out. But so, um, That's really cool.
31:25
Speaker 1: And then I had never met Joan Benoit Samuelson before.
31:29
Speaker 1: And she said two things that I really appreciated. One
31:32
Speaker 1: was like not chasing money, but chasing like progress and
31:35
Speaker 1: things that excite me. And two, just being in Indianapolis,
31:38
Speaker 1: I think it's sometimes easy to be like, oh, like
31:40
Speaker 1: everyone trains in like these places and I'm like over
31:42
Speaker 1: here in an island. And she was like, I always
31:45
Speaker 1: prefer to train apart from the group. You can be
31:48
Speaker 1: more focused that way. And so it kind of like
31:50
Speaker 1: affirmed that like, okay, like, it's working. It's not broke.
31:55
Speaker 1: Like I don't need to, I guess like conform to
31:58
Speaker 1: the Boulder flag staff of the world to have success. So,
32:01
Speaker 1: and I do think that like we'll do an altitude
32:04
Speaker 1: trip this year. Like I do think it's useful and
32:06
Speaker 1: I've had a lot of success training in Indiana, in
32:10
Speaker 1: Indiana and Atlanta. So, um, I just think you go
32:14
Speaker 1: about it differently. Like we do really high intensity. It's,
32:16
Speaker 1: it's hard to do that. And like, get the sleep
32:20
Speaker 1: and enough food and everything in between things elsewhere.
32:23
Speaker 2: So yeah, when you find something that works for you,
32:25
Speaker 2: you dial into it.
32:26
Speaker 3: And that doesn't mean that there can't be multiple different
32:28
Speaker 3: formats that work for you in this time period. If
32:32
Speaker 3: you go back and you zoom out and you focus
32:34
Speaker 3: on feel from what you're saying, it sounds like it's
32:37
Speaker 3: feeling good.
32:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's feeling great.
32:39
Speaker 2: Yeah.
32:39
Speaker 1: And I think getting to do so much intensity means
32:41
Speaker 1: that on race day, like it feels that much easier.
32:47
Speaker 1: Just to be clear, it doesn't feel easy, but it's
32:49
Speaker 1: something that's not unfamiliar.
32:52
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I got you.
32:53
Speaker 3: And of course, Joni would know a thing or two
32:55
Speaker 3: about being isolated as she loves her little situation up
32:59
Speaker 3: in Maine.
32:59
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Yeah.
33:02
Speaker 1: No, I'm not quite that out of the way. But yeah, no,
33:06
Speaker 1: it's not quite there.
33:07
Speaker 3: That's so cool that you had the opportunity to garner
33:09
Speaker 3: some wisdom from them. And I do want to double
33:11
Speaker 3: click on something that you said before about perhaps the
33:14
Speaker 3: opportunity to dial in on some of these shorter distances,
33:17
Speaker 3: obviously working toward those marathon trials for the next Olympics.
33:22
Speaker 3: Do you see yourself trying to do anything on the track?
33:26
Speaker 3: Can we see you on the 10k starting line?
33:28
Speaker 1: Not on a track. That will be... If I don't
33:32
Speaker 1: make the team in 28 for the marathon, I'll run
33:35
Speaker 1: the trials. But I do plan on just knocking out
33:37
Speaker 1: my qualifier for the trials on the roads this spring.
33:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
33:41
Speaker 1: No, I don't enjoy the track. I like racing on
33:47
Speaker 1: the road because on the track, it's so scripted and
33:49
Speaker 1: you essentially all go in with the same plan and
33:51
Speaker 1: you stick to the plan until people start kicking. And
33:55
Speaker 1: I don't like that. I like how the road is
33:57
Speaker 1: a little bit more variable and.
34:00
Speaker 1: It's a race the whole time and it's engaging the
34:02
Speaker 1: whole time. And sometimes in the track, like I can
34:05
Speaker 1: do it on a road and just follow the pack.
34:07
Speaker 1: And like, you have to pay attention a little bit
34:09
Speaker 1: more because it's not scripted. I don't like the constant
34:13
Speaker 1: feedback and I don't enjoy running in a circle. I mean,
34:16
Speaker 1: it's fine in training. Like I don't mind the track
34:18
Speaker 1: in training. I really don't. And it just for, for
34:22
Speaker 1: a 10 K.
34:24
Speaker 2: So many circles, Yeah, it's not my favorite.
34:27
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of it is, I think
34:29
Speaker 1: a lot of it a few years ago was more
34:31
Speaker 1: that I would just like get in my head if
34:32
Speaker 1: something was like one second off. I don't think that
34:34
Speaker 1: that would be an issue anymore. I think I've probably like,
34:38
Speaker 1: I think I've proved enough to myself on the road
34:40
Speaker 1: that like I could get on the track and not
34:42
Speaker 1: really have like a crisis. And the racing and the
34:46
Speaker 1: 10K on the track for me doesn't really excite me.
34:49
Speaker 1: I love to watch it. Like I love to watch it.
34:52
Speaker 1: It's just not something that excites me for me. But
34:56
Speaker 1: if we have to do it, we'll do it in 2028.
34:59
Speaker 1: But no, I'll run a 10K on the roads this spring.
35:02
Speaker 2: Okay.
35:03
Speaker 3: All signs point to the marathon and the marathon only.
35:06
Speaker 3: I love the way that you talk about racing on
35:08
Speaker 3: the roads as though there's so much possibility there. What
35:12
Speaker 3: would you say is probably one of the biggest lessons
35:14
Speaker 3: that you've learned about yourself as you've opened up to
35:18
Speaker 3: these longer distances?
35:20
Speaker 2: And it doesn't really have to do with running at all.
35:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's interesting. Well, one that I can focus for
35:27
Speaker 1: a long time, sit down and do anything else and
35:29
Speaker 1: it's not the case. No, I don't know. I think
35:32
Speaker 1: I'm just like not afraid to hurt. And I think
35:34
Speaker 1: that's a good life skill too. Like I think that's
35:36
Speaker 1: something that you can take to real life. And I
35:38
Speaker 1: think that it's really applicable, especially I remember when I
35:42
Speaker 1: was right out of college doing just like the most boring.
35:45
Speaker 2: Job in the world.
35:46
Speaker 1: I would be like in my little spreadsheet being like,
35:49
Speaker 1: you've done like six by mile before. It's not that bad.
35:53
Speaker 1: like just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
35:55
Speaker 1: And of course I'm like typing, but still it's, it's
35:57
Speaker 1: a really applicable skill to be able to just like
36:00
Speaker 1: hang in there and grind. Like, and running of course
36:03
Speaker 1: gives you like a physical way to do it. And
36:07
Speaker 1: I almost feel like it's easier to do it physically
36:09
Speaker 1: and then translate it elsewhere because then, you know, like,
36:13
Speaker 1: you know, you can do it.
36:14
Speaker 3: It's like this resounding understanding that that pain is more
36:18
Speaker 3: than likely only temporary and that you can experience like
36:21
Speaker 3: something difficult, you can experience discomfort and you can be
36:26
Speaker 3: reminded that you can also do it.
36:28
Speaker 1: Right. That's actually something that like, I like will count
36:31
Speaker 1: down minutes to myself when it's hard. And I'm like,
36:34
Speaker 1: what's like 30 minutes of hurting in the grand scheme
36:37
Speaker 1: of things? Like, it's not that bad. And I know
36:40
Speaker 1: that like, that's easier said than done, not being in
36:42
Speaker 1: the middle of a race, but it's, yeah, it is
36:45
Speaker 1: all temporary in it. It goes by and then you're fine.
36:49
Speaker 2: And you're fine.
36:51
Speaker 3: It's that mentality of breaking it up into little doables, right?
36:55
Speaker 3: And that's not just, again, within running. That's like us
36:58
Speaker 3: thinking bigger picture. I mean, we think about what you're
37:01
Speaker 3: excited about moving forward and you likely have segments and
37:05
Speaker 3: small things that you're looking forward to over the next.
37:10
Speaker 2: 12, 18, 24 months that are going to be in
37:12
Speaker 2: smaller chunks.
37:14
Speaker 1: Right.
37:14
Speaker 3: Yeah.
37:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. Even like looking towards like doing another marathon, like
37:19
Speaker 1: I have a full season before we even get there.
37:21
Speaker 1: So yeah.
37:23
Speaker 3: When you think about the season without a marathon upcoming,
37:27
Speaker 3: what do you think is going to be the most
37:29
Speaker 3: important thing that you get done during this special time period?
37:35
Speaker 1: I think immediately is this year and last year, I've
37:38
Speaker 1: done a good as like counterintuitive as it is. Like
37:41
Speaker 1: I've done a good job of getting like unfit between
37:45
Speaker 1: training blocks.
37:46
Speaker 2: And explain what that means to someone who might not understand.
37:50
Speaker 1: Look, I'm not a science person, but the idea is
37:55
Speaker 1: that if you let yourself get unfit, you get fitter
37:57
Speaker 1: the next time around. And I do a good job
38:00
Speaker 1: of resting for three weeks. I don't like it, but
38:04
Speaker 1: I've got my brain to get there. So I think
38:06
Speaker 1: the immediate goal is to go into the week after
38:10
Speaker 1: New York and like I'm running now, but I'm just
38:13
Speaker 1: easy running now. But my immediate goal is to go
38:15
Speaker 1: into the week of November 2nd, starting from not where
38:20
Speaker 1: I left off. And it's like uncomfortable as that is mentally.
38:25
Speaker 1: And for the first month or so, I think that's
38:29
Speaker 1: part of why I've been able to get better year
38:32
Speaker 1: over year is because Andrew forcing me to do it,
38:37
Speaker 1: but now I'm kind of like, okay, I get it.
38:39
Speaker 1: It makes sense to me. Well, it doesn't because I
38:42
Speaker 1: don't understand. I'm not a science person. That's not my thing.
38:45
Speaker 1: But if you tell me it is, okay, whatever. And
38:48
Speaker 1: I've seen it now a couple of times where I'm like, oh,
38:50
Speaker 1: I was... Actually, this summer until the end of July,
38:53
Speaker 1: I was like, I am unfit. This isn't good. And
38:57
Speaker 1: then things really came around when they needed to. So
38:59
Speaker 1: that's the immediate goal. And then yeah, if I could
39:03
Speaker 1: even just in practice, like develop speed a little bit more,
39:06
Speaker 1: I think it'll make the marathon just like that much
39:09
Speaker 1: more smooth.
39:10
Speaker 2: Emma Grace Hurley.
39:11
Speaker 3: She's just like everyone else wondering if she has any
39:15
Speaker 3: fitness in her. I think there's also something really beautiful
39:18
Speaker 3: about this opportunity of being a beginner time and time again.
39:21
Speaker 3: Like you're constantly in this cycle of, all right, now
39:24
Speaker 3: it's time to start fresh. Do you think that that
39:27
Speaker 3: perspective works to your advantage as well?
39:29
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know. I, I like when things
39:32
Speaker 1: are hard. So as frustrating as it is that first
39:36
Speaker 1: month to like not feel fit. Like I also do
39:39
Speaker 1: like the challenge of it. I think it's fun to like,
39:41
Speaker 1: it's almost like, you know, like when you flip to
39:45
Speaker 1: like a blank notebook and it's just like, Oh, this
39:47
Speaker 1: is cool. Like I think that's a, it's a similar
39:50
Speaker 1: feeling where it's like, oh my gosh, like what's going
39:52
Speaker 1: to happen? Yeah.
39:54
Speaker 3: That's also such a really fun perspective to know that
39:56
Speaker 3: about yourself. Like I actually really like when things feel
40:00
Speaker 3: hard and not a sentiment that a lot of folks share.
40:05
Speaker 2: Where do you think that comes from Emma Grace?
40:08
Speaker 1: I just like to race hard. Well, I like it
40:12
Speaker 1: the first week. The first week, it's fun to me.
40:14
Speaker 1: And then I'm like, oh, it's definitely not a feeling
40:18
Speaker 1: that persists past the first week or two. Towards the
40:23
Speaker 1: end of the first month, if things still haven't come around,
40:25
Speaker 1: I'm like, what's going on? And I'll be in my
40:27
Speaker 1: head and I will not be this calm about things
40:30
Speaker 1: in five weeks from now. We'll be having some some
40:37
Speaker 1: not great moments, but, um, but I also know because
40:41
Speaker 1: I've seen it, like I've worked through that like multiple times.
40:43
Speaker 1: And then like in five weeks, I'll be panicking and
40:47
Speaker 1: I'll think that all fitness has been lost to me forever.
40:50
Speaker 1: But right now in this moment, it'll be, I know
40:53
Speaker 1: it'll be fine.
41:11
Speaker 3: What would you say the most challenging part of your
41:14
Speaker 3: pro career has been thus far as we talk about
41:18
Speaker 3: navigating the difficult moments?
41:21
Speaker 1: I think the uncertainty at the end of 2023 when
41:24
Speaker 1: I knew I was going to be leaving, but I
41:26
Speaker 1: didn't know where I was going quite yet because I
41:29
Speaker 1: knew I was going to follow Amy and Andrew. I
41:31
Speaker 1: just didn't know where they would end up yet. The
41:33
Speaker 1: anticipation of leaving was worse, I feel like, than actually leaving.
41:39
Speaker 1: So kind of like... April to August, like the not
41:43
Speaker 1: knowing what was going to happen in realistically six months
41:46
Speaker 1: from them was hard. Cause I really like to like
41:50
Speaker 1: know what's happening at all. Like I like to have
41:53
Speaker 1: a plan. And then once we knew I was really excited,
41:57
Speaker 1: like I was excited because there were a couple of
41:59
Speaker 1: different options. And this was the one that I had
42:02
Speaker 1: felt like would work best for me. And I grew
42:07
Speaker 1: up in St.
42:09
Speaker 2: Louis, like, St.
42:09
Speaker 1: Louis and Atlanta, but like was born in St. Louis
42:12
Speaker 1: and lived there for most of elementary school. And like
42:16
Speaker 1: most of my family is still there. So being in
42:20
Speaker 1: the Midwest again, like didn't feel scary to me. It
42:22
Speaker 1: felt like not necessarily coming home, but it felt familiar
42:26
Speaker 1: and it felt like safe. Yeah. So once we knew
42:29
Speaker 1: it was less about like, oh, I'm like scared to
42:32
Speaker 1: be there. It was more like I'm, I didn't know
42:35
Speaker 1: how it would work like leaving. Yeah.
42:38
Speaker 3: What has the uncertainty or going through that period of uncertainty?
42:42
Speaker 2: What has it taught you?
42:44
Speaker 1: Oh, goodness.
42:44
Speaker 3: Yeah.
42:45
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest things like with this
42:47
Speaker 1: era of running was at every juncture, like the exact
42:51
Speaker 1: right thing happened at the exact right time. And I
42:53
Speaker 1: think this has been like a really tangible for the
42:57
Speaker 1: first time in like, I guess my life, like things
42:59
Speaker 1: felt like a little out of control and it was
43:02
Speaker 1: a very like tangible, like, okay, like God has had
43:06
Speaker 1: a plan since the beginning and everything has worked out
43:08
Speaker 1: ahead of me, like exactly the way it's supposed to.
43:10
Speaker 1: And I'm very fortunate that those things worked out in
43:13
Speaker 1: a way that like I can see and experience in
43:15
Speaker 1: the moment that are good. So it's, it's helped me
43:17
Speaker 1: to see that. And like, even down to my dog
43:20
Speaker 1: being like the perfect dog for me, because I like
43:22
Speaker 1: got her on a whim, uh, like things have worked
43:25
Speaker 1: out exactly the way they ought to. And so I
43:29
Speaker 1: think with that, like, Things are literally planned for the next, like,
43:33
Speaker 1: year right now. But knock on wood, the next time
43:37
Speaker 1: I'm faced with, like, a little more uncertainty, hopefully I
43:39
Speaker 1: handle it a little bit better. Or I don't think I, like,
43:43
Speaker 1: outwardly handled it poorly. But, like, internally, like, I was
43:45
Speaker 1: very anxious and, like, having a lot of trouble sleeping
43:47
Speaker 1: that year and wasn't racing well because I was, like,
43:51
Speaker 1: not just nervous about, like, the race, but I was
43:54
Speaker 1: nervous about, like, what that would mean for, like, than
43:59
Speaker 1: being like, then having to go like figure out running
44:02
Speaker 1: on the other side of like being in Atlanta.
44:04
Speaker 2: So yeah. Yeah.
44:06
Speaker 1: Like I, I, I hope that I'll handle like periods
44:09
Speaker 1: of uncertainty with a little less like inner turmoil moving forward.
44:13
Speaker 2: Hey, it's so understandable, right?
44:15
Speaker 3: We all want to know what's going on and control
44:18
Speaker 3: the controllables, but to get to this place now where
44:20
Speaker 3: you feel a little bit more okay, at least a
44:23
Speaker 3: little bit letting go.
44:25
Speaker 2: I think that that's just.
44:26
Speaker 1: Going to be so- things are planned for like the
44:29
Speaker 1: next year. Like I don't have that yet, but, but
44:33
Speaker 1: if it comes, we might be okay. Hopefully. Yeah.
44:36
Speaker 2: Oh my God. I love it.
44:37
Speaker 3: Well, someone comes to your Instagram page right now. Emma Grace,
44:40
Speaker 3: they see this woman who just kicked butt in Chicago.
44:44
Speaker 3: They see quite the fast professional runner, but when you look.
44:48
Speaker 2: In the mirror, what is it that you see looking
44:50
Speaker 2: back at you?
44:51
Speaker 1: Well, immediately that I'm tired. No, I have like five
44:54
Speaker 1: days to rest before New York. Um, I don't know.
44:59
Speaker 1: I think a friend and a girlfriend and a daughter
45:03
Speaker 1: and a niece and a cousin and Ava's mom. But yeah,
45:07
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's something... Knowing what I've been able
45:12
Speaker 1: to do this season is something that's still sinking in.
45:16
Speaker 1: It's something I care a lot about. Like anything else,
45:18
Speaker 1: there's a person behind that. I definitely don't see... what
45:27
Speaker 1: people would go to Instagram and see. And yeah, so
45:30
Speaker 1: I don't know.
45:31
Speaker 3: Someone that is just learning your name for the first time,
45:34
Speaker 3: as so many are right now, as you continue to
45:37
Speaker 3: thrive in this pursuit of being one of the best
45:41
Speaker 3: runners in women's distance. So many people are coming and
45:46
Speaker 3: learning your name and they see one thing, but it's
45:49
Speaker 3: just so much bigger than that.
45:50
Speaker 2: Yeah.
45:51
Speaker 1: And like, it does take a village behind it too.
45:53
Speaker 1: Like Andrew's planned things for years and years and years.
45:56
Speaker 1: And ASICS has been really supportive and took a chance
45:59
Speaker 1: on me when there were so many better athletes out
46:02
Speaker 1: there to sign. So that was awesome. And yeah, so
46:04
Speaker 1: I do feel like it takes a village to even
46:06
Speaker 1: get there.
46:06
Speaker 3: Right now, Emma Grace, you have an opportunity to offer
46:09
Speaker 3: yourself a piece of advice, knowing what you know now,
46:12
Speaker 3: let's say back on that uncertainty in 2023, going through
46:15
Speaker 3: that hurdle moment, not exactly knowing what's going on, not
46:19
Speaker 3: getting the best sleep. Knowing what you know now, what
46:23
Speaker 3: advice would you offer yourself then?
46:25
Speaker 1: I would tell myself to just go to bed and
46:27
Speaker 1: it's going to work out. Yeah, I would tell myself
46:29
Speaker 1: that it's going to work out and just to hang
46:31
Speaker 1: in there. And the best thing that I could do
46:34
Speaker 1: in that situation was to work as hard as I could,
46:36
Speaker 1: which I did. And I like wish I had been
46:38
Speaker 1: like a little bit more like internally restful in that process.
46:41
Speaker 1: So I think I would just tell myself to like
46:44
Speaker 1: handle things with a little bit more grace towards myself
46:47
Speaker 1: and that and not feel like I had to figure
46:49
Speaker 1: out everything like in that moment.
46:51
Speaker 3: Emma Grace, how does it feel right now when people
46:53
Speaker 3: tell you that they think you're one of the front
46:56
Speaker 3: runners to make our Olympic marathon team in 2028?
46:59
Speaker 1: You know, that's wild to me. That's crazy. It feels good. Um,
47:04
Speaker 1: you know, obviously like that would be such a dream
47:06
Speaker 1: and it's a dream that I don't even know that
47:08
Speaker 1: I would have allowed myself to verbalize until the last
47:10
Speaker 1: like two or three years. It was so scary. So
47:12
Speaker 1: it's really cool. It's really exciting. And yeah, it's just
47:16
Speaker 1: wild to me. That's just crazy.
47:17
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, believe it, my girl, because it's a very
47:22
Speaker 3: real thing. I'm so excited that we were able to
47:25
Speaker 3: sit down today. For those that aren't following you just yet,
47:28
Speaker 3: give us your info. Where can they find you on
47:30
Speaker 3: the socials?
47:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really only update my Instagram. It's Emma Grace Hurley.
47:35
Speaker 1: So you can find me there.
47:36
Speaker 2: Find me there.
47:37
Speaker 3: I'm over at Emily Abadi and at Hurdle Podcast. Another
47:40
Speaker 3: hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.