Molly Huddle Slowing Down

*stipe wrote:

Regarding footwear, the higher stack/plated shoes gave her trouble. Unfortunately, it seems anyone who can't run in Dragonflys will be at a disadvantage on the track. And anyone who can't wear a plated shoe with modern foam (not traditional Eva) will be at a disadvantage on the roads.

What I hoped to convey with my little story is that all "stack/plated shoes" are not created equal. I'm not just referring to whether one shoe is lighter, or 'faster', or whether they save one's legs over the marathon.

One thing I don't think see mentioned much, but actually can be important to the older athlete, is their effect, specifically on the feet and achilles, or how well they can accommodate athletes that may have feet/achilles/ankle issues. Some of the 'super-shoes' may have more rocker, and try to capitalize on an agressive pivot off-the-toes, fixating the MTP joint. Others may have more cushion, and rely more upon energy return from the foam/plate combination.

Unlike old EVA shoe flats of yesteryear, when there was not much difference in performance between competitor's shoes, the ball-game has radically changed, and one of the biggest things, particularly for an older athlete such as myself, is what the shoes do (or don't do) to the lower extremities, in return for their performance. Evaluation of such matters are going to largely be unique to the athlete.

felonious monk wrote:

Yeah you're going to have to provide some support if you want me to join you in slandering one of America's distance running legends who by all accounts is a nice person.

Seems like she is just battling injury/old age. Something relatable.

"Slandering". LOL

Jack, what you are saying is that Nike has slowed her down. What if the Dragonfly never came out? Does she get the 15:10? What if the Vaporfly series were never invented? Under 15:00? What if Nike had completely folded up shop and gone out of business last year? Does she run near her PR last night? What if they went bankrupt in 2015, prior to the whole controversy and discussion starting? Would that put here in the ballpark of the AR pace last night? Does the existence of Nike slow you down, too? I guess you'll say it speeds you up since it's primarily what you wear, and all you wear in actual races.

Maybe Molly can turn to a distance that ZERO pro runners run, like a 50k? Then she can have her sponsor and her agent act like the 50k is a big deal and promote the heck out of it to all the hobby joggers and she can call it a success. She can then go on social media and act like she is something special and that she is extending her career into other events. Her sponsor can even spend additional advertising dollars with RW or anyone else that covers her 50k. This way it will seem like a bigger deal than it really is. Also make sure that Molly doesn’t invite any other top level females that could possibly expose her for the fraud that she has become. Also provide a pacer to do 100% of the work but act she can still act like she is a master at pacing.

________________________

Who hurt you?

Des actually got 4th in the OT last year and has won a WMM in recent years, neither which Molly has done even though everyone has said for years the marathon is her event. It's not, obviously.

Molly has had an admirable track and road career, but she has been at it for a long, long time with minimal breaks. Maybe she'll be ready for the OT 10k, but it seems unlikely. End of an era.

Celebrating that 2015 10k bronze early is one of my favorite Molly track moments.

This analogy is helpful for all those NASCAR fans here

At first I wasn't following you, but I understand now that my thoughts possibly weren't completely conveyed. Did Nike slow her down? Her injuries are possibly, and even quite likely, slowing her down. All I was suggesting was that instead of her throwing all stack/plated shoes under the bus, because they aggravate (or contributed to) her injuries, she may instead find out that an alternative (yes, even from a competitor) may actually allow her to run faster because they 'work' with her injuries.

From personal experience, I started training again last May after taking several years off. One of my lingering problems was some weird thing going on in my foot (cuboid excess laxity), possibly due to an ankle sprain long ago. I finally bit the bullet and bought Nike, and I think they will work better with my problems than the stiffer Endorphin Pro. I'm obviously not a Nike fan, and my wide feet (tailor bunions?) usually prefer competitor alternatives, but the VF in my standard length, is working. That is all.

I watched her years ago at a cross-country meet in San Diego. And I went online around then and observed how she was diligent with her warmup foot placement routing. She had EXCELLENT form, and did drills to sharpen it.

Now, here is something important on this topic: the stack/foam cushy VaporFly actually rewards those that do NOT run with the impeccable form required of yesterday's minimal flats. Instead, it rewards those that LOAD the shoe. By this, I'm thinking K. D'Amato's form in the VaporFly. She LOADS the shoe, and gets away with it, because the shoe returns alot of that loading, thereby improving running economy.

Edit: "warmup foot placement *routine"

Not a fan anymore wrote:

I used to be a big fan of Molly Huddle, for whatever reason. But the past year and a half when she started complaining about the new shoes and basically making that an excuse to why she didn't win races, I started to not like her. The first big instance was probably after the 2020 Houston half marathon when I believe she got beat by some Americans and had others hot on her heels, and was no longer the dominant American. So now she runs what, 15:24 for a track 5k in good conditions to run fast? What's her excuse now? She has obviously run waaaaaay faster than that with spikes from several years ago. So that can't be an excuse. Seems she is just slowing down. Not all because of the shoes. Poor excuses.

Give her a break. We all age and slow down with age, she has had a long career and 15:23 is very respectable but also u don’t know what phase she is in training. She knows how to peak and run her best when it counts the most

You nailed it. But Molly is better than this.

Not a fan anymore wrote:

I used to be a big fan of Molly Huddle, for whatever reason. But the past year and a half when she started complaining about the new shoes and basically making that an excuse to why she didn't win races, I started to not like her. The first big instance was probably after the 2020 Houston half marathon when I believe she got beat by some Americans and had others hot on her heels, and was no longer the dominant American. So now she runs what, 15:24 for a track 5k in good conditions to run fast? What's her excuse now? She has obviously run waaaaaay faster than that with spikes from several years ago. So that can't be an excuse. Seems she is just slowing down. Not all because of the shoes. Poor excuses.

You sound like an immature high school student ('I used to like her but I don't like her any more').

Her complaint about the shoes was that it aggravated and injury. Other than that, she has had injuries, has reached an age when slowing down is highly likely, and (as pointed out by others) spent time on training for an event that proved wrong for her.

If you really liked her for her running before, you should still like her. But we can like her and still think that she is very unlikely to make the Olympic team.

2:39 should not win Boston wrote:

When Edna Kiplagat, whose resume includes two golds and a silver in the marathon from the world championships, and three wins, five 2nd places, and one third place in WMMs can only run a 2:47, then yes, 2:39 SHOULD win Boston.

I would give her a break if she owned up to the fact that other people are better than her now. People are missing my point of the post. If you haven't seen the interview of her post Houston half marathon last year go ahead and watch it. She was basically complaining that she's not dominating the American running scene because of the shoes, not because she isn't as fast as she used to be. She is discrediting all of her competitors and saying they're only fast becasue of the shoes. But obviously, her 15:20 isn't great. Shoes aren't going to suddenly make her run 15:04 and be in the mix right now. She has run way faster than 15:20 in the past, she is just not as fast as she used to be. She isn't getting beat because she doesn't have the good shoes, she's getting beat because she's not as fast as she used to be and she needs to give credit where credit is due.

I’m not subscribing to FloTrack so a transcript would be great. Usually when someone posts on here that “x” person is complaining about shoes in reality it’s just taken out of context based on a question that they were asked and answered honestly. While you’re at it, feel free to show me where she blamed shoes for her 15:23.

Isn't this a rust buster? She has not raced much in the past year and a half, outside of the OT marathon.

And looking at the splits, not like she went out in 70 seconds and blew up. It was 73s and 74s. More of a pace work effort. Bet she runs 31:00 or so at OTs (not saying that's fast enough to make the team) and letsrun haters stay in mom's basement angry and devastated, and have to be calmed with a pacifier.

ESMR!

She said that Saucony has the Endorphin Pro, which is comparable to the VaporFly, but that the Alphafly seemed like it could have a few more plates and was worried about return going overboard. Adding, "it's kind of like the wild west out there now" and there should be some guidelines and regulations.

Also, 37 isn't old. It sounds like she has been injured, but didn't have any issues during the race. If that's the case, she has a chance to put in a good block of training and be a threat at the trials.

ehehh wrote:

She said that Saucony has the Endorphin Pro, which is comparable to the VaporFly, but that the Alphafly seemed like it could have a few more plates and was worried about return going overboard. Adding, "it's kind of like the wild west out there now" and there should be some guidelines and regulations.

Also, 37 isn't old. It sounds like she has been injured, but didn't have any issues during the race. If that's the case, she has a chance to put in a good block of training and be a threat at the trials.

Thanks. That doesn't sound at all like how the OP is trying to present her comments.