Mary McCarthy Debunks Over-Training Rumours, Stress Fracture Accident and Online Critique
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Mr. Blobby in this jacket. Is it cool? You didn't until you mentioned it. Do I look like a marshmallow?
No, that's going to be an intro to the video.
Welcome, Mary McCarthy.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
It's a great pleasure. We're big fans of yours in here. Your first ever marathon, you ran a 303.
Yeah, 303.
303, non-professional runner. Where were you at in your life at that time? And what drew you to running?
So I've been running now for nearly 20 years. So I started running when I was eight. So my first marathon, obviously it was my first like competitive marathon race, but it was like my hundredth competitive race. So I... Around that marathon period of my life, because I basically came out of competitive running from the age of eight, primary school, secondary school, university, came to London and was like, what does running mean to someone who's not in an athletics club and competitive space? And I found a new circle of friends and they all signed up to do Valencia Marathon. And I was like, a marathon is a crazy thing to do.
What motivated Mary McCarthy to start running?
Because I'd been running for so long, but I'd been running, like, 3K on track or, like, cross-country. And, like, we weren't even really allowed to road race growing up because it was, like, deemed bad on your bones. So I'd never... I'd done, like, one 10K race. And they were like, we're doing Valencia Marathon. I was like... That's a crazy thing to do. And I was like signed up to the ballot, got in and I was like, should I do it? And they were all like, yeah. And I trained with like a group of friends to do my first marathon. And then I just kind of like, I guess I just fell into running the marathon because everyone that I was friends with at the time was like training for it. And it was just like the next thing that our like social group was doing.
What drew you to running when you were so young, when you were eight? Did somebody in your family run or was it a friendship thing?
My dad ran. So my dad was doing like... So I grew up swimming and then my dad was a runner. Grew up swimming. Yeah, you're going to notice a little hand movement.
Just for the record, we've got hands. We grew up swimming with hands.
With hands. My dad did a half marathon and was like... I obviously don't remember the conversation because I was eight, but he obviously was like, you should do the fun run. So I did the fun run with him, which was probably a kilometre, came third and met Jessica Ennis. And then the next weekend he was like, I think you should do the primary school cross country, proceeded to win by like five minutes or something. And then I guess I just fell into it from that because he was like, oh, this is clearly something you're good at. And then I literally never looked back, just ran for the rest of my life.
I love the way you were just that much better than other kids who didn't even know it.
I think also because how many kids are training like five, six times a week in year three? Because I was swimming so much. So I probably had such a cardiovascular base that when I got put onto a cross-country field, I was just like...
It's interesting to consider that swimming would be that helpful to running. I find cycling quite helpful to running. I don't cycle much, but I notice that when I do cycle, that it kind of carries a bit into running.
Most of the people I know now, especially women that are pretty decent athletes, a lot of them have come from a background of swimming. Because I think it sets you up for this like mindset and base that like carries you forward for so much. Like when I was growing up, when I was a little bit older, like year five, year six, year seven, year eight, like I was racing cross country and I was like best in the county kind of level. I swam all week and raced cross country the weekend. So I wouldn't run apart from when I raced and I was completely fine.
Well, an interesting training tip. If you want to get better at running, get yourself to a pool.
Yeah, just swim for a month and then race a 10K at the end of the month and see what happens.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–1:12
2
What motivated Mary McCarthy to start running?
1:12–13:36
3
How does Mary train for marathons without a professional setup?
13:36–17:18
4
What does Mary say about the importance of fueling like her male training partners?
17:18–20:35
5
How does Mary address online criticism as a content creator?
20:35–20:57
6
What is Mary's perspective on overtraining and injury?
20:57–21:05
7
What mistakes do runners make when trying to improve their speed?
21:05–1:11:04
Speakers
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