This interview was conducted BEFORE Molly Seidel went on to become an NCAA XC Champion back in November! Article published back on Friday, October 15th, 2015.

In our weekly Q&A segment we asked Molly Seidel a few questions about life on and off the track. We caught up with her before she took on a loaded field at Wisco and asked about her training and her 10k NCAA title win this past outdoor season.

Congrats on your 10k win at Nationals during the outdoor season. Can you take us through how it played out in your mind?

Going into that race I was definitely nervous, since it was my first time running at outdoor nationals and because the level of competition was so high. I wasn’t really on anybody’s radar, which was kind of liberating; it was like I didn’t have anything to lose, so I might as well just go and run my brains out. That might be one of the reasons I had the confidence to take the lead with 800 to go rather than racing more conservatively. So much of last year was about mentally and physical overcoming the struggles I’d faced my freshman and sophomore years, and I think that race is when it finally clicked for me that I could be a competitive on the national level again.

What was it like after you realized you had the championship title in the bag during the race?

I don’t think I realized that I was going to win that race until about halfway down the finishing stretch, since up to that point I’d been convinced the other runners were just sitting on me and getting ready to kick it in. I only figured out how much of a lead I had when I was coming around Bowerman’s curve, so that’s when my oxygen-deprived brain finally switched from thinking “well, at least I can say I led for 600-ish meters at nationals” to “HOLY SH*T I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE AND THERE’S NO ONE IN FRONT OF ME.” The last 100 meters were basically fueled off a combination of pure fear and adrenaline, but I have to say that coming across the line was one of the most incredible feelings I’ve experienced. There were about ten seconds of pure, unadulterated joy and validation of all the hard work I’d put in to get there …and then it went right back to “Damn, I wonder how much faster I can go? I really want to race again!”


How has the 2015 XC season been so far for you?

The season has been fairly low-key for both me and the whole ND team the past few weeks. We’ve mostly been focusing on getting in a good, solid base of training and being really patient when it comes to workouts and races. I’ve only raced once so far at ND Invite, and even that was a very conservative effort since I was coming right off a bad case of stomach flu that week. Despite that little hiccup the training has been really solid, and I’m absolutely pumped to get into the bigger races and to start testing my fitness.

What can we expect at Wisco this weekend?

Wisco is always such a cool meet because of the sheer amount of great competition there. I don’t think any other regular-season meet has this much depth, and it’s really one of the first times in the season you can see how everyone stacks up. It’s also really meaningful for me as a Wisconsin native (I grew up about an hour outside of Madison), and I basically think of it as my second home course. Knowing that I’m going to have a bunch of family and friends there just gets me even more excited, so I’m definitely looking forward getting out there and having some fun on Friday.

What is your favorite thing about XC?

I think what I love most about cross country is that you get the opportunity to race against so many different people all in one place. In track everyone has their own specific distance, and you could go literally your entire college career without ever racing a person just because they run the 1500m and you run the 10k. Cross country is awesome because it just throws that idea out the window by having everyone race each other. It’s like someone decided “okay, we’re going to pack 150+ crazy talented runners onto the starting line and then see who can go the fastest for the longest period of time without throwing up.”

Where do you see yourself placing at the NCAA XC championships?

Isn’t that the golden question! Last year at NCAAs I had been sitting in 12th for most of the race but lost a few spots in the final 1000m to get 19th, so I’m definitely aiming to improve on that performance and work racing strong and smart. Every race is different and I try not to speculate too much on potential outcomes, since literally anything can happen out there. All I know is that (God-willing I qualify!) when I get on the course in Louisville I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.

What is your go-to tune up workout before a big race?

My favorite workout to do two or three days before a race is what Coach Sparks calls “tempo & intervals” but I always think of as a “tempo sammich.” We’ll usually start out with some quicker intervals, maybe 2x400m or 2x800m, then a light tempo, and finish up with another set of one or two faster intervals. I love getting into a nice tempo rhythm for a few miles, but it also helps me get in a racing mindset to get out fast and finish fast.

Describe your fondest race memory.

When I was a sophomore in high school I’d been trying to break 5 minutes in the mile the whole season, and though I kept coming really close I hadn’t yet been able to do it. After the state meet I decided to sign up for the Midwest Distance Gala down in Illinois to get one last shot at it, since I knew there was going to be great competition. At the time my pre-race pump-up song was “The Joker and the Thief,” which is just this complete headbanger song, and I listened to it basically the whole drive down on my headphones since my mom wouldn’t let me put it on the car stereo. The Gala was cool because it was at night under the lights, and they would play music during every race so everybody was amped up. I stepped up to the line next to these super-tall star runners (shoutout to Colleen Quigley and Waverly Neer!) and was just shaking from nerves, but when the gun went off this headbanger guitar music starts blasting out of the speakers; they were playing my pump-up song! It was like this sign from above that it was going to be a great race, and I ended up crushing my goal to break 5 by running a 4:51 and winning the race. So if you see me with headphones at a meet you can probably guess what I’m listening to!


Tell us about your favorite memory with one of your current or past training partners.

It’s cliché to say, but there are seriously way too many great memories to choose from with the teammates and friends I’ve trained with! If I had to choose one it would probably be with my most fashionable and ginger-haired training partner, my sister Izzy (who currently runs for Northwestern, go NCats!) A few winters ago we were cross county skiing around the park by our house, and it had just snowed so there was fresh powder all over the tracks. We got to the top of a huge hill, and Izzy bombed down it full speed trying to be a little hotshot skier while I was up top adjusting my boot. I looked down right as she caught the tip of her ski in one of the snowdrifts and I see her flip forward in a complete airborne spread eagle, fly off the trail and straight into the woods. She then slides a bit until she’s down in this gully completely buried in the snow, so all I can see is her legs and skis sticking straight up in the air. Needless to say I thought she was dead, so I booked it downhill completely freaking out. I got up next to her and she’s not moving, but I hear this muffled noise coming from where her head should be. She poked her head up out of the snow and I realize she’s just laughing hysterically, so I start laughing hysterically because she has this ridiculous snow-beard and I was so glad she hadn’t brained herself sliding into a tree!

What is your cross training regimen?

Coming from a multi-sport background I’m a huge fan of cross training, especially if I can get outside to do it. My dad and sister are both fantastic cyclists and so I always love getting to go for long rides with them when I’m at home. Same goes for cross country skiing in the winter, and doing swims in the lake during the summer; I absolutely love finding ways to get out of the gym and train outside. Over the past year I’ve found that I just have less time for cross training because my mileage has increased, but through my first two years of college being almost constantly injured I was definitely doing the bulk of my training on the bike, in the pool, or running on the AlterG. It’s such a fantastic way to stay all-around strong, and a really great way to get extremely fit even when you’re not running (just as long as you’re focused and working hard).

I also make sure to focus on getting in strength and mobility work to keep myself healthy, since running is such a one-dimensional activity. I do weights 1-2 times a week, as well as hip mobility and lots of core work. I also love doing yoga even though I’m egregiously inflexible; I look ridiculous whenever I do it, but it’s relaxing and fun so who cares what the concerned onlookers think?

What is your main goal for the rest of the 2015 year moving into 2016?

Staying healthy is always one of my major goals, especially now that I’m moving into my final few seasons as a collegiate athlete. That means not only being smart about my training but also making sure I’m focusing on proper recovery and doing all the little things. If I want to make the most of the time I have left at ND its so important that I’m doing everything I can to stay strong, healthy, and focused.

What are some things that helped get you past the low points of dealing with injuries or illness?

For a significant portion of my freshman and sophomore years I had this “victim mentality” where it seemed like all these injuries were just happening to me in an endless cycle. I felt like I couldn’t escape from it, and even when I did get healthy it seemed like some new problem was always just right around the corner. It really was a very low point mentally, and there were a lot of times when I wondered if I’d ever get back to running at a competitive level or even run pain-free again. I had to undergo a pretty big mental shift to take responsibility for my health and become a more proactive athlete. Basically, I needed to stop whining about how unfair the world was and put my big girl pants on. I realized that the only way to move on was to stop focusing on the negatives in the past, on all those opportunities I’d missed or the failures I’d had, and instead start looking at how I could positively change my behaviors in the future. Every injury is a learning experience, and each setback I’ve had has given me the chance to grow into a better, more experienced runner.

If you could give one piece of advice to any runner, what would it be and why?

Don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s easy to get into this mentality of thinking everything has to be absolutely perfect in order to train and race well, or to get so wound up about every little thing that you drive yourself crazy. It’s not like the fate of the world depends on your next race; if it doesn’t go well then you move on, and if it does then you do the same thing. I always try to remember that at the end of the day I’m just running around in circles; it isn’t complicated, so just go have fun and enjoy the ride.

Describe your childhood dream.

My family had a subscription to National Geographic when I was little, so I would spend hours going through them reading and looking at the pictures of these amazing places. I wanted more than anything to be an explorer that would travel all over the world to take photos of penguins, the African savannah, or oddly-shaped rock formations in remote locations.

Describe your guilty pleasure.

Post-race frozen custard. Think ice cream, but double the fat & double the fun.

Describe your favorite place to run or train.

The Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. It’s a 1,200-mile footpath that goes through the entire state, and even though it’s a National Scenic Trail there are a ton of people who still have no idea what it is. I’ve definitely got my favorite segments on it, but it’s always fun to go exploring and run a new section. There’s actually a segment that starts right at the Wisco course, so if anyone wants to experience some primo Wisconsin trails just hit me up post-race for a cooldown!

If you had a day off from your everyday responsibilities, how you would spend it?

Assuming this is a magical day where I can arbitrarily choose my location and season I’d start off with a long trail run in Flagstaff, then transport back to school to have an enormous brunch with my friends in our house (#bananabungalow). I’d transport with my friend Dani out to Big Sky for an afternoon of skiing in fresh powder (don’t tell Coach Sparks), and then end the day back home in Wisconsin with my family for a lazy summer evening on the lake.

Describe your pre-race ritual.

I shake out first thing in the morning, then have some peanut butter & banana toast with coffee. I’ll do a bunch of USA Today crosswords to keep my mind occupied, obsessively fold all the clothes in my bag, and basically mill around nervously until our team heads out to the course. Then it’s warmup time, some dynamic drills, strides, make sure all my warmups are folded, and then RACE!

What does racing/training look like for you in the next six months?

For the next six months I’ll be on the standard college racing schedule; XC, a short break, then indoor and outdoor track. Training-wise I’m going to keep doing the same stuff I’ve been doing: nothing flashy, just getting in the miles, being patient, and working hard every day.