Before you go any further, watch this.
Makenna Myler is a barrier breaker. She just finished 7th at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday running a 2:26:14... 10 months postpartum. That's 45 seconds away from making the Olympic Team, but more importantly it's emblematic of Makenna's mindset and growing personal belief, which says a lot given her past achievements. In 2020, she finished 14th at the trials, 7 months postpartum. She also holds "the fastest pregnant mile" record at 5:17 (in her third trimester, no less) and the fastest mile while wearing jeans (4:37). Needless to say, Makenna is an inspiration to the whole squad at Bandit, and if you aren't yet familiar with her, she's about to be one for you too.
Let's chat...
What was your mindset towards running during your pregnancy? How did it change, if at all, as the months went on?
Initially I was rather apathetic. I wanted to prove that I wasn’t that crazy pregnant lady, and could be nonchalant about running during pregnancy. Then I called Ryan Hall. The phone call alone was enough to stoke the fire again. I’d expected him to maybe consider taking me on as an athlete a month or two after giving birth. He shot that idea down immediately, and told me to accomplish my goals we’d start the next day. How you’re feeling after reading that sentence (🔥) is how I felt the rest of the pregnancy.
What did solidifying yourself as a top 10 marathoner in the country, just 10 months postpartum mean to you?
It felt like I’d won a lottery. I’ve never truly held the knowledge tightly in my hand that I’m capable of running with the best. Now that I have the knowledge, I have a deeper belief in myself. That means everything. It makes my decision to cover a big move in the next race easier. It increases my gratitude toward my Heavenly Father, knowing what struggles other mothers have faced that I haven’t. It deepens my convictions when looking someone in the eye to tell them they can have kids and dreams. I was in awe of the US women’s distance field this year. I truly respected every last one of the women I ran with in that pack. To be numbered with them is an honor… and a license to believe.
What advice can you share for other female athletes who want to balance stepping into motherhood without compromising their dreams of competing in their sport?
Embrace compromise. She is your new lover. When the road forks in two, and you hope to take both, you will pay both tolls. You will not get your regular 20 minutes of activation before the run, so pour some apple sauce and activate for the 4 minutes it takes her to eat it. Watch other athletes you’re competing against take mid-day recovery naps, but don’t envy them. Embrace your furnace of affliction. Because of it, you’ll know more about yourself and what you’re capable of, to say nothing of actual fulfillment. I’ve never felt a greater sense of worth than the day I became a mother. I’m talking deep, human-experience-level worth. With that box checked, not only is the sport no longer my primary identity, I now glean more profound joy from it. The result of that, at least for me, has been serious progress in the sport.
Training at such an elite level, and stepping newly into motherhood both require intense commitment and time devotion. Were there moments of self doubt or internal struggle about juggling both?
Yes. Many… today.
How did your body adapt to the heavy training in such a short time period postpartum? Did you have to make any adjustments from previous cycles?
If we’re only looking at those 10 months, successful adaptation to heavy training postpartum were a result of 1) hiring a world-class coach who knows how to compound workouts without burning out an athlete, 2) eating a lot of nutritionally dense food, 3) paying very close attention to and nurturing any small pain in my body, 4) setting ‘baby sleeps 8 hours a night by month two’ as a TOP priority, and 5) God’s blessings. More foundational than those first four things: the years of lifting, sleeping well, and eating more than I should before ever getting pregnant. My advice to anyone asking how to get back to running well after pregnancy is to start living well now. I’m still collecting dividends from freshman year lift sessions.
Photo by Kevin Morris for ASICS.
How will you describe this experience to your daughter? What lessons do you think you can teach her from this moment ?
I’ll tell her when she’s 20, maybe. I want her accomplishments to be her own, and come of her own organic trajectory. As far as I’m concerned she doesn’t need to know any of my accomplishments. She just likes how my pony tail flies when I run, wants one just like it, and that’s enough for me.
What is next for you in terms of running?
Track - would love to see what I’m capable of after a couple blocks of Ryan Hall’s training on the track.
What were your thoughts crossing the finish line on Saturday?
I’ve set very specific visions in the past - detail rich. Sometimes I’ve been surprised by how closely I’ve lived them out, many times I’m quite disappointed by the result. This time I set a very vague and general vision: I just crossed the finish line and am in awe. What did I just do?! That’s it. I knew how to feel such a feeling, could access it on a regular basis, and I pictured having it many times over. That’s exactly what I felt on the finish line. Astounded at what just happened. To solidify that, I received several text messages from friends and even my agent with that question in there almost verbatim. So much gratitude as well, and just a cinch of “let’s take a break from that for a while.”
Makenna leading our NYC Marathon Shakeout. Photo by Lauren Nemeroff.
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Congrats, Makenna!!
