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Molly Mirhashem is used to running in circles – literally.
Six days a week, Mirhashem runs near her home in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Much of his weekly mileage occurs on the same approximately 3.5-mile loop at a nearby park. Her training will come in handy: This weekend, she will run the Buffalo Marathon in upstate New York. It will be the ninth time she has run 26 miles since she first caught the marathon bug in 2017.
Mirhashem, a Well Desk editor who covers fitness, came to The New York Times last month from Outside Magazine, where she spent eight years assigning and editing articles on health and wellness, among other responsibilities.
One of her goals at The Times is to reach readers who are interested in exercise but want a little more guidance.
“There are beginners, who we talk to often, and there are experts who are looking for the smallest marginal gain in their marathon time,” she said in a recent interview. “I think there is room to serve these readers in the middle ground.”
Here, Mirhashem shares what motivates her to start running—that is, in her new job—and the biggest fitness challenges. These are edited excerpts.
Have you always been interested in fitness?
I am a lifelong runner. I started running in youth track and field and continued through high school. I ran track and cross-country in college and after that I tried marathons.
When did your love of fitness merge with your passion for journalism?
For a brief time after college, I worked in political media in DC. Then, in 2016, I moved to Santa Fe to work at Outside as an editorial assistant. This was the first time I started to merge my personal interest in health and fitness with my work. At Outside, it was broader than just fitness – I worked on all kinds of health and wellness stories.
What does a fitness week look like for you?
A lot of people think that because I’m an editor who works in the fitness industry, I’m taking a bunch of supplements or taking all kinds of crazy fitness classes. My routine is very simple. I run six days a week. I do some light mobility work and bodyweight exercises, although not as much as the research says I should do.
What is the biggest challenge of your beat?
Fitness advice may seem boring and repetitive, but a big part of fitness involves finding a type of movement you enjoy, doing it consistently, making sure you’re getting enough rest, and drinking enough water. Many people simply don’t have time for this. Finding new ways to present the basics – in a way that’s appealing to people who aren’t necessarily excited about exercise or running a marathon – is the biggest challenge.
Where do you find article ideas?
I read a lot of newsletters in the health and fitness space, so this is one stop shop. Also, because I’ve been a runner for a long time, a lot of my community and friend group are runners or people who are just interested in fitness and exercise. So conversations happen organically between people I know, and then I have to do the work of checking whether certain ideas are solid or just anecdotal. At Outside, I also had a very large group of columnists and reporters who were on the ground, following new research and talking to people all the time.
Is there an Outside article you’re particularly proud of?
I edited a column for about seven years called “Sweat Science,” written by Alex Hutchinson. He has covered emerging science in endurance sports and exercise science. He has a Ph.D. in physics and is an elite runner, but he had a knack for distilling conclusions. Working with him really informed my entire philosophy about the role of service journalism in this space and how important it is to have a skeptical eye but also be empathetic.
I also worked on many stories about the gender gap in sports science research and how little research is done on women. Many of these stories were written by Christine Yu, who wrote a book about how many training and nutrition protocols are based on small studies that don’t include women by definition, and what that means for female athletes.
What song is on repeat in your training playlist?
I don’t listen to music when I run.
Wow. Why is that?
I like to be aware of my surroundings and the outdoors. Even if I’m walking the same park loop for the millionth time, I like to feel like I’m absorbing it. Also, on a more technical level, I find it harder to gauge my effort level if I’m listening to something.
So are you just listening to your inner monologue?
Yes, unfortunately.
