1) How do you feel about your season so far?
My training has progressed nicely this season, I feel strong, and I'm ready for some solid races here at the end.
2) You had some injury issues last track season. Are you back to 100%?
I took almost the whole summer off running and did some really hard cross training. In August I was worried about not having run any, but I had built up a solid cardiovascular base over the summer, swimming and biking, and it didn't set me back too much. Now I am back to 100% and I'm glad I took the time and had the patience to let it heal completely.
3) Just looking at the Woodford results, you ran really well there. Any comments on your performance?
I've been working hard this season and that is paying off. That pace is comfortable for me now which is encouraging and lets me know that I have improved a lot this season.
5) Favorite Race?
I think my favorite race was the Franklin County invite this year. It was a gorgeous day, I was looking forward to a good race, and I ran well, but what made that race so special was the people. Sometimes I can't hear people cheering for me(except Mom and Coach, I always hear them), but that day I could hear the spectators and I was touched by the sincerity of the people who I didn't even know, who were out there cheering for me, happy to see me back from injury and having a strong run again.
6) What was sweeter…winning as an individual last season or your team
winning?
My team winning was awesome and way more satisfying than the individual win. I was really proud of us. We worked hard to get there and improved tremendously over the course of the season. The most exciting thing for me, though, was Colleen getting second. She struggled a lot with injuries during high school, but she's a good runner and a hard worker and I was glad she got to have a strong senior year. When I was running the last 1000 meters of that race, someone told me Colleen was in second and I was so excited I almost turned around to run back and give her a hug. Luckily though my genius kicked in and I decided that it would be wise to finish the race first.
7) What do you think about your competition for the individual title this season at State?
I know there are several girls out there who are working really hard, and they'll be in top form for State. I'm really impressed with Sarah Turi this season, and I'm sure she and Mary Grace will be right there. They've both had some great races this season, and I know they're not going to let me keep my title without a fight. I'm looking forward to a good race.
8) What colleges are you looking at?
I'm thinking about majoring in biomedical engineering, so all the schools I'm looking at have strong engineering departments. I do want to run in college, so I'm also looking for a place that I will be happy running.
9) If I remember right, you were a soccer player at one time. Do you still play?
No, not competitively. I loved soccer and it was really hard for me to give it up to come out for the cross country team, but I'm glad I did it.
10) How did you get started running cross country and track?
My best friend in 8th grade was on the track team and convinced me to join too. I ran the 100 and 200 meters and was awful at it, but someone on my team got in a freak accident and twisted their ankle, so I had to fill in on the 4x4 team one day. I loved the 400, and I loved the team, so I came back out for track freshman year.
When I broke our school 400 meter record, everyone started getting on my case trying to get me to quit soccer and only run. I must have debated cross country vs. soccer for a solid month, and changed my mind about it a million times before I decided to run. I remember the last time I changed my mind though. That morning I had decided for sure that I'd play soccer again in the fall. I was getting a ride home from Mat Van der Meer, who was a senior on our track team at the time. I casually mentioned cross country, hoping to gather more evidence to support my decision to continue playing soccer, but after that conversation I knew I was going to run cross country in the fall. I can't remember what he said, but he loved cross country, and I'm glad I took the opportunity to see for myself what he was talking about.
11) Craziest thing you have done while running, practice or a race.
I'm not sure if I should mention this because I think Coach is still furious about it, but my craziest practice was on a biking day. I do a lot of biking workouts, and one day I was riding on a road that I'd never been on before, moving pretty slowly up a steep hill, and this little tiny dog started running alongside me almost under my wheels barking and throwing a fit. I told it to go away a couple of times, but it was such a small dog that it wasn't a problem and I just kept climbing the hill. Then this huge monster dog came out of nowhere, and took a huge chunk of my calf in its mouth. When it finally let go I was a little bit of a mess, because it had scared me to death and I was bleeding, but coach was really flipping out. I suggested we keep riding because I'd never seen coach that mad and I didn't like it, but we stopped at the neighbor's house to clean up the bite while coach lectured these poor people about their neighbor's dog. It's funny now, but like I said, I think coach is still mad about it, so I'm not laughing too loudly yet.
12) How would you rate Coach Wilder as a coach?
On a scale of one to ten I'd give Coach Wilder a 15. He really takes care of us. I don't have to worry about anything. At the beginning of the season I tell him my goals and I know he'll make a good plan to get me there and all I have to do is follow it. Coach was an amazing athlete himself, and he is an amazing coach. I don't even really know what to talk about that would give you a good picture of him. He just goes above and beyond.
One example would be earlier in the season when the team went to a meet out of town. Coach drove to the meet, spent all day out there, drove home, and then met those of us who hadn't gone to the meet for a tempo run. And as if giving up his entire Saturday for us wasn't enough, he took us out for a Sunday bike ride the next day.
I wish every one could have a coach like him and I can't believe how blessed I have been to have had the opportunity to run for him.
13) Describe the experience of the Great American XC Festival for those
who have not been there?
Great American is a huge national meet. Sophomore year when I went it was it in North Carolina, which was one of my favorite races. We got to the course the night before, it was dark so we couldn't run it, but something, maybe the Nike flags lining the course or the giant banner over the start, told Toto and I that we weren't in Kentucky anymore.
Race day was awesome; there were tents and athletes all over the place. There are lots of different levels of races ranging from the elite Nike Race of Champions, to the JV divisions. The girls from Louisville ran in the Nike ROC I think both years that I went, but my team ran in the white invitational the first year, and the seeded race the second. The meet is commentated over a loud speaker, and when I got there sophomore year I remember hearing the guy say that some girl was so far in the lead of her race that she could have stopped to buy a pair of shoes at the Nike truck.
Sophomore year there were some African drummers playing on the side of the course and it was all hooked up to speakers and that was awesome. I think this year they had some bagpipes or something like that. This year it was in Alabama and they also had real cannons going off all the time.
We stayed at the course all morning and afternoon and had lunch there. The night of the race there is a dance that everyone goes to and it's usually a lot of fun. Because it's a national meet, you get to meet runners from all over and that's cool.