Interview with Lindsey Anderson

By Pat Goodwin

The last time New York Road Runners talked with steeplechaser Lindsey Anderson was in May of 2007 when she was finishing up her collegiate eligibility at Weber State in Ogden, Utah. She already had an automatic qualifier for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field in the steeple with a time of 9:39.95 and a personal best in the 10,000 meters of 33:16.12.

Anderson then made her debut as a professional athlete at the USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships last June and finished third in the steeple to earn a spot on the U.S. team that traveled to the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Japan. She didn’t advance to the final of the steeple at Worlds, but the international experience was invaluable for the 22-year-old.

After Worlds, Anderson returned to Utah for a stint as a student teacher in Ogden and to finish her degree in mathematics. She graduated in December and is now a substitute teacher at either Fremont or Ogden High Schools. She has continued to train under the watchful eye of her college coach, Paul Pilkington, and to volunteer as an assistant coach with her former collegiate team.

Anderson was preparing for the USA Cross Country Championships on February. 16, but in early February had a bad bout of the flu for six days. So she scratched her participation at USA Cross and set her sights on doing the NYRR Women’s Invitational 8K in New York City on March 15. The race will mark her road debut and her first 8K.

The Nike athlete’s goal is a spot on the U.S. team that will compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, in August.

New York Road Runners: You certainly had a pretty fast start to your professional running career last June with your third-place finish in the steeple at USA Outdoor. Can you describe that experience?
Lindsey Anderson: USA Outdoor was a lot of fun. I felt confident and I was excited about competing there as a professional. I really wanted to see what the whole post-collegiate running experience was all about and my goal was to qualify for Worlds. There were three women that I knew in the race because of running against them in college and that was a benefit to me because then I wasn’t intimidated by the others. It was a good field and I didn’t know a lot of them but I knew I could do it.

NYRR: What did you do from June until August to prepare for Worlds?
LA: After USA Outdoor I went back into the training routine. I also went over to Europe in July and raced in Belgium. This was my first time racing overseas. But I really struggled because I was there without a coach or anyone with me. This was a whole new level and I didn’t race very well. My parents were living in France at the time so I stayed with them for about a week before heading to Heusden. They weren’t able to come watch me race because they had previously booked a cruise. At the meet (KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden) where I ran the steeple, Lisa Galaviz broke the American record (she ran 9:28.75). There were other American steeplers competing as well. I was stressed out about it all because I had to do everything on my own.

NYRR: Did you have some time between Europe and Japan to come home and regroup?
LA: I did come home for about a month and then headed to Japan. It was so fun meeting the entire U.S. team and spending time with them. It made me feel part of the U.S. distance running community. There were all these amazing runners that I’ve always looked up to and it was great knowing that I deserved to be there too. It’s something I definitely want to be a part of next year in Beijing.

NYRR: How did the steeplechase event go for you at Worlds?
LA: I expected really good competition there. It would have been awesome to make it into the finals. We [Jennifer Barringer, Anna Willard, and Anderson] were bummed that none of us made it into the finals. It was definitely an eye-opener but it gave me a stronger will to prepare for the next year. The lessons I learned are that international competition is pretty aggressive but everyone was really respectful. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I had never run in something that big before and I liked the atmosphere. Overall it was a very good experience. It was also cool to go from being competitors with the other U.S. steeplechasers to being teammates.

NYRR: Did you take a break after Worlds?
LA: I had a much-needed break after Worlds. In fact I took two weeks completely off of running. Then I started my practice teaching assignment at Fremont High School, which is close to Ogden. I taught math and physical education. It was a really good experience. During that time I built up my base again. I did just distance and got up to 80-85 miles per week with some tempo runs. Once the fall semester ended in November, I started doing workouts. Fremont was really good with my schedule. I was done by 2:00 p.m. so I was able to get over to the college (Weber State) by 3:00 p.m. to run with the college team.

NYRR: Did you finish your degree with the completion of your student teaching assignment?
LA: Yes, I officially graduated in December with my math teaching degree. It was a huge relief to be done. I am able to substitute teach now. I can choose my own schedule, which days I teach, and that is a good situation. I can work however much I want to.

NYRR: Did you move from Morgan to Ogden because of your teaching?
LA: My husband and I had been house sitting for my parents [in Morgan, Utah] and they came back at the end of the summer after living in France for two years for my dad’s job. So we moved to Ogden and we are just a couple of miles away from Weber State. I volunteer there as an assistant coach. I do a lot of the workouts with the team along with general distance running and go to the meets.

NYRR: Has it been hard to be around the college team and not be competing with them?
LA: Actually it has been so nice to be a professional runner. In college you have so many races to prepare for. It is a relief that I am on my own training schedule now. I had a quality block of training this past fall. But there were some times I wish I could have run in some of those meets as a collegiate competitor again.

NYRR: What were your initial plans for the first part of 2008?
LA: I was going to do USA Cross Country so we had decided not to do Indoor [the AT&T USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships]. The only thing I did was a 3000 at Pocatello in early January. One of the girls paced me in the first mile but we went out fast. I should have run my own pace because I slowed down after that first mile. My time was 9:36. It was a good first opener for not having raced for five months. I was also going to do an indoor race in Seattle but then I got sick so we cancelled that and decided not to do cross either.

NYRR: Are you excited about doing the 8K in New York City?
LA: I have been planning to do a road race for a long time now so I’m excited to finally do one. My husband and I had signed up for the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon last year before my running started taking off and my options in the steeple were clear. So we didn’t end up doing Chicago. I’m looking forward to the 8K. I have done 10ks on the track but I have never raced the 8K distance before. I have also never been to New York City so I’m excited to see Central Park. This will be a new experience but I feel confident in my training. I’m strong in the longer distances. It will be good to see where I am at against other professional runners. It will be a milestone in my training.

NYRR: Do you know what your track schedule will be after the 8K?
LA: We haven’t decided what the outdoor schedule will be yet. I’m not going to do a ton of steeples before the Trials. I’ll do the 5K and a few different races. The goal is to get in a few quality races. I’ll try to get in some races with some of the other girls. As much as a race is an individual thing you need the help you get from the competition to get faster. I want to be in the 9:20s at least by the time the Trials come around. My training has been going really well so I am confident. A lot of it is the same stuff we have always been doing but I’m working on improving my finishing speed.

NYRR: Good luck with your races this spring and with the Trials.
LA: I am so excited about the season coming up. I can’t wait to get everything going. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out.

Interview conducted February 6 and 25, 2008, and posted February 29, 2008.