2005 NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Interview with Ida Nilsson
Reported by Parker Morse

Ida Nilsson on her way to winning the 5,000m at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. (Photo by Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

2004 NCAA steeplechase champion Ida Nilsson first made a splash nationally running the 3,000m at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Then at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Nilsson finished fifth in that event. The following year, she transferred to Northern Arizona University, and finished fourth in the indoor 3,000m; in 2004, she was 3rd. In 2005, after winning her steeplechase title, Nilsson shifted to the 5,000m for her last race in the NCAA, and finally got a first place finish indoors, powering away from the field with a kilometer remaining. Nilsson holds the Swedish national steeplechase record, and hopes to run at this summer's World Championships in Helsinki.

Fast-Women.com spoke to Nilsson after her 5,000m victory in Fayetteville.

Fast-Women.com: You made a strong move to the front with about a kilometer to go. What did it feel like before then? Were you waiting for that moment?
Ida Nilsson: Yes, I knew someone would do something with about 1K to go, and if nobody else moved, I was planning to go. I'm not that strong, like a kicker; I like to make a move earlier.

FW: How did the pace feel until then?
IN: The first mile was pretty fast, but then it kind of slowed down. The second mile felt quite good.

FW: When you moved, you really got away quite quickly. Did you expect it to be that easy?
IN: I was trying to go hard, but I didn't expect it to like that. I was getting worried, because I was getting tired. When I saw the last 400, I thought, maybe they're catching up again. But they didn't. When there was one lap to go, I felt like I would make it. But the girl in second [Caroline Bierbaum], she was close...

FW: How does this compare with the steeplechase last spring?
IN: I think in the steeplechase I had to focus much more. Last year was my last outdoor track championships. At first, this season, I was going to run the 3K, but then I qualified in the 5K, because when I went to Seattle to get the qualifier, the 5K was going to be much better. I guess I was lucky.

It depends on the year. Some years you have someone who's much better, like Kim Smith last year, that no one else can beat. This year was more like one where everyone had a chance to [win].

FW: What's the indoor track season like compared to cross country or outdoor track?
IN: I really like indoors, but I guess we don't really focus on it. It's more like training. Maybe we peak for one race, like NCAAs. We use it more for fun, but I like it. I feel like it goes faster.

FW: What kind of mindset does it take to run 25 laps?
IN: You can't really look at the laps in the beginning. You start counting with maybe 10 laps to go. You focus on the group, on relaxing. It's easy to wait for the moves, because you're closer together.

FW: So you think more about the competition than where you are in the race distance.
IN: Yes, exactly. You race for championships, you don't focus on the time. Otherwise you get all bored, thinking, oh, I'm going to get a bad time now.

FW: How do you wake yourself up when it's time to race, say, with five laps to go? What's the cue to move?
IN: I guess you just have to focus on doing the moves, and not on how much you have left, because everyone is pretty tired at that point. It's more like deciding that you're going to do it.

FW: Do you ever want to put it off, and stay back just one more lap?
IN: That was the feeling before I went, I was going to do it earlier. I guess I could have waited a little longer, but I'm not a strong kicker, and there probably would've been another thing then.

(Interview conducted March 11, 2005, and posted March 18, 2005.)