2005 USA JUNIOR OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Interview with Lindsay Allen
Reported by Parker Morse

Lindsay Allen. (Photo by Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

Lindsay Allen, a freshman at Stanford University, won the junior 3,000m steeplechase in 10:37.94. Marie Lawrence finished second in 10:40.95.

Q: How did the race feel to you?
Lindsay Allen: It felt really good. I've come off a season competing in college, and it was a really different feeling to be back in the junior division. I felt a lot more confident than I had been this year.

Q: What does the time mean to you?
LA: It's about 10 seconds off my best, but at this point, so late, it's nice to know I still have that in me this late in the season.

Q: Will you run at Pan Ams?
LA: Yes, I think I will.

Q: What does that mean as far as getting ready for cross country season?
LA: I think we'll make it fit in with the cross country season, not ignore the building up phase for this coming year.

Q: Did you compete this whole year at Stanford? How did it go?
LA: Yes, I did. It went well. Cross country was the adjustment period, it was pretty tough for me. I think track is more my thing. But indoors, I improved from January until the end. I was happy with that.

Q: You're from California; are there a lot of your friends and family here?
LA: I'm from Northern California [Pleasant Hill], so it's a five or six hour drive. My family is here, though.

Q: When did you start doing the steeplechase?
LA: I started after my sophomore year in high school. I went to running camp up at Humboldt State. They had a steeplechase night, so we all did it, and we had so much fun goofing around with it. I started taking it more seriously.

Q: Did you see the men's 5,000m last night?
LA: Yes, watching Ryan and Ian, who just graduated [from Stanford], that was probably the most exciting race I've seen. All of us got back on the bus last night so excited and pumped up for our races.

Q: How has your training changed from high school to college?
LA: Mileage is pretty much the same, which I think helps me not get injured. I think the biggest difference is tempo, our paced runs, like longer three-mile or four-mile runs at hard effort, which I never did in high school. Especially in the steeple, just having strong legs at the end makes a difference.

Q: What's it like training with all the fast runners at Stanford?
LA: It's good. I think a lot of people lose perspective while they're training, of where they stand, because everybody's training with really elite athletes. It's nice to compete where you get to have your own chance to shine.

Q: Has it been discouraging at all?
LA: I've definitely struggled at times in workouts, but fortunately, the girls treat me so great. There are top athletes who say, 'I went through that my freshman year.' There's nobody who hasn't been through it.

(Interview conducted June 25, 2005.)