FW: I bet that sense of community is great; you probably learn just as much from them outside of the training as you do in the training.
AB: Oh, exactly. Those conversations that just happen randomly when we are out to dinner together or something like that; that’s where we really kind of pick up insights into the sport from each other. Since I am the youngest member of the team, I feel as though I was automatically adopted as the little sister of the group and all my teammates are just so warm and we really get along well.

FW: That’s great that you are able to bond with them. Your schedule seems pretty busy with work and running.
AB: Actually, I haven’t been all that busy with work lately. My job here at the Brain Injury Association is winding down here. We are on a reduced schedule now that the session is out. It was quite a lot busier when the legislature was still in session.

FW: Tell me a little bit more about your position with the Brain Injury Association.
AB: Well, I’m a public policy aide for them. I’m a registered lobbyist for Minnesota and I thought that following healthcare issues would be interesting. The opportunity to work in a disability community came up and I decided to take it on. It was kind of a big introduction to public healthcare programs and I was just really astonished at the complexities involved with the many different rules and how the programs are funded and so on.

It was a pretty steep learning curve right off the bat to kind of follow all that was going on with legislation, but it was really fun. It was a totally different avenue from my running and something enjoyable that I could do outside of that. It’s important for me to kind of have a distraction like that.

I really enjoy my boss and the people I work for are great. It’s inspiring; it’s an opportunity to meet some pretty courageous people. A lot of brain injury survivors and their families are just amazing so it gives you a sense of perspective into what we do as athletes.

FW: That’s great, so you already have a running community set up for you.
AB: Yup, some training partners lined up and I will continue working with Dennis and then I will come back in late May and I will begin studying with the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota in the fall of 2007. It’s a two year program. So, when I return to the states, I will jump right back into training and Team USA Minnesota.

FW: Do you plan on doing any races when you are out in Europe?
AB: For sure! I’m going to certainly run the world road running championships in Hungary in October. I’m glad it’s in Europe and not in Asia or something because it will be so easy for me to get over there.

There are also a lot of great road races and relays in Norway. I’m also hoping to be able to travel to some of the European cross meets. It kind of depends on what my schedule dictates. I’ll probably be more able to do some of the longer races because it will be easier to do a few of those and find a really good field. So, that’s kind of the plan.

FW: Speaking of deep fields, you will be up against some great runners on Thursday [Sara Slattery, teammate Katie McGregor, and Jen Rhines, to name a few]. Do you have any strategies lined up?
AB: I haven’t really developed a strategy. Since the half-marathon, my focus has been on recovery. I just started feeling like I was getting a sense of my sharpness back, so I haven’t really thought that far ahead. My coach and I have prepared for a hot and humid race, so we are definitely taking that into consideration going into the race. Also, since it’s a national championship race, times aren’t that important, so the strategy we develop will be more in terms of tactics and where to run in the pack instead of focusing on a specific time.

FW: You have a lot of great plans lined up for public policy involvement and running in the next year. Where do you see yourself in five years in terms of running and your public policy work?
AB: I really don’t know at this point. My goal with running is to see how far I can take it. So, if I continue to improve from now until five years from now, I hope to still be active in the sport. If I felt like I leveled off and felt as though there was no way I could improve, then I would be ready to give it up. There’s really no way I’m going to let of this though until I reach that point. Certainly, it will be at least another three years before I contemplate moving into a non-running career. I really have to see at this point.

All that has happened this year has kind of exceeded my expectations. The half-marathon victory was such a huge accomplishment for me personally; I would have never anticipated anything like that going into this year. So, if things keep looking up like that, I will be in the sport for quite a while.

FW: That’s good to hear! Now, let’s talk about this amazing half-marathon victory. Did you have any idea what to expect the month or so of training leading into this race?
AB: Well, early on, I saw the listing of the race and thought it would be a very interesting race because I usually do better at the longer distances. But my coach and I decided that I would do a 5K instead that week, so I really wasn’t training for the half-marathon at all. But I was doing this multi-pace training and a lot of longer runs and a lot of high volume threshold workouts, so I thought that the half was something that I could handle and when it came to the week before the race and we had to change plans a little bit, Dennis said “You know, I think you can handle this. You have done a lot of longer runs, so you will be ready for this.” So, there was really no specific training at all leading up to this race.

The week of the race though, I guess I tapered a little bit more than I normally would the few days before the race. Dennis told me to be really conservative and just see how the race goes. It would have been hard for him to give any more specific advice then that since I don’t have any experience in the event. [Laughing] I hope that answers your question as far as the training goes.

FW: It certainly does. That makes your win even more remarkable, that this was a race that you decided to compete in at the very last-minute.
AB: I thought for a long time that I would really like to do a marathon some day so I just got the word Tuesday before this half-marathon that I would be able to run. I was so excited because I really just wanted to see if that was an option. It was nice going into it because I didn’t have any expectations as to where I would finish. I didn’t feel any pressure because it was such a new event. I really had everything to gain and nothing to lose so that definitely helped when I was racing.

[Editor’s Note: You can read more about Bersagel’s half-marathon in her journal entry.]

FW: So do you see yourself training for a marathon any time soon or will you be focusing on a different event for the 2008 Olympic Trials?
AB: It doesn’t look like I’ll be doing a marathon before the Olympic Trials. So, for now, I will be focusing on the 10,000 meters and there are some things I need to work on with that. I haven’t run that my 10,000s in my career so far, so I want to work on that distance a little bit more.

FW: How do you feel about track and field versus road racing as a fairly new runner on the professional racing scene?
AB: In all honesty, financially and everything, it’s a lot easier to go to road races just because of the way the system works. Team Minnesota makes a big effort to get us into some of the track races and provide us with some support. Without that support system, I don’t know if I would be able to run track and field at all.

FW: Wow, you must feel very fortunate.
AB: I do and I’m really looking forward to this week. I’m excited also to cheer for my teammates. I’m all ready to go, to be up in the stands cheering my teammates.

I’m also excited that this is televised. It’s neat because I’ll be watching some of the big track and field events with my grandparents and I get to say “Oh, I train with her.” [Laughing] Giving my grandparents the inside story is kind of fun.

FW: That’s really neat. So, are your grandparents up there in Minnesota too?
AB: I live with my grandparents here.

FW: Wow, that’s great. You have the support of a team and family. That must be nice.
AB: It’s so nice. When I came out here to look at the team that said that I could live with them, that they wanted to do everything they could to support my running dreams. I thought that it would be a great thing to do, especially just getting started. It’s really been a valuable experience living with them. I learn all the stories about my dad when he was a kid and just what it was like for my grandparents growing up.

Establishing those connections and learning about where my family came from and the kind of life they had really puts in a sense of perspective. I feel a little bit spoiled!

Editor's Update: Annie Bersagel placed 12th in the 10,000 meters at the USATF championships, with a time of 34:35.28.

Interview conducted on June 20, 2006 and posted on June 22, 2006.