Iceaxe
09-11-2007, 10:51 AM
Just thought I'd do a little braggin' on my cuz..... from my mamma's side...
And YES... I have raced her.... and YES she beat me....
Weber State runner chasing her Olympic goal
By Michael C. Lewis - The Salt Lake Tribune
Until just a few months ago, Ogden's Lindsey Anderson never envisioned herself as an elite international athlete. She figured she would finish her college track eligibility at Weber State, maybe run a fall marathon while finishing her degree, and then settle down to start a family.
Ten minutes on the track changed everything.
When Anderson ran the best 3,000-meter steeplechase of her life to start her final college season barely five months ago, she began to realize just how far her talent could take her. And once that happened, the 22-year-old Morgan native discovered a whole new frontier for her running career - a revelation that she now believes will deliver her to a historic starting line at the 2008 Beijing Games in China next summer.
"I expect myself to be there," she said.
With good reason.
Though far from a running prodigy growing up, Anderson is now among the world's best in the steeplechase, which will be contested by women for the first time in Beijing. Her personal-best time of 9 minutes, 39.95 seconds makes her the fourth-fastest American in the event this year - it's also the NCAA record - and she recently returned from her first major international competition at the World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Japan, where her confidence continued to soar despite failing to advance to the final.
"It was so exciting just to be able to race over there," she said. "And the longer I was over there, the more I felt like I deserved to be there. When I first realized I made the championships, I was so excited to go. But when I was over there, and being with the rest of the team, I thought, 'You know what? I deserve to be here.' "
Anderson never would have thought such a thing last spring.
But she began her final college season with the Wildcats by running 9:46 at the Mt. SAC Relays, a massive improvement from her previous best of 10:20 that illustrated the effect of training under new coach Paul Pilkington, a former All-American for the Wildcats who returned to WSU as an assistant coach two years ago.
A former world-class marathoner - he's most famous for unexpectedly winning the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon after being hired as a "rabbit" to lead others through the halfway point on a fast pace - Pilkington helped Anderson increase the volume and intensity of her training.
"She had worked hard before," Pilkington said, "but I think we redefined what 'hard' was."
Although her specialty race consists of only 7 1/2 laps of a 400-meter track, plus hurdles and water jumps, Anderson ran as many as 85 miles a week during her most challenging training. Pilkington added a lot of long intervals and faster "tempo" runs designed to increase Anderson's strength and stamina, and before long, Anderson was dropping her times all over the place.
She already had finished seventh at the NCAA cross country championships last fall, two years after not even qualifying for the event, and run personal-bests at 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Then, she ran that 9:46 that surprised even Pilkington, and a whole new world of possibilities opened up for her.
The time was fast enough to qualify for both the world championships and the Olympics, meaning that as long as Anderson finishes in the top three at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer at legendary Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, she will become part of the historic field for the steeplechase in Beijing.
"She's always been confident with her running and her coaching," said Mark Anderson, her husband and fellow former track teammate at Morgan High School. "But with Pilkington, she actually started to believe that she could do it. And it was never an, 'I can do this.' It turned into, 'I will do this.' "
Not bad - especially for a woman who ran a modest 5:09 mile in high school, received scholarship offers from only Weber State and Southern Utah, and nearly quit running midway through her junior year in college out of frustration at her lack of progress.
"I never felt, up to that point, that I'd run as fast as I could," she said.
But Anderson said she knew that Pilkington and his unique distance running expertise could help her "get to where I wanted to be." So she re-dedicated herself to training last summer, and set the stage for her remarkable ascent this year.
Now, instead of preparing to run the Chicago Marathon next month - she had already paid the entry fee - and perhaps starting a family soon after, Anderson will be working toward her goal of reaching the steeplechase final at the Olympic Games, "not just getting there," as Pilkington said.
That would assure her a place in the pantheon of great Utah steeplechasers that includes Brigham Young's Henry Marsh, WSU's Farley Gerber and the trio of women - Michaela Mannova, Elizabeth Jackson and Kassi Andersen - who won national and collegiate championships in the event before it was allowed into the Olympics. Josh McAdams of BYU won the men's collegiate steeplechase title last year, and is a strong contender to join Anderson in Beijing.
It won't be easy, however.
Though she finished third at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June and picked up an endorsement deal with Nike along the way, Anderson faces strong competition from at least four other Americans, three of whom have run faster than she has this year.
Pilkington figures Anderson needs to improve her finishing speed and knock another 10 seconds off her time, but both of them agree that it will be easier to train for one important race without the exhausting schedule of college cross country and track races getting in the way. Anderson will be student-teaching at Fremont High School this fall to finish her degree in education, though, which will force her to train only before and after school for at least a few chilly months.
Thinking of the possible reward, however, warms her like a fire.
"I would love to make it to the Olympics, and my dream would be to do well in the finals," she said, eyes wide. "Obviously, with not making the finals at the world championships, getting through the trials and finals would be huge . . . and doing well would be the ultimate."
LINDSEY ANDERSON FILE
* Ran the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes and 57 seconds in sweltering heat at the World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Japan last month, but failed to reach the finals.
* In order to reach the 2008 Beijing Games, she must finish in the top three in her event at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer in Eugene, Ore.
* Her personal-best time of 9:39.95, set at Stanford's Cardinal Invitational in April, made her the fourth-fastest American this year, with the eighth-fastest time.
* Russia's Gulnara Samitova-Galinka holds the world record in the event at 9:01.59, while Russia's Yekaterina Volkova has run the fastest time this year in 9:06.57.
COUNTDOWN
Second in a monthly series about Olympic hopefuls with Utah ties leading up to the 2008 Games.
TEN MINUTES ON THE TRACK CHANGED EVERYTHING
. . .
The 22-year-old Morgan native discovered a whole new frontier for her running career - a revelation that she now believes will deliver her to a historic starting line at the 2008 Beijing Games in China next summer.
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2007/0911/20070911__spt_olympics_0911~1_Gallery.jpg
Lindsey Anderson, who set the NCAA record for the 3,000-meter steeplechase at Weber State, is pursuing a berth in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
And YES... I have raced her.... and YES she beat me....
Weber State runner chasing her Olympic goal
By Michael C. Lewis - The Salt Lake Tribune
Until just a few months ago, Ogden's Lindsey Anderson never envisioned herself as an elite international athlete. She figured she would finish her college track eligibility at Weber State, maybe run a fall marathon while finishing her degree, and then settle down to start a family.
Ten minutes on the track changed everything.
When Anderson ran the best 3,000-meter steeplechase of her life to start her final college season barely five months ago, she began to realize just how far her talent could take her. And once that happened, the 22-year-old Morgan native discovered a whole new frontier for her running career - a revelation that she now believes will deliver her to a historic starting line at the 2008 Beijing Games in China next summer.
"I expect myself to be there," she said.
With good reason.
Though far from a running prodigy growing up, Anderson is now among the world's best in the steeplechase, which will be contested by women for the first time in Beijing. Her personal-best time of 9 minutes, 39.95 seconds makes her the fourth-fastest American in the event this year - it's also the NCAA record - and she recently returned from her first major international competition at the World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Japan, where her confidence continued to soar despite failing to advance to the final.
"It was so exciting just to be able to race over there," she said. "And the longer I was over there, the more I felt like I deserved to be there. When I first realized I made the championships, I was so excited to go. But when I was over there, and being with the rest of the team, I thought, 'You know what? I deserve to be here.' "
Anderson never would have thought such a thing last spring.
But she began her final college season with the Wildcats by running 9:46 at the Mt. SAC Relays, a massive improvement from her previous best of 10:20 that illustrated the effect of training under new coach Paul Pilkington, a former All-American for the Wildcats who returned to WSU as an assistant coach two years ago.
A former world-class marathoner - he's most famous for unexpectedly winning the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon after being hired as a "rabbit" to lead others through the halfway point on a fast pace - Pilkington helped Anderson increase the volume and intensity of her training.
"She had worked hard before," Pilkington said, "but I think we redefined what 'hard' was."
Although her specialty race consists of only 7 1/2 laps of a 400-meter track, plus hurdles and water jumps, Anderson ran as many as 85 miles a week during her most challenging training. Pilkington added a lot of long intervals and faster "tempo" runs designed to increase Anderson's strength and stamina, and before long, Anderson was dropping her times all over the place.
She already had finished seventh at the NCAA cross country championships last fall, two years after not even qualifying for the event, and run personal-bests at 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Then, she ran that 9:46 that surprised even Pilkington, and a whole new world of possibilities opened up for her.
The time was fast enough to qualify for both the world championships and the Olympics, meaning that as long as Anderson finishes in the top three at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer at legendary Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, she will become part of the historic field for the steeplechase in Beijing.
"She's always been confident with her running and her coaching," said Mark Anderson, her husband and fellow former track teammate at Morgan High School. "But with Pilkington, she actually started to believe that she could do it. And it was never an, 'I can do this.' It turned into, 'I will do this.' "
Not bad - especially for a woman who ran a modest 5:09 mile in high school, received scholarship offers from only Weber State and Southern Utah, and nearly quit running midway through her junior year in college out of frustration at her lack of progress.
"I never felt, up to that point, that I'd run as fast as I could," she said.
But Anderson said she knew that Pilkington and his unique distance running expertise could help her "get to where I wanted to be." So she re-dedicated herself to training last summer, and set the stage for her remarkable ascent this year.
Now, instead of preparing to run the Chicago Marathon next month - she had already paid the entry fee - and perhaps starting a family soon after, Anderson will be working toward her goal of reaching the steeplechase final at the Olympic Games, "not just getting there," as Pilkington said.
That would assure her a place in the pantheon of great Utah steeplechasers that includes Brigham Young's Henry Marsh, WSU's Farley Gerber and the trio of women - Michaela Mannova, Elizabeth Jackson and Kassi Andersen - who won national and collegiate championships in the event before it was allowed into the Olympics. Josh McAdams of BYU won the men's collegiate steeplechase title last year, and is a strong contender to join Anderson in Beijing.
It won't be easy, however.
Though she finished third at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June and picked up an endorsement deal with Nike along the way, Anderson faces strong competition from at least four other Americans, three of whom have run faster than she has this year.
Pilkington figures Anderson needs to improve her finishing speed and knock another 10 seconds off her time, but both of them agree that it will be easier to train for one important race without the exhausting schedule of college cross country and track races getting in the way. Anderson will be student-teaching at Fremont High School this fall to finish her degree in education, though, which will force her to train only before and after school for at least a few chilly months.
Thinking of the possible reward, however, warms her like a fire.
"I would love to make it to the Olympics, and my dream would be to do well in the finals," she said, eyes wide. "Obviously, with not making the finals at the world championships, getting through the trials and finals would be huge . . . and doing well would be the ultimate."
LINDSEY ANDERSON FILE
* Ran the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes and 57 seconds in sweltering heat at the World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Japan last month, but failed to reach the finals.
* In order to reach the 2008 Beijing Games, she must finish in the top three in her event at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer in Eugene, Ore.
* Her personal-best time of 9:39.95, set at Stanford's Cardinal Invitational in April, made her the fourth-fastest American this year, with the eighth-fastest time.
* Russia's Gulnara Samitova-Galinka holds the world record in the event at 9:01.59, while Russia's Yekaterina Volkova has run the fastest time this year in 9:06.57.
COUNTDOWN
Second in a monthly series about Olympic hopefuls with Utah ties leading up to the 2008 Games.
TEN MINUTES ON THE TRACK CHANGED EVERYTHING
. . .
The 22-year-old Morgan native discovered a whole new frontier for her running career - a revelation that she now believes will deliver her to a historic starting line at the 2008 Beijing Games in China next summer.
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2007/0911/20070911__spt_olympics_0911~1_Gallery.jpg
Lindsey Anderson, who set the NCAA record for the 3,000-meter steeplechase at Weber State, is pursuing a berth in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.