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Nicole Blood poses with Danny Mercado during the 2006 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

Interview with Nicole Blood

Posted on December 12, 2006, Interview conducted December 9, 2006

By Alison Wade

Four-time Foot Locker Cross Country National Finalist Nicole Blood could be seen sprinting around the course at the 2006 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships with some of her college teammates, cheering on some of her former and future teammates. Now a freshman at the University of Oregon, Blood's collegiate career got off to a rough start as she entered college with a sacral stress fracture. She managed to come back in time to finish 28th at the Pac-10 Championships and 39th at the NCAA West Regional, helping her team to fourth and sixth place finishes, respectively.

Blood won the Foot Locker Northeast Regional three years in a row, from 2003 to 2005. She recorded her highest national finish, seventh, as a sophomore in 2003. Last February, she won the 2006 USA Junior Cross Country Championships and went on to finish 39th in the junior race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Blood began her high school career at Saratoga Springs High School in New York, and finished it at Royal High School in Simi Valley, California, after her family moved in the middle of her senior year. She holds personal bests of 2:11.76 (800m), 4:24.21 (1,500m) 4:42.4 (mile), 9:24.03 (3,000m), 10:10.73 (two-mile), and 16:30.90 (5,000m).

We briefly caught up with Blood at Balboa Park, shortly after the races took place.

What made you guys decide to come down for this?
I live like 2-1/2 hours away and my old teammates, Steve Murdock, and Michael Cybulski from when I moved to Royal, were running. There are a few runners, Alex Kosinski and Betsy Bies, who have signed with Oregon, so I had to come down and represent.

So are you already home for winter break?
Yes, I came home two days ago.

It must be nice weather-wise to come home to California rather than New York.
Yeah, I was putting up my Christmas stuff the other day and I was like, 'This isn't right.'

You need the Christmas decorations to remind you that it's winter.
Yeah, I was like wrapping it around palm trees [laughs].

How's your first year at Oregon been so far?
It's been great. I had kind of a rough start. A week before I went out there, I had a sacral stress fracture, so it was a rough start to the season. The coaches kept motivating me to work hard in the pool and maybe be back in time for Pac-10s, and that's what happened. I wasn't at the top of my game, but I was able to help the team out, so it was nice. Now we're taking it back because I was rushing to get in shape for Pac-10s. Now I'm taking it easy and gradually getting ready for track.

How much time did you have to take off for your injury?
Seven to eight weeks.

Wow.
Yeah, it was a while, just because it was my back and they didn't want to take any chances. I had about three weeks [of running] to train for Pac-10s [laughs], so it was a little rushed, but they kept me calm. I just didn't feel that strong there, but I'm feeling stronger every day now; I'm getting back into it. I just needed to get in race shape, and I didn't have time to do that. My training was going well though, I got into it pretty quickly.

Is it hard when you get all excited to go to college and then have an injury right off the bat?
Yeah, that was really tough because I had a great summer. They sent us training packets, I did it all, and I was probably in the best shape of my life. It stunk to have that happen. They said my hips were probably out of line, a little bit of running too hard on the hills and not getting enough recovery was probably my problem. Like I said, the coaches were great about it, they kept me motivated. It was a bummer at first, but they kept my head up.

What's the biggest difference between your high school running environment and your college running environment so far?
In high school, I didn't have as many people to train with, and that's the biggest thing that helps me now. I'm running workouts and they'd be super hard in high school because I'd be by myself, but now it's just about staying relaxed in a pack. Also, a lot more of my time can [be spent on] running now, instead of just trying to squeeze it in after school.

It seems like the whole community is supportive of distance running at Oregon.
Yeah, especially in Oregon. People look at you as a rock star when you're a runner there. It's really cool to be a runner. It makes it more exciting because everyone's getting into the feeling of making [track & field] big again there.

And you'll have the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials right there on your campus.
Yeah. [Qualifying] is one of my goals, in the back of my head. Right now I'm just focusing on staying healthy and getting in good shape, though.

Do you think you'll run indoor track in 2007?
I'm not sure yet, I guess we're going to see how training goes. Right now, a lot of people are already working on speed, but I'm just going to get the base in that I missed during cross country.

Are you rooming with anyone on the team this year?
I'm rooming with Erin Lewis, she's a miler, and Bria Wetsch and Keara Sammons are also in the same dorm area. We're all really close and the team is just great; I get along with everyone. It's a lot of fun.