Quantcast
Home › Athlete Features › Interview with Marie Lawrence

Marie Lawrence on her way to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

Interview with Marie Lawrence

Posted on December 15, 2006, Interview conducted December 9, 2006

By Alison Wade

Marie Lawrence finished off an amazing high school cross country career December 9 with a fifth-place finish at the 2006 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. Lawrence was the only four-time qualifier at this year's race, and this year's finish gave her the best four-year record of any runner ever to compete at this meet. In addition to her fifth-place finish as a senior, she placed second each year from 2003 to 2005.

A senior at Reno High School, Lawrence won three Nevada state cross country titles as well as three 800m state titles on the track. She holds the U.S. high school record in both the 2,000m (6:35.63) and 3,000m steeplechase (10:15.38). Lawrence won silver in the latter at the 2005 Junior Pan Am Games and finished 10th in the event at the 2006 IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships in August.

Lawrence recently signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of Washington. Her older sister, Collier, was a Foot Locker Finalist with Marie in 2003 and is now a junior at Washington State.

Can you tell us about your decision to attend the University of Washington, and has this created any tension in the family since your sister is at Washington State?
No. It was a really last-minute choice for me but I visited my other four schools and I really liked one of them but I was really unsure about it. I wanted to be in the Pac-10, so I decided to go to the University of Washington. I think the first time I ever talked to them was Pac-10s, and I decided two weeks later. I'm really excited, and Collier is really excited for me, even though we're big rivals now.

How was the whole college recruiting process? We imagine that you were a highly sought-after recruit.
It was pretty intense. The first couple of trips are fun, but then you just start getting really tired. You're at a race every weekend, and right after racing you have to go jump on a plane and go look at a school. But it was exciting. I'm happy it's over and I'm happy I know where I'm going.

One of the Washington coaches, Kelly Strong, is a successful female steeplechaser too. Was that a strong factor in your decision?
Yeah, I knew she'd be able to help me a lot. Coach [Greg] Metcalf used to be a steepler too, so I knew they'd help me get really good technique. I knew it was the right place.

Do you envision that the steeplechase will continue to be your event in college?
Yes, and maybe some 5ks.

What was your strategy in today's race?
I wanted to have a hard first mile, then a really steady second mile, and a hard last mile. It didn't work out like that, because the first mile went out really slow...well not really slow, but slower than usual. It didn't work out like I wanted it to, but every race is different.

Did you consider ignoring what everyone else was doing and pushing the pace early, or did you not want to be the one to do that?
I didn't want to be the one to push the pace, but sometimes I felt like I was the one doing that.

When did the leaders get away from you?
I think with one mile to go; that's when it started to break up.

Was it a tough race for you mentally, particularly in the last mile?
It wasn't too bad. I knew I wasn't going to get top three. I thought maybe I could if I tried [really hard], but I was trying as hard as I could.

What's your winter plan?
I'm going to take a break for a week or two. I'll do a week of no running and then a second week of just really easy training, running every other day or something. Then I'll do junior cross country nationals in Boulder, Colorado in February.

What kind of altitude do you train/live at?
4,500 feet.

So that will be really helpful in Boulder.
Yeah.

Will you run any indoor races?
I'm trying to do the [Boston Indoor Games]. Last year I was hurt, so I couldn't do it, but I'm going to try to do it this year. I got an e-mail about it right before I left. That should be my only indoor race.

What are your goals for the rest of your high school career?
I just want to get down to 10:10 for the steeplechase, and my coach really wants me to go to Junior Pan Ams for track.

You've gotten to seen some of the top young international steeplechasers compete. Is that something that's inspired you?
It's a lot of fun to travel across the world. I've heard stories from people like Sara Hall and Kelly Strong about how amazing all of those places are. That's definitely something I want to try to do after college.

What was your training like this season? Was it any different than in past years?
It was more intensity. We just added a little bit more. My distance runs stayed the same, but we added a little bit more intensity, my times needed to be faster.

What kind of mileage did you do this season?
I think I do like 40-45 and it's high intensity, so I don't need to do as many miles.

What would a sample week look like for you?
Monday's usually our long day, that's 10-ish. Tuesdays we're on the track, Wednesdays are tempo. We'll go to the park and we'll have a course set out. We'll take a fast loop, and then an easier loop, fast loop, easy loop. Thursday's usually a distance day, and then Friday is what we call 'Game Day,' because we usually race on Saturday. It's kind of like doing a bunch of strides, but in a fun way.

What kind of track work do you do?
We'll do mile repeats, or we did 1,000s a lot this year...or 400s, or ladders of some kind.

Did you run many dual meets this season?
Yeah, but I run them really easy. I go out with the girls on my team and then the last half mile I'd pick it up. We had at least one a week, and we trained right through them.