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Arianna Lambie finishes fourth at the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Interview with Arianna Lambie

Posted on March 28, 2007, Interview conducted March 18, 2007

By Madeleine Marecki

One of the most talented collegiate distance runners in the nation, Arianna Lambie has produced many excellent performances during her time at Stanford University thus far. Yet, several injuries have hampered her training, including a stress fracture after the 2006 Pac-10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Despite the setbacks, the redshirt junior has proven her resiliency, and this academic year has been particularly impressive. During the 2006 cross country season, Lambie led the Cardinals to their second-straight national title with her fourth place finish, an improvement from eighth the previous year. Success on the cross country course translated into success on the track. At the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships held March 9 and 10, Lambie captured second in the 5,000 meters and third in the 3,000 meters, running 15:37.97 and 9:04.81, respectively. With injuries hopefully in the rearview mirror, Lambie appears poised for another strong season when she opens her outdoor track campaign at the Stanford Invitational on March 30 and 31.

You had a great weekend at the NCAA Championships. Could you talk about your goals and expectations going into the meet? Obviously, you probably wanted to place high, but were you expecting to come in second in the 5k and third in the 3k?
I was expecting to finish very high. I knew I had a chance at winning either one, so I wasn't going to count that out.

Mentally, going into the meet, were you feeling confident that you can make a run for it?
I was. I was having some really good training. I knew I would be racing some racing some very good competitors and I thought we could run a good time together.

Can you talk about your race plan for the 5k?
I wanted to run sub-16 pace. I just wanted to stay focused on whoever could run that pace. Hopefully I wouldn't have to lead the whole way. I didn't want to do that, but I was willing to do whatever it took. I just didn't want to lose contact with anybody, just stay focused and responsive, and try to stretch out the pace as much as I could at the end.

And the 3k?
I wanted to test out how I felt a little bit. I knew that I would be tired. But as soon as I felt good, I took a similar strategy. I knew I wanted to make sure that everyone would have to run a hard pace. Again, my competitors continued that pace so we eliminated a lot of the field by the end. And again, I just tried to bring it home as well as I could.

Can you describe how the 5k played out?
Sure. I took the lead fairly early. I just wanted to run my pace comfortably. It went out as planned there and then Sally [Kipyego, first in 15:27.42] and Amy [Hastings, fourth in 15:52.10] took over for a little ways and that was perfect. I could just latch out onto them. Amy faded a bit so I decided to just to go with Sally and the two of us just ran along. I don't know exactly what was going on behind me. You look up at the Jumbotron every once in a while, but I focused on running with Sally. She was running a good pace. I felt like I could hang with her and we went through the whole middle of the race like that. Between a mile and a [kilometer] to go, I put on a surge to do what I could, [to see] if I could distance Sally at that point, but she came with me. So I just kept running and I didn't give up. I was still going to try to beat her but she had a little more strength left than I did. I just tried to finish and I'm very happy I did in the time I did.

So the time was a big indoor personal best?
Yes. Someone said it was 22 seconds, but it was a 13-second PR. [Stanford's athletic website reported on March 9 that Lambie improved her previous indoor 5,000 by 23 seconds.]

What is your best outdoor 5k?
My best outdoor 5k is 15:44.

So that's an overall PR then, right?
Yes it was.

Were you ever intimidated by Sally Kipyego?
I realized there is no use to be intimidated. I was going to go out there and see if I could run with her. I had run with her earlier this season. I know she's an incredible talent and I wasn't going to be disappointed if she beat me by showing that she was better than me, but I wanted to find that out for sure.

Can you tell us how the 3k played out?
It went out a little bit slow, so again I decided to take the lead. We ended up going through the first [kilometer] in 3:08, which was not great. That was too slow because I thought I could run faster. I kept pushing the pace and we went through the second [kilometer] in three minutes. Then Sally again took over, which was perfect, [I thought] 'I can run behind you, this is good.' We pressed the pace just a little bit and with about 400 to go, I decided to move around her and push that last 400. It felt pretty exhilarating to run that last lap feeling strong, but with half a lap to go, Sally [first in 9:02.05] and Shannon [Rowbury, second in 9:02.73] went by. I raced after them but didn't quite catch them.

But overall, it seems like you're pleased with how things played out that weekend.
I think it was a good sign that I felt that strong coming back after the 15:37 and just to finish the 3k strong. I recovered from both races well, so I'm looking forward to outdoors.

You've been known as a miler. I was surprised you did the 5k and 3k. Are you planning to move up?
I think we were all surprised, actually [laughs]. My coach recognized that it would be a strong event for me. We actually did it considering that I would be running quite a few 1,500s outdoors. We haven't decided what I'm going to focus on in the spring. I definitely will be running both events, though, the 5k and 1,500.

How do you like racing the longer distances compared to doing the mile and going through trials?
It is a very different kind of approach. I'm getting more comfortable with it. I'm realizing that I can stay focused for the whole race. I do have the endurance.

Did you find that you had to adjust more to the physical aspect of the race, or was it more of a mental change?
We didn't adjust physically much. It's less about 'do everything perfectly.' In the mile, you want to execute the race carefully; it's about saving your legs. With the 5k, it's more about [thinking] 'You've got to stay strong, don't give up, you can run with these girls.'

Do you have a preference right now? Are you still a miler at heart?
I think I've finally reached a point where I like them both. I'm really excited to see what I can do in the 5k but there's definitely unfinished business in the ,500.

Do you ever see yourself doing the 10k, down the road?
I've joked about it only recently [laughs], so who knows, anything can happen.

Have you pinpointed any times that you want to hit for outdoors?
I just have some ambitious goals of 4:10 and 15:30 so if I ever hit both of those...

Are you taking any down time now?
I wanted to make sure my body recovers, so I took this week a little bit easy, but we're back on the track again. We have a meet in two weeks. I'm not going to be peaking for it.

What meet is it and what are you going to compete in?
That's the Stanford Invitational. I don't know what event yet.

This year has been strong for you in general, with your 5k and 3k at Nationals and cross country when you came in fourth. Would you say this year you've been running stronger? How has your training been?
Yeah, I have had consistent training since July. I give a lot of credit to that. I've learned quite a bit from my last three injuries. I am determined to be done with those lessons.

What have you learned? What things have changed?
One thing I feel like I can understand what my body is telling me a lot better. Not just when a muscle aches, but when my body is fatigued and I need to take a day easy, or when it's feeling strong and I can really push it. I feel like I have a better sense of those things.

Also, communication with my coach has improved quite a bit. We try to figure out what it is that caused the injuries so that I'm strengthening my weakness. I'm much more in control of it.

You were a low mileage runner as a high schooler. What is your mileage now?
It's higher than high school. I've increased every year, although this year I'm trying to stay around 60 or so.

Is that manageable?
Yeah, it feels really good. We'll have intense weeks where I need the whole weekend to do an easy run and a day off, but as long as I feel good the next Monday, it's a good cycle.

What seasons do you have left in your eligibility?
I have three seasons left, so I have this spring, next fall and next winter.

You're planning to use all three?
Yes.

Can you talk about what you are studying? You are working towards a combined degree, right?
It's a combined Bachelor's and Master's so in June 2008 I will graduate with a Bachelor's and Master's in Earth Systems.

What specific focus are you studying?
I am studying energy policy and energy science. It's class work, plus over the summer I've been doing some internships. I am definitely interested in that line of work and I hope to do that either as I continue running or afterwards.

I read that you were considering a professional running career. Is that still in the back of your mind?
Yeah, definitely. If things keep going well, I'd like to keep doing the thing I love.