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Melissa Grelli competes in the 10,000 meters at the 2007 Big East Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she finished second to Molly Huddle.

Interview with Melissa Grelli

Posted on June 21, 2007, Interview conducted June 15, 2007

By Becky Wexler

Georgetown's Melissa Grelli turned heads earlier this month at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships when she finished second to Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego in the 10,000 meters with a time of 33:01.56. Not only was the time a personal best for Grelli by 25 seconds, but it also broke the longstanding Georgetown record held by one of the most successful athletes in school history, Kate Landau. Although Grelli had run lifetime bests in every distance (including cross country) during the 2006-07 school year, her seed time coming in to nationals did not predict that she would be among the leaders in Sacramento.

After a sub-par freshman year and a long recovery from surgery and illness during her sophomore year, Grelli bounced back during her junior year, culminating in a 32nd place finish at the NCAA Cross County Championships last November. During indoor track, Grelli helped the Hoyas earn the Big East Championship team title by finishing fourth in the 5,000 meters and sixth in the 3,000 meters, and her season-best 5,000 meter time of 16:21.85 just barely missed qualifying for indoor NCAAs. Outdoors, Grelli ran 33:26.56 at the Stanford Invitational to automatically qualify for nationals and demolished her personal record by more than a minute to win the ECAC 3,000 meters in 9:31.87.

During high school in Cupertino, California, Grelli held her own against fierce competition in her section of the state, including Shannon Rowbury, who would go on to star at Duke, and Alicia Follmar, who was one of three Stanford women in the 1,500 meter final at NCAAs in Sacramento. As a senior in 2003, Grelli was a surprise Foot Locker Cross Country Championships qualifier and went on to place 15th in the finals.

We caught up with Grelli during the week between NCAAs and the USA Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis, where she will run one more 10,000 meter race to close out her spring season.

Congratulations on your impressive finish at NCAAs. Can you reflect on the race a bit?
It was really an amazing experience. I just went into it trying to get a PR and trying to improve upon my time. I didn't feel any pressure at all; it was just fun to be out there. I had my family and my high school coach in the stands watching, and it was great. I couldn't have asked for better weather or more perfect conditions.

Take us through the race. Was the pace comfortable for you at first?
No one really wanted to lead. We went through the mile in 5:30, and I was thinking about how my coach [Ron Helmer] had told me that I would probably be comfortable at 5:16 or so. I was a little worried, but at that point, I just started getting into the race and making sure I was going with the girls and responding.

Had you done many 10ks in your college career before this year?
Last year I was injured, and I don't really count the one I ran freshman year. [Editor's note: Grelli is listed as having a 10,000 PR of 38:02.95 on the official Georgetown Athletics web site, which obviously needs some updating.] My 10k at Stanford was the first one this season. I doubled at Big East in the 10[k] and the 5[k], so I think of the race at NCAAs as my third 10k.

How does your body react to doubling in the distances, especially in a conference as competitive as the Big East?
That was very rough, but we took it more from a training perspective than a racing perspective. Getting out there and getting points for my team was the goal that weekend, not so much to get a PR or anything like that. But it definitely took me a couple of weeks to recover from that one—that was the most tired that I felt all season. But both [sophomore Georgetown distance runner] Natasha [LaBeaud] and I did that double, so at least we could commiserate.

How did your team place at Big East after all that hard work?
We came in third, but we won ECACs the next weekend to make up for it. I did the 3k there. It felt shorter and much faster after all the longer races. But we also looked at that race from a training perspective, just as we did with the 5k at regionals. They both prepared me for the 10k because the pace that those races went out at was so much faster than what I would need to do in the 10[k].

What do you think of the regional qualifying system for NCAAs?
A lot of really great girls who competed really well all season—not just in my races—who didn't have a good race at regionals and didn't make it to nationals. I don't think it's always fair. Just looking at Frances Koons from Villanova, for example—she is a phenomenal runner who just had one bad day and didn't make nationals.

Switching gears a bit, you mentioned that you were injured last year. What kind of injury did you have?
I was injured and I was also sick. I had surgery that summer for a deviated septum and had to be on all these medications and it was all interrelated. I had a stress fracture in my shin. I'm just happy to be here and competing.

Were you healthy/injury free during high school?
Yes, but my mileage was much lower. In high school I ran between 30 and 40 miles per week during the school year and then in the summers it was a little bit higher. I went to one of the Paavo running camps where they emphasized high mileage and that was my first time being exposed to that. We did maybe 50 miles per week in the summer.

How high is your mileage now?
During cross country, I was anywhere between 60 and 75, and then in the winter, we went up about 80 or 85, and then after Stanford we went back down. I also take days off throughout the week, based on how I am feeling. My workouts and mileage are tailored to me and how what I need.

So how will Coach Helmer's departure affect you as an athlete? [Editor's Note: Ron Helmer has accepted the head coaching position at Indiana University.]
I don't know. He's still coaching me right now, of course, through USAs, so we'll see how that goes. Our team was assured that a new coach will be named as soon as possible. I think the timing will be pretty good, actually, because I'll be taking a break after USAs for a couple of weeks and hopefully by that time we will have a better idea of the situation.

Do you think as an upperclassman you will be taking more of a leadership role next season, especially with the coaching transition?
I think so. I'm one of the older girls. I will be a senior academically but just a junior eligibility-wise next year. I'm hoping to run a fifth year.

It seems like you and Coach Helmer have a good relationship.
We work well together as coach and athlete. I trust him, especially based on the number of successful athletes he's coached. But just looking at Georgetown's long-standing track tradition, I know we will continue to have a really strong program next year and beyond. There will be some changes, but the future of Georgetown track is great.

Speaking of tradition, how did it feel to break Kate Landau's 10,000 meter record?
It's pretty cool to be up there with those girls [at the top of the Georgetown 10k list]…they are amazing. I feel really honored to be part of it.

What do you think are the major reasons you have improved so much during your career at Georgetown?
Personally, I respond well to high mileage. We also get in the weight room, do plyometrics every week, a long run once a week…it's been a gradual process [of improvement]. I've been working toward this since freshman year, and it has taken a few years for my body to adjust to the system and for me to figure out what I need to do. The little things are definitely the most important, because they contribute to the big things down the line.

How is it being a long-distance specialist among several middle-distance stars on your team?
It's pretty interesting when we actually have to do a mid-distance kind of workout and I'm totally out of my comfort zone. I do pretty well with the long stuff with little rest, but the faster stuff with more rest is what's hard for me. I am totally out of my element, but it helps work different systems. I really enjoy when Natasha and I are out doing a tempo on the [C&O Canal] towpath, or mile repeats—those are my type of workouts.

What are some of the key workouts that really got you into great shape this season?
We do a lot of mile repeats—we did that workout the week before NC's. We also do a lot of 800 repeats, like 8 x 800 with a minute recovery. We do long tempos a lot, either on the towpath or on the track—a lot of aerobic work. Sometimes we run out on the towpath for two miles, then do three miles of tempo, then turn around and do 3-2-1 [minute pickups] with one minute in between.

How often are you on the track during the outdoor season?
Twice a week, probably. Sometimes Coach Helmer mixes it up with a workout on the towpath or a tempo workout. I wouldn't go on the towpath if I wasn't doing a workout, but it is much better when there is someone doing it with you. During cross country, we use the towpath a lot. I always feel like I am flying when we do tempo work on the towpath.

Speaking of cross country, do you prefer that to track?
We're a very close-knit team, so I like the fact that cross country is so team-oriented and we are always running together and traveling together.

Do you expect to have a strong team for cross in the fall?
We're going to have a very strong team—I'm looking forward to it. Maggie Infeld and Liz Maloy will both be back next year and we'll have several girls back who were injured this year. We're definitely going to dominate. I know we have one freshman coming from Utah whose mother actually ran for Georgetown and she is supposed to be pretty good. [Editor's note: Samantha McMillan, whose mother, Heidi Roe McMillan, graduated from Georgetown in 1989, is the recruit in question.]

Was it difficult for you to make a college choice?
No, it wasn't hard at all. I knew right away that I wanted to come [to Georgetown] and that I wanted to be a Hoya. I wanted to experience a new environment with new people and new places to run.

Coming from Northern California, was it hard to get used to the East Coast seasons?
The first thing I learned was to bring an umbrella everywhere because the weather in D.C. is so unpredictable. The humidity doesn't bother me too much anymore, although when I go home, I realize how much easier it is to run without it. But I definitely think training in it has made me a stronger runner. When you get into a race with good conditions, like I did in Sacramento, you feel really good.

I don't like the cold very much, but I have learned to deal with it by layering. I've adjusted to it, though. If I had a choice between running in the snow and running on the treadmill, I would be outside. I love being outside and in nature.

What are some of your favorite runs in D.C.?
I love city runs, like running down by the Capitol and seeing all the people who are always around. I also like the trails near campus, but I have to be careful because I tend to trip. I tend to do the same runs over and over again—I am a creature of habit.

Did you ever envision that you would be at this level when you first started running?
No. I started running seriously as a sophomore in high school—I made the transition from soccer like so many other runners. I ran a lot with my high school coach, who ran for Purdue and was only a few years out of college. I don't think being at this level even entered my mind—I didn't know when I first started that you could get scholarships for running. Those doors opened up my junior year.

Has it been helpful to be able to talk to and train with recent Georgetown grads that are now running professionally but still around and running in the area?
It's very cool. Chris Lukezic and Rod Koborsi are still around and I look up to them both very much. Rod and I are good buddies and I talk to him about training and his experiences a lot.

How do you feel about going to the USATF Championships for the first time?
I'm really excited. It's going to be a totally different race than NCAAs but it's going to be a great experience. It's going to be a good field, so I just need to make sure that I'm with the people that I need to be with.