| Chelsea Morgan Poling School: Sylvania Southview Hometown: Sylvania Age: 18 PR's: 800 - 2:19 1600 - 5:05 3200 - 11:12 5k - 18:58 (XC) Major Achievements: XC All-Ohio (2001); Academic All-Ohio; University of Michigan Student Athlete Award |
| OGXC: You were able to move up this year from 7th at the Regional in the 1600 to 4th with a much faster time. How did you get from being close last year to making it this year? CP: I would have to say that I trained a lot harder this winter than last. Alison Tittle (a teammate of mine) and I ran five to six days a week all winter for around 40-45 minutes each day. We started in late November, and just kept going. My coach kept telling me all year that I could run close to five flat in the 1600, and I guess I didn't really believe him. But he's right at lot more than I give him credit for. OGXC: Speaking of the 1600, why that event? The 800 and the 3200 look a bit weaker to me this year and you've posted excellent times in them both? CP: Well, i think the main reason I competed in the 1600 was becasue my coach told me to. He asked me which event I wanted to run coming into the post season and my reply was to put me in whichever one he felt I was best at. I guess he felt the mile was it. I think that I didn't have a chance to get out in the half. With the times at regionals, there is no way. Stephanie Willets ran a 2:15, and didn't get out. That girl is one of the fastest girls I know. And the two-mile is definitely not weak. There are some really fast girls that ran at Amherst, including two twin sisters that run for Southview. (Ed. note - Megan and Allison Tittle) OGXC: Heading into the state meet, what are your goals? Do you have a certain time and place in mind? CP: My main goal all year was to break the school record, which is five flat. So I really, really want to run sub-five. Place-wise, I think I'm shooting for top five. OGXC: How do you expect the state track meet will differ mentally from the state cross-country meet? Will you prepare differently? CP: For one, it will be much faster. I'm going to have to get out a lot faster, and get myself in a good position. I have a lot less time to make up ground in the 1600 meters than 5000. Also, track is just a lot different than cross country. You have a different mindset, and I think it's a lot more stressful. I have never felt like I was going to throw up more than I have this year. Lately, before every race, I thougth I was seriously going to puke. My mouth started watering, and my stomach just kept turning. A couple of times I had to walk away from people becasue I was afraid I was going to let it fly. I think I will prepare just like normal, spaghetti the night before, and a banana on race day. OGXC: What are your long-term goals? CP: I don't think I have any really long-term goals. I plan on running at Ohio State for at least the next four years of my life, and I only plan on getting faster and working harder in Columbus. As for when I get older, I'm not sure. I haven't really decided if I'm going to run competitively. My main goal is to enjoy running as long as possible, and to try and have fun with it. OGXC: What is a typical week of training like for you? CP: I run six days a week. Mondays are normally relatively easy, usually 40-45 minutes. We normally do a longer workout on Tuesday. For example, 18 min. warm-up, 5 min. hard, 2 min. easy, and do 3 of those, and then cool down for 15 min. Wednesdays are usually around 40 minutes. Thrusdays we do a shorter workout. 18 min warm-up, 60 sec. hard, 60 sec. easy, times 10, and then 15 min cool down. We then run for about 35 min on Fridays. Saturdays are either a race day, or a long run, like 60 min. Sundays are my day off. OGXC: What type of training did you do over the winter to prepare for track? CP: We ran about 6 days a week, averaging about 45-50 minutes a day. Our coach threw in a couple steady runs a week, just to mix things up. We had very good days over the winter. Our pace was much faster than it was in the past, and I think we worked very hard to condition for the season. OGXC: Southview appears to be building a strong program, what type of program does Southview use if you had to characterize it? CP: I would probably say high mileage. We ran a lot of miles over the winter, and during the summer we try to build up our miles as well. Matt Geha is a very good coach, and knows what he's doing. He ran for Southview, and ran at Sienna Heights, and had a very successful career. He defintely has the experience of training, and can relate to runners what they want or need. I think if he keeps with it, his teams in the future will be very successful. OGXC: Who was the most influential person in your running career? Who got you started in the sport? CP: Matt definitely has had a huge influence on my running. When I moved here from St. Louis my sophomore year, I did not run nearly as much as they run here. It was quite the change, training wise, but I think it helped tremendously. If I didn't do the type of running that I do now, I would not be nearly as good. My brother actually got me running. He ran cross and track in high school and always encouraged me to do the same. I always idolized my brother, and wanted to do whatever he did. I'm glad I did. Also, I will never forget a letter that I received from the high school cross country coach, Mr. Dee, in St. Louis, when I was in 8th grade. He sent me a little summary of how the past season had gone, and wrote about what XC was all about.. I just got the impression that he was very interested in me running, and he seemed like a great guy. Those little things that coaches do are very important. OGXC: One for fun. If you could go on a run with anyon ein the world, past or present, who would it be and WHY? CP: I already run with 2 of the coolest people in the whole world, Megan and Alison Tittle. They make running enjoyable, and they always make me laugh. I don't think anyone could really stack up to those two. click here for page 2... |