Ana Gjesdal
(Crescenta Valley HS-Glendale College-
University of Michigan)

Talks about her running career - Doug Speck

The number four runner on the Great Lakes Regional Division I Championship team from the University of Michigan is an interesting story.  A Norwegian native, Ana Gjesdal competed as a prep at Crescenta Valley HS in La Crescenta in the Southern Section with some success, and then went on to Glendale College, where she finished among the top twenty in the State JC meet and took up some steeplechasing and placed second in the State Community College meet.  A goal of competing at the University of Michigan came true after a year at Glendale, where Ana has really blossomed, with the Michigan squad ranked third at the NCAA Division I level nation-wide, and hot off a recent Regional win at the Great Lakes area of the country where Ana was #4 on the team at 14th place!

Ana took time out from her busy academic and athletic schedule to below tell us about her running and academic career.  There have been some interesting twists and turns with her story a very interesting one. Her efforts and eventual success are a real tribute to her perseverance and offers an example of many other runners about our sport that has often success the result of intelligent work over a number of years. 

Congrats Ana and best of luck in the Nationals - hope to see you and the team on the victory stand somewhere!!!

Doug Speck

I started running my Junior year of High School, which is when I moved to La Crescenta from Norway. In Norway I was very competitive with karate, but I decided it was time to try something new. I wanted to participate in sports to keep myself occupied all summer, and running was the only thing I didn't have to try out for so I decided to do it. I started out pretty slow, but by the end of the summer I was running about 55 miles a week and finished second on the team in my first varsity race.

I have always liked putting in a lot of miles, so after that first cross country season, I decided to try the LA Marathon. Coach Evans was a bit skeptical about it, but he agreed to help me design a program. I think he just didn't want to see me get injured. I planned out every week on huge posterboard. My longest long-run was 22 miles, two weeks before the race. One of the boys would do long runs with me, and I remember that one really hurting. I did all my base runs at 8-minute pace, and ended up finishing the marathon in 3:34 which won the 19 and under division. That's still one of my biggest accomplishments.

I think the marathon hurt my track season a bit, and in cross country my senior year I had throat infections every month so it was hard to get into good shape (I ended up having my tonsils removed to fix those). So I would say my High School career was average, I wasn't recruited anywhere, but I knew I really wanted to go to Michigan. I visited the school before my senior year, and talked to Coach McGuire about possibly walking on the team, which he agreed to let me do. I was enrolled, went to orientation, and in August my parents told me that it just wasn't going to happen (out of state tuition is pretty steep).

I didn't run all summer, because I didn't think I wanted to anymore after not being able to go to Michigan. I enrolled at Glendale College, but I was just going to train on my own for some marathons or triathlons. Right before classes started, Mr. Evans called me up and basically told me I had to run for the team and that the Glendale coach, Eddie Lopez, has had a lot of success with his athletes. The first few weeks were tough, I was so out of shape. We would do 200m repeats on the track and I couldn't break 40 seconds. About a month into the cross country season, I started improving and got a bit of my confidence back. That's when I really started to LOVE running. I liked it in High School, but at Glendale I really started to develop a passion for it.

I ended up finishing 18th at the state community college championships for cross country, and Coach Lopez soon informed me that I would be trying the steeplechase in track. I was not very happy about the idea, as I have always been afraid of heights and more than a bit uncoordinated. I loved the drills though, and I think all the hurdling really helped me develop the strength I needed to improve on the track. That season my times improved dramatically, I ended up running 5:03 for the mile (my high school PR was 5:25) and 11:10 in the steeplechase which was good enough for second in the state. Instead of worrying about breaking 40 in the 200m repeats, I was breaking 30.

I completed my associates degree at Glendale in a year (AP credits are wonderful things), and walked onto the Michigan team the following fall (2002). The midwest is actually a lot more like Norway than California is (at least Southern Cal), and the temperatures are about the same, so the adjustment wasn't too bad. I would say the worst part was being so far from home when I needed help or got sick or just needed advice. Of course I miss the sun in December too... I started out my first year at Michigan running very well, until right before Thanksgiving.

I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in November, in my right fibula which is actually a pretty hard place to get one. It is the only injury I have ever had (knock on wood), and a very hard time for me. It took about a year to get back into the shape I was in prior to my injury, and by then my confidence was pretty low. I plateued for a while after that... I think my second break-through happened this past track season, with my 34:50 10k at the Drake Relays. This coming track season I will definitely be focusing on the 10k - turns out my steeplechase times won't improve as long as I'm scared to death of the water jump.

Running at a Big Ten school is awesome. This conference is packed with good athletes, and they also very much value academics which I think is important. There's a good balance between the two. Obviously we don't get the publicity that football or basketball does, but there is an article in the school paper about us every week, and the local Ann Arbor paper writes stuff when we do something big like win Big Tens for the fourth year in a row! Sometimes professors are frustrated with us missing class (Fridays are the worst) because of competition, but usually they're very understanding.

Training in the cold is definitely interesting. There are days when I put on two pairs of socks, two sets of spandex tights, five layers up top, two sets of gloves and a hat, and it's still freezing outside. If it gets too cold, we have to run on the treadmills in our locker room, which you have to sign up for (we only have two of them between 30 girls). Long run (12 miles) on the treadmill is one of the toughest things to do mentally. That usually doesn't happen until after winter break though, we have actually had a pretty mild fall this year.

Racing from September to June isn't as bad as it may sound, because after each season we get time off and time just to do regular runs without having to worry about speed. I like the indoor season a lot, the 200m tracks go by so much faster than outdoor! I also like getting splits more often, it keeps you on pace. The first time we transition from the indoor track to outdoor, the laps seem to last forever!

Coming into the 2005 season I don't think anyone knew what to expect. Out of the seven running at nationals on Monday, only 3 competed last year so it was probably a bit unexpected that we would do as well as we have! I think everyone stepped up this year, in terms of training. We are a lot more committed I think as a collective group than in any of the other years I've been on the team - it's a great atmosphere to be around. We are obviously aiming for the top come Monday!

In terms of what I eat... I am gluten intolerant, which is a condition I was diagnosed with last fall. Basically, any wheat product, rye, barley, etc. and a lot of packaged foods contain gluten, so I eat very similarly to the Zone or Paleo diet (lots of vegetables, fruit, meat, nuts, eggs, cottage cheese). It gets pretty expensive, probably about $350 a month in groceries, but I feel a million times better than I did before I figured out what was wrong. Eating on the road is horrible though, probably my least favorite thing to do. We always go to Italian places the night before meets, and I obviously can't eat pasta. I also have to ask what they baste the meat with, because chances are flour is involved. It is a big pain.

My advice to high school runners who are considering running in college - go for it. If you love to run, and you are willing to put in the work, it is one of the best experiences to have. You get a bunch of friends as soon as you set foot on campus, including older girls who know their way around and can show you the ropes. It's also a great break from studying and classes; there have been so many days where practice is a safe-haven from all the stress that college life brings.

Ana