Michigan State Spartan Nicole Bush is getting ready for Christmas Break and the beginning of the indoor track season. She recently placed fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the highest finish ever for a Lady Spartan.

How do you think school mixes with being a top college athlete?

I think it's pretty hard to balance if you're not running. I don't think anyone has it easy. I'm just used to doing it. I don't know if it's too hard, I wouldn't know what to compare it to.

Are you training for indoor?

Yeah, tentatively. I'm not sure what I'll run. I've run everything from the mile to the 5K. My focus will be more defined after a few races, after I decide which I like better and which works out better.

When is your first race this season?

I'm not really sure, it will obviously in January after Christmas Break.

You go back to Wyoming for break?

Yeah, I've got a house here. I live with four other girls from the track team so we will be here too, hanging out and stuff, coming back and forth from our houses and stuff.

Can you talk about your training right now, are you doing stuff indoors or are you still outside?

Personally I got sick this past weekend, so I'm not really doing anything right now. We're all still outdoors right now. Some girls did a hill workout today. So, weather-permitting because it's still nice here (even with snow and ice), we will be outside.

Do you prefer being outside or would you rather be running inside this time of year?

Well, it depends. Because if you're outside, it means you're doing a specific kind of work. If you're inside it means you're doing a specific kind of work. I like being on the track because that means we're doing something fast. Being outside means we're doing longer threshold stuff, which isn't as exciting.

You like the faster stuff on the track?

Yeah, I think it's more fun. You've got to do both though.

Would you say you're more of a track runner than a cross country runner?

I'm not really sure because we do fast stuff for cross country too, we just do it in a different way.

Can you give me a brief history of your running and when you started seeing success?

I guess it started in middle school because we had to do a mile for gym class and my gym teacher was like, "hey, you should join the track team!" I was like, "OK". I joined in like seventh grade and refused to run anything longer or shorter than the 400m. So, I think I joined the cross team in eighth grade and ran like five meets and that worked out pretty well. So, when I got to high school, I never went back to the 400m.

Do you miss the 400m?

No, I actually hate it. I don't like it at all unless it's a workout or something.

Can you talk about your training this fall that has allowed you to finish top-ten at NCAAs?

It's the same training that we've always done. I was just more into it and ready to actually do it. The first meet we had at home was a good opportunity to see where I was at. It turned out well and I kept learning more about competing as it applies to cross country. And the season kept going and it worked out well at the end.

Was that the highest a woman's ever finished for Michigan State?

It sounds that way. I'm just getting my information from our website.

What do you do with your free time, when you're not running or doing school work?

Just a lot of hanging out with friends, I'm sure that's a lot of people's answers. It's really nice to learn about the people around you and do stuff with them.

So, you have a team where everyone hangs out together?

For the most part, because the team is pretty big. The men's and women's programs are combined. There are a lot of people to hang out with. We're all close, but it's really big, so we're all close with different people. So people bridge those gaps and we all get to know each other that way.

Can you give me a crazy story from your team?

There was one meet William and Mary last year for our outdoor season. It was one of our first meets, this is probably a boring story, but five of us got sent down early and we had a fairly nice trip because we didn't have to get up too early or get in too late. But the rest of our team, which is 30 plus people, and they got stuck on a later flight and they didn't make it in until like 2 a.m. because the bus got lost and a bunch of other crazy, bad stuff happened and people were somehow able to perform in the morning, which is exciting, because they got in at 2 a.m. and had to compete early the next morning.

What does your diet consist of?

Just food, I guess. I don't know, like eating breakfast with cereal or oatmeal and adding things to it like fruit or yogurt and eating a sandwich for lunch with chips. I don't really think about it that much. I try to have a hamburger or two every week. My diet is well-rounded.

Do you have a favorite pair of running shoes?

Not really, because eventually you go through so many that it doesn't even matter, you're like, "I need a new pair". That's the biggest concern, so not any specific favorite ones.

Which ones would you say you put the most mileage on?

Our team is sponsored by Nike and I think I'm in the Pegasus right now.

What's the hardest workout you've ever done?

(Coughs) I would say the hardest workout we've ever done is what we call it "five minute repeats". It's usually, depending on where we are in the season, a cross country workout. It's done up a park or something where the coaches have determined we would run. It usually has a hill in it where we go over that twice. We run really hard for five minutes, at around race pace then take a three to a five minute break and do it again. It's one of "those" workouts, where people are like, "Oh, we're doing this today".

How many times do you do those intervals?

Probably three or four times.

Do you have a motto for your running?

As lame as it sounds, I like challenging myself and trying to meet those challenges.

It sounds like you like the going fast part on the track; can you talk about that a little more?

That's the most fun. It's where you don't have to think as much. You don't have to be as patient, you don't have to wait as much. There's a point to the other workouts, but I like the fast ones better because they just seem more fun. I get to put spikes on and it becomes almost like a race, not like racing at practice, but it kind of simulates racing.