UC Riverside junior Brenda Martinez recently took ninth place in the 800-meter final of the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Or., where she competed last summer in the Olympic Trials. Martinez has a personal best time of 2 minutes, 2.34 seconds in the half-mile and is heading over to Europe to race this summer.

What are your plans for this summer?

I'm going to Europe for a couple weeks to race out there. I'm still not done, still training right now.

Which races are you doing?

I don't know how to pronounce them, but I'll be staying in Belgium and then going back forth between Belgium and Germany. I think I'm doing five races. My coach has my schedule and I haven't really looked at it.

What are you looking to accomplish over there?

Me and my coach have been talking about that because my fitness is still there. My mileage is there, as is my threshold, so I'm looking to drop a fast race and also get that experience.

You're going to be doing half-miles and 15s, or are you going to go up to 5,000?

Yeah, I'll be doing 800s and I think I got into one or two 1,500s.

Done with the 5k this year?

We will leave that for next year. I'm going to try the 5k in the beginning of the season and get one in. I've got to get myself into one that's actually kind of fast, where I have a group I can go with. I've always been in a meet where it's not all that fast and I'm kind of doing it all by myself. I haven't really pulled off a fast time. I'll discuss that with my coach later. It's sort of up in the air.

Are you nervous to be going over there and racing?

Not so much nervous. I'm excited. I've never been there and I'm going to go at it on my own. I was going to meet up with Sara Hall. I don't know when she's going over. It's sort of up in the air for her. I know she's going, but it might be a little sooner...or even later. I'll have to call her and see what's up. She's going to be my guide because she's had the experience over there and ran fast over there as well.

Do you run with her a lot?

We used to train together a lot. She was hired as our volunteer coach. We were doing workouts together and doing thresholds together. She was ahead of me, yeah, but having her there with me was good.

Can you explain what went wrong for you in the final of the women's 800?

I just blew it. It honestly could have been anything. I just don't know. I still question myself. I was putting too much pressure on myself...or I wasn't used to the rounds. I hadn't ran competitively in the 800 since last year in the Trials. I only ran the 800 once before, and that was at our conference meet, where I ran a 2:03 on my own. There was no competition and I had no one to run with. Either I wasn't used to the rounds or I wasn't getting the right recovery. I felt kind of sluggish. It could have been me putting too much pressure on myself. I'm not getting discouraged, I'm like, “it happens.” I've had races go good all year.

You're already working past it?

Yeah, I'm not going to bring myself down for one race. I know where my fitness is at. I've done workouts at school where I can break two minutes on my own in practice. I've done 700 meters, hitting 1:43-1:44. I can just take it in, but my coach wants me to save it.

You know that you can break two minutes?

Last year I hit 2:02.3 and I was ready to break two last year. That qualified me for the Olympic Trials and at the Trials, I made it to the second round...but I was really, really sick. My coach was like, “do you want to still run?” I said, “I can't. I need to go home. I'm really, really sick.” I got a really bad cold and kept running. We just went home a week early.

What do you do to run with those top 800-meter runners in the country? You feel belong there?

I believe so. I need to kind of work at it. I haven't gotten as much experience as I've needed. A lot of these girls have been running a lot rounds, getting used to it. I have the speed. The rounds, I just need to get used to that. With just one race, with no rounds...I know I can do it. It's one of the hardest races with rounds. There's room for error in all that.

What did you hit for 400 meters in the US 800 final?

I was right behind the pack. Either a 59 or a 60. That's what I saw, but I could be off.

When did it all come apart for you?

My coach said that I was fine at the 600. Normally I'll pick it up and start picking girls off, but I just could not do it. It could have been a mental lapse for me as well. I was wondering, “how come I'm not in the front?” That was the first time where I was like, “damn, this is really hard.” Maybe it was the pressure that got to my legs as well. I don't want it to happen again. I got over it really quickly. I just did my cool down and thought of it as another race. Yeah, it's a final, but...I don't know (laughs).

What are you studying?

I'm in the Soc Department, under law and society.

How many more years of college running do you have left? Is next year it for you?

Yeah. I just have one more outdoor season.

After college you're going to pursue running?

There's so much more in there for me to improve on. I feel like I haven't reached my fullest potential yet. Maybe next year I can actually prove that.

What are your hobbies?

I spend a lot of time with my mom. Riverside is only about 20 minutes away from my actual hometown. I drive home a lot and spend time with my mom and family. If I'm not at home, I'm with the girls on the team. We watch a lot of movies. I watch a lot of Adam Sandler. I could watch him all day. Most of the time, I just relax and hang out.

If you could have one meal, prepared by anyone, what would you choose and who would make it?

(Laughs) I'd probably have my grandmother make it, although she's not here anymore. She passed away my freshman year. She would cook with the best. She was from Mexico, so she knew how to cook from scratch and could make anything. Everything she made was amazing. I really miss her meals.

Can you give me a crazy running-related story?

I have scary stories where I see bears or step on a snake...but those aren't too crazy. I can tell you how I started running.

I was really bad when I was younger. I was a bad child, always in trouble. Where I live, a lot of the kids in the neighborhood are really bad. Like now, it's not so bad because the cops kind of cleaned up the streets, but it was really ghetto back then. It was really gang-affiliated. My mom didn't want me hanging out with those kids. Most of them have moved out of town or—it's kind of sad to say—but they're in prison. I'd hang out with some of those kids behind my mom's back. We'd be doing...like anything. My mom caught me one time and she was going to hit me with the belt. She's not an abusive, bad mother, but of course she's going to discipline her kids. I was trying to act all cool and come back home like nothing happened. She's like, “I saw you!” And my face just dropped. I thought she was going to hit me and sure enough she had the belt in her hand and I saw it. I started sprinting and of course there were a lot of cars in the road. I was weaving through these cars and she was chasing me, like “I'm going to get you!” I was screaming my head off. My grandparent's lived next door and my grandfather had built a gate so we could cross each other's yards. I managed to get in the yard and shut the gate behind my mom. It was pure adrenaline. My mom cooled off.

That was your first sprint workout?

Yeah. She's a teacher and told her co-workers the gossip and all that, “oh, I can't catch my daughter. I want to catch her (she's in the background laughing at me right now).” Her co-workers said that she should make me run for a team. She got a contact and a they had a daughter who would run with me. The next thing was me joining the track club. It was funny, because all the people that were there—not trying to be racist, but they were all black girls—and I was the only Mexican. Coach was like, “OK, you're not on the team yet, but let's see if you can hang with these girls in the workout.” We were doing a 100 workout and I was beating the girls and even some of the boys. He was like, “OK, you're on the team.” And it started after that. I've been running since then.