Photo provided by www.cyclones.com

Iowa State Cyclone Betsy Saina went from 114^th last year NCAA Cross Country Championships to being the runner-up in the 10,000-meter run behind her teammate, and collegiate record holder, Lisa Koll. With Koll now running for Nike, Saina seems to be up to the challenge to improve steadily and fill that dominate roll to lead the Cyclones.

Runner-up in the NCAA 10,000 last time out. What are your goals for cross country?

My goals now for cross country start with improving from last year. Last year, I didn't actually do great in cross country. I'm trying to see what I did that was not really good with cross country because I didn't improve like I did in track. I really just want to improve on the results from last year.

114^th?

Yeah. It was bad (laughs).

I've got to tell you: I don't think finishing second in the 10K and taking 114^th in cross country are on the same level.

What I did last year, was I did a lot of mileage. I started working out hard before the meet and it was terrible. I'm trying to rectify that. I'm trying to do the mileage and a lot of good speed work. I just talked with my coach and he gave me a good program for cross country and I should improve with my results.

What kind of mileage were you doing last year?

Last year, we finished nationals on the track, where I did the 5K, and then I took off for two weeks and then I started with 75 and went to 90 miles. I wasn't treating it like the main race was in November. That's what I missed up last year. I ran all crazy like!

What mileage number do you think works for you?

I just started like two weeks ago with training. After nationals, I took off like two weeks. Then it was running for 30 minutes a day for the first week. Then the second week, I did 45 miles. Then this week, I did 60 because I'm looking forward to going up to 85 miles. I'm just trying to improve on my mileage for a good base.

I'm sure you heard that Lisa ran 14:55?

Oh, yeah! I just watched it and it was amazing!

Have you been in contact with her?

I just sent her a message on Facebook. She has not yet replied, but I'm looking forward to that and when she comes back to the States before she moves again.

How long will be it be until you're running that fast?

My aim right now is just to make sure that I improve myself in cross country and on the track. I don't really even count last year. I'm just trying to make sure that I run 20-low in cross country. Then I will work on the 5K and 10K to see if I can improve the way that she (Lisa) did. I'm trying to follow how she did. Lisa was a great athlete and a great person. She was very respectful and very humble. I'm looking forward to seeing what she did to do that.

Are you feeling the pressure the fill the void now that she's gone?

For some time we were down, like, “how are we going to make it without Lisa?” Right now I'm just going to relax and talk with her before she moves away and find out what she's been doing. I'll follow the program and work hard over it. That's my comfort now.

What's a typical day for you right now?

Oh, my gosh! Today was a day I'll remember for the remainder of the summer. It was so humid! Today was my first day doing a long run for 90 minutes. I took off in the morning at 7 a.m., and took off through the railroad. When I hit about 65 minutes, I was so tired. I was dehydrated and needed some water. I stopped on the way and went to a gas station and asked for some water there. I took about five minutes then started running again. It was a crazy day!

How much warmer is it than back home in Kenya?

In Kenya it's moderate weather. It's not all that hot, not too humid. It's like normal summer weather. We don't have those seasons like winter and spring. Over here I have to struggle with humidity.

Do you have air conditioning in your apartment?

My apartment is great. It's just when I'm running and I can't run with a jacket or no trousers. It's ridiculous.

Do you have any swimming pools to swim in when it gets too warm?

That's what I do. I don't have anything to do right now. It's just running because I'm done with my classes. I always go to the swimming pool with my spare time. I go to play bowling and stuff too.

Is all fun and games for you this summer other than running?

I just run two times a day, once in the morning then I take a nap, then go for a run in the evening. Sometimes I go for games and sometimes, mid-day, I'll go for swimming. I love swimming! That's what I'm doing right now.

Do you prefer this to the regular school year when everyone is back and you're going to your classes?

(Laughs) I like it this way now! Training is hard enough without school, you know? When you're running and you have a lot of homework waiting for you, or maybe you have a final coming up...it's crazy! Running and doing whatever you want to do, that's what I'm doing now and I prefer it. I prefer how I'm running right now...definitely!

How many of your teammates are in Iowa right now?

Right now I'm just by myself. I'm really looking forward to when they come back so we can train together.

Back in Kenya, how did you get into running in the first place?

I'll tell you that when I was just in fourth grade I started running. It was all the time in my mind—just running around and trying to exercise. That's how I started running! I started competing when I was in seventh grade. I was not that good until I came over here. That's when I started running very well.

How did you find your way to Iowa State?

How I found my way here was after my high school—which I graduated from in 2007, in 2008, I decided to go to the marathoners camp in Kenya. I was doing the 5K, but I still decided to go to the marathoners camp. I went there and trained for some time. Around the time that we had the time trials, we had our coach from Kenya said, “if you run well, I can get you to come to the States.” That was amazing to me!

Did you grow up with any famous Kenyan distance runners? Did any go to this marathon camp?

When I was growing up, I knew Linet Masai and Vivian Cheruiyiot. I knew many people. When I was back at home, I used to read the newspapers and reading and looking in the magazines the sports and see about these famous runners from Kenya.

Who is your favorite distance runner?

Linet Masai. She's my pride. I follow her around all the time. She's like me. She does the 10K like me. She's my favorite runner.

Are you going to be as fast as her some day?

I'm just trying to finish up school and running. I don't know where I'll be training, but if I keep doing great, then I will see where I'll be. My goal for now is to finish school and just do running without school. That would be great!

If you could choose a job, other than a professional runner, what would you do?

What I like doing is studying childhood education. I love working with young kids. My plan for now is to keep looking in Kenya, where they have a program there with education. If I look over here, they have a lot of programs working with kids. I would like to do that after school.

With your transition to the United States, was there anything that was really crazy?

Oh, man, that was crazy! I came over in February. You know in Kenya that we don't have snow? The first thing I thought when I came over here is wondering why the whole place was white. I was like, “oh, my gosh! What's happening here?” I was talking to my friends and asking if they've ever seen anything called “snow”. I went out of the house in the first few days and had to go back in because it was too cold! I had wished that I didn't come over here when the snow was down. Then I started liking the United States. It was my first time. In school I used to know the term , “as white as snow”. That's all I knew about snow.

Do you prefer the cold or the humid, hot weather?

Well, all of it is all right for me now. I'm now getting used to it. I couldn't decide between the two.

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

My favorite food is the food over in Kenya. Do you know the Kenyan food? The food over here is really different.

Like ugali?

Who told you about ugali?!

I've interviewed a handful of Kenyans and they always talk about ugali and it being really good running fuel.

I'd like ugali with cream and then with some milk! That's what I need to run the fastest times ever! I always cook it for myself before I go to races. When I'm in hotels, I'm like, “oh, my gosh, I wish I could cook ugali for myself!” It's my favorite food.

Can you share a crazy running-related story?

Mine is so crazy! I told you before that I was training with the marathoners. I was just coming back after six months of not training because of my final exam in high school. Everyone was running the 42K and someone was running the 21K. One day they were like, “hey, come run with us.” They were running really far. I was so scared, wondering how I'm going to do that because I hadn't been running that far. We took off at 5 a.m. and that's when they were going to leave camp. At like 10K, I was just done because everyone was going so fast. I just followed. At 10K, I lost sight of people and couldn't tell where the people went. I didn't see anyone up in front of me. I stopped there. I thought if I kept going, without anyone, I might die. It was so fast. I tried to go back the same route, but I got lost again. I was walking until they came back from lunch at like 12:30. They were cooking and about to go looking for me because they were worried. They just laughed at me! It was funny because I ran the whole day! From 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.!

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