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On The Run With Laura Paulsen
Sept. 18, 2008
BALTIMORE, MD - As the Johns Hopkins cross country team prepares to compete in the Dickinson Long Shore Invite, junior Laura Paulsen took some time to share some insight with fans. The captain finished third in the Centennial Conference Championship and 39th at the NCAA Championship a year ago. The junior has led the team in 16 races since her arrival at Hopkins. She is a biomedical engineering major with a minor in math. HopkinsSports.com: What did you try to accomplish in the offseason? Laura Paulsen: Over the summer our coach gives us a training schedule that he wants us to try to follow. This summer I tried to increase my mileage a lot and increase the length of my long run. I also wanted to fully recover from some of the injuries I had earlier this year. hs.com: Why did you come to Hopkins? LP: I went to high school a few miles away from Hopkins, so I knew the campus and Baltimore pretty well and liked it here. After talking coach Van Allen, as well as meeting a few people on the team, I thought I would like going to school here. I also was really excited to get into the Biomedical Engineering program. hs.com: What do you focus on during a race? LP: I'm pretty competitive, so I try to focus on catching the girl ahead of me. I also always try to run a smart race. I don’t want to go out too hard and I want to have enough energy to have a good finish. hs.com: Any pre-race rituals? LP: The team has a pre-race warm-up that we do for around 50-60 minutes before the race. I try to really get focused and relax when we're on the starting line doing a few sprints and form drills only a few minutes before the start. I don't think I have any specific pre-race rituals though. I like to tie my shoes with 3 knots, but I think that's just because I'm always worried that they'll come undone.
hs.com: Do you have other hobbies? LP: I really enjoy cooking, playing frisbee, skiing, and being able to hang out with my friends. I also like making people laugh and doing goofy things, especially with one of my teammates, Mira Patel. hs.com: What is the best race you've ever had? LP: The best race I've ever had was when I raced the indoor mile at the St. Valentine's Invitational in Boston in February 2007. I had been trying to run a sub-5:00 mile all season and was able to do it at that race, I ran a 4:57, so that felt really good. hs.com: How did you break into the sport? LP: When I moved to Baltimore from Colorado in ninth grade, I actually tried out for the tennis team and got cut. The only team that didn't have tryouts was cross-country and since I wanted to be on a sports team to meet more people, cross-country was pretty much my only option. I had always liked running, ever since I was in kindergarten, but I hadn't really planned on being a runner on a running team. hs.com: What would you like to do after you graduate? LP: Right now I'm planning on going to medical school and hope to become an orthopedic surgeon. I'd also like to one day complete in an Iron Man Triathalon. hs.com: What do you eat before a race? LP: The night before I usually eat pasta since we sometimes have cross-country pasta parties. If there's no pasta dinner, I also like to eat salmon, rice and broccoli the night before. The day of a race, I just eat a bagel or something similar. Nothing too big, just something that will give me some energy, like carbohydrates. |
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