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Senior Angela Bizzarri won the 2009 NCAA cross country title on Monday, Nov. 23 with a school-record time of 19:46.8. She is the first Illinois women's cross country runner to ever win the NCAA cross country title, and the first Illini cross country champion since Craig Virgin took home the title in 1975. Bizzarri will be in the chat room Wednesday, Dec. 2, starting at Noon CT. Send in your questions today.
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| Moderator: Hey everyone, Angela just got here and is ready to begin the chat. |
| Moderator: There were a ton of questions about Angela's plans after graduation, so we will post them all and she will address them all in one response. |
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| Rick (Champaign): Hi Angela. What are your plans in regards to running when you graduate? Congratulations and good luck in the upcoming track season. |
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| John Weaver, Champaign: Angela, Congratulations on your NCAA Championship and your great career at Illinois. What are your plans with your running career with regard to the next two years and eventually the 2012 Olympics? |
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| Joann (Chicago): Hey Angela, congratulations on the win! I'm a huge fan and was very excited for you. What are your plans after graduation, for running and otherwise?
Congrats again, and good luck in the track season! |
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| Miranda (Bloomington): Congrats Angela!!! I am curious what your plans are for after graduation? Will you further pursue a running career? |
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| sam (bloomington): do you want to compete post collegiately possibly with a sponsor? |
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| Richard (Peoria): Do you plan to keep training in Champaign-Urbana upon graduation, or are you interested in moving to join a training group elsewhere? |
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| Ben (Urbana): Congrats on an awesome performance last week! I know you have a final track season to focus on before graduation, but have you given any thought to post college plans? Could it possibly include a leap to competitive half/full marathon running? Good luck! |
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Angela Bizzarri: I definitely want to run after college. At least for the next few years I see myself concentrating on track rather then doing half or full marathons. I might do some road races to change it up but will be concentrating and peaking for the track season. I have a few classes for my degree to finish up so I will take those during the Fall 2010 semester. My cross country eligibility finished up this fall but I will not be graduating until next December. So my plans as of now are to finish up school at the University of Illinois and training with the team for the fall semester. After that point I don't have any concrete plans. |
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| Eric (Champaign): How do you manage your time so that you can train and compete at a high level in running but also be a college student? Do you have to schedule a lot of things in advance? |
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Angela Bizzarri: I try my best to stay organized. I do plan ahead if I am traveling so that I can fit school work in before I leave. Coach Rasmussen is really flexible though, so if I need to miss practice to go to professor office hours for example, it's not a big deal. |
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| Joe (Lexington Park, MD): Congratulations on the win! How did you decide the upper ceiling your training would reach and how did you stay healthy during it? |
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Angela Bizzarri: Coach Rasmussen and I have figured out what has worked throughout the past few years by slowly increasing mileage and intensity. If something is physically bothering me I take time to let it calm down and figure out what caused it. I think the key to staying healthy while training is being proactive about preventing injuries. |
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| Greg (San Luis Obispo): What did you have for your pre-race and post-race meals, and which one tasted better? |
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Angela Bizzarri: Pre-race I had cereal and some fruit. Post-race I had fajitas. Post-race is always the better meal. |
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| Luke (St. Louis, MO): Congrats Angela! You answered a question from me in your chat earlier in the fall, so I thought I would try again....How about a runner's grand slam, if you will??? A national title in XC, indoor track and outdoor track??? |
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Angela Bizzarri: A grand slam would be great, but I am just happy with winning cross-country at the moment. We will see what happen throughout the next year. |
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| Bobby Clingerman Mooresville, NC: When you finally graduate from Illinois, what certain accomplishment will always stick in your mind, whether it be running related or not. |
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Angela Bizzarri: There have been so many great experiences I will have from the University of Illinois. I can't really say at the moment which will be the best. I might be able to tell you in a few years. |
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| Ross (Vandalia): How many miles a week do you run? |
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Angela Bizzarri: In cross country at peak mileage I ran between 45 and 53 miles per week. |
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| Mary (Cincinnati): Hello Angela. Congrats on your amazing win. I was interested in what you think is your best asset as a runner? What makes you so successful? |
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Angela Bizzarri: I think my best asset is having a lot of balance in my life. I enjoy running but I don't let it take over my life. This has kept me enjoying the sport of cross-country and track and field for the past eight years which is a long time to be competing at a high level. |
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| Mason(Chicago): What were your thoughts about halfway through Nationals? Did you believe at that time you had a chance to win? |
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Angela Bizzarri: Throughout the race I was focusing on staying close to the front two runners. Halfway through I really wasn't thinking about winning. I didn't let it go through my mind until the final straightaway on the course. |
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| Steve (DeKalb): First of all, congratulations on another national title! You've had an amazing college career.
Do you help at all with recruiting? And how much do you think it will help that you've shown an elite runner can have the kind of success you've had at Illinois? |
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Angela Bizzarri: I know that elite runners can have success at Illinois. We have great coaches and support to get us there. I have experienced it firsthand. Our program has competed on the national level for the past few years and I know we will continue to do so. |
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| Moderator: Angela had to get to class to take a test, but she said thanks for all the great questions and sorry if she didn't get to yours! |
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