San Diego's Alli Billmeyer (Torrey Pines) has emerged as one of California's top runners. As a junior Alli finished 5th at the California XC State Meet and 14th at the Foot Locker West Regionals. She went on to have a fantastic track and field season finishing 2nd in the 1600 at the State Meet clocking 4:47.79, 2 seconds off her PR or 4:45.06. Alli also has a PR of 2:09.94 in the 800 and 10:18.70 in the 3200 (from a dual meet last spring). Keep checking back as Alli journals about her final prep season.
Alli Billmeyer
(Sr., Torrey Pines)
Journal Entry #2 (November 11, 2010)
Hey guys!
The past three weeks coming off of Mt. Sac have been very solid weeks of training for me. Besides a couple of duel meets, those of us who are healthy have been training hard. My Coach has had our team focus on tempo runs in particular (some with hills/some on flats) during the past few weeks. One of my stronger tempos took place on Wednesday when our team went down to the beach because of the hot weather. From the beach, my teammate Ashlyn and I ran out to a flat dirt path that borders the lagoon; We like to call it the Julian trail. From there we started the 2 mile out-and -back. I felt pretty good the first mile and went out a little too fast (5:48)... (My coach wanted it to be 6:00.. uh oh!). I started feeling the pace midway through the run but kept it up and finished the fourth mile strong. I averaged 5:55 for the overall tempo run and it felt good to get in a hard workout.
(Photo left: Alli Billmeyer at the midway point at the Mt. Sac Invitational)
This past Friday was definitely the most competitive duel meet we've had this year as a team. Whoever won would go onto to be league champions. Before the race, i was frantically deciding whether or not to put my racing flats on. Usually i wear my trainers for duel meets because i use those races as hard workout days. Today, i was a little unsure given the competitive circumstance. I decided to go up to my coach and ask him what i should do. All he said was, "Alli, put your racing flats on". From there on out, i was in the zone and ready to compete. We were racing against Rancho Bernardo (Molly Grabill's team) on their home course of 2.6 miles. The gun went off and i was racing with competitiveness. I went through the first mile in a 5:07 (fastest mile I've ever gone out in) and continued to keep a fast pace throughout the entire race. I felt so strong and could feel all my hard work kick in to my overall endurance and strength. I finished first in 14:18, breaking the course record! and my team won the meet! It was so cool to see everyone trying so hard for each other. We all wanted this win so bad and it definitely showed. I remember thinking down the last 70 meters stretch of the race when my legs were hurting that I was not only doing this for me, but for my team.
Saturday = long run day! It's actually kind of funny because i have never been a big fan of long runs until recently. For some reason i just couldn't get into the zone and experience that runners high that everyone around me was talking about. After this month, I finally can say that I enjoy long runs. There is no comparison to the feeling of finishing a run and looking down at your Garmin pace watch that says 9.00 miles exactly ; 7:00 average pace. My teammate Ashlyn and I felt so proud when we finished that run on Saturday. Yes it was long, but very rewarding.
So we are gearing up for leagues! As i said before, we are hoping for the title and i have no doubt that if everyone is as fired up as they were for Friday's duel meet, we should be fine.
Good luck with all your running endeavors and talk to you all soon!
-Alli
Journal Entry #1
Introduction
Hi Milesplit! I'm Alli Billmeyer, a senior at Torrey Pines highschool in San Diego, California. Lets see, i started running competitively freshman year of highschool. Up until then i was a full time soccer player and ballerina. I did track in 7th and 8th grade for fun where i would race the mile then literally hop into the car directly after the race to go to my next activity. Going into highschool, my coach told me that i had a lot of potential in running, so i decided to switch gears and focus on something new. Seriously, i know this sounds cliche but running has changed my life. The people you meet and the places you go along the way are unforgetable.
This year coming into the xc season was so different for me than any other year. Usually i come into the season playing catch-up; This season i felt like a much stronger and more mature runner as i was able to increase my mileage and steady state paces over the summer. The base i have built up over the past three years has finally kicked in and i can feel the difference when i start running hard. Each season has taught me so much from injury prevention to the importance of staying healthy. I've learned my lessons through getting serious injuries, going too hard too fast, and overtraining. All of these challenges have given me so much more knowledge into the sport of running. You know you are truly a runner when you learn to understand your training and know the benifits as well as the consequences of each run. This season i feel much more confident in what i am doing, which of course has come with the experience.
A big part of my life as a runner is my team. Whether we're warming up around the track or doing drills at practice, we are always having a good time. I've made some of my closest friends through xc and track. Coming back from being Div 1 state champs last year, we have fallen short of some of our goals. As a team it is crucial to have everyone stay healthy and injury free ( which we have struggled with this season). But with perseverence and motivation, I feel that in the end we will pull it all together.
Hope you got to know a little more about me and whats going on over here at Torrey Pines! Looking forward to letting you guys know more about me and my teammates as the season goes on. Right now we are going into League Championships, running for my 4th league title!
- Alli :)
