Five Questions: Alyssa Aldridge

By Mary Albl for DyeStat

Sophomore Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland Regional, NJ won the Brown Invitational in Rhode Island earlier this month in 17 minutes and 07.58 seconds, the third fastest time in course history.

Then last Friday, she broke her own record at the Atlantic County Championships, winning the 2.9 mile race in 16:31. It's been a breakout season for Aldridge, who ran bests of 5:06 and 10:58 in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters as a freshman last spring on the track. She did, however, place second in the New Jersey MOC in cross country in 2014.

We caught up to her this week to ask Alyssa five questions:

Question 1 -- You’ve had a break out sophomore season. What has this fall been like for you?  

Alyssa Aldridge: It’s been crazy this season. I’m really excited with how well I’ve been doing. I've ben working really hard this season and I’m just excited that all my hard work is paying off. There are so many great girls out there and it’s just an honor to run with them. 

Question 2 -- What did you do in the summer to prepare for a season like this? 

Alyssa Aldridge: This summer I bumped up my mileage another five miles. Last year I was at about 34-35 so this year I am about 40 and I also just went swimming a lot. I took off this past winter to swim (for my school team) and also took up yoga this year to help me with my asthma, and it’s been really helping me a lot this season especially when it’s really hot.”

Question 3 -- With all the success you’ve had, how have you handled that and not put so much pressure on yourself?

Alyssa Aldridge:  It’s been hard not to put pressure on myself because I’m very hard on myself. But my mom read somewhere about a sport physiologist for me. Her name is Kate Taylor (1996 Olympian in the 10,000 meters) and she’s been helping me so much. I definitely owe a lot of my successes to her, because one of the most crucial parts of running is the mental part, and if you don’t have that down then you’re not going to have as good of a season as you could possibly have.

Question 4 -- What do you do for fun to balance your life outside of school and running so you don’t get burnt out? 

Alyssa Aldridge: School always comes first for me, so I always put school before running. After that, all my friends are very active and do other sports, so we all hang out whenever we can. We all know we’re going to be busy, so we just find time to make it work.

Question 5 -- What are you goals with championship season now in full swing and the possibility of competing at Foot Locker? 

Alyssa Aldridge: My goals have always been me versus the clock, but it would be awesome to be able to compete at Foot Locker. I know there are so many great girls out there. There’s a good chance that I’ll be able to make it but you never know, it just depends on the day. But I know if I don’t make it this year I’m going to keep trying.