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Full Name: Lindsey Elizabeth Barker Date of Birth: July 25, 1987 Brothers/Sisters: One sister, Erin and a brother, Brad Academic Interest: History is my favorite subject, but next year I\'m majoring in business. Hobbies: I love running, obviously, but I also really like wakeboarding, playing ultimate frisbee, playing manhunt, and church basketball. Personal Bests: My best in the 800 in 2.22.4. I don\'t run the open 400, but I run on the 4x400 relay team and my best time is 60.2. I\'m not really good at any other distances. |
barker: I ran my first 5k the summer before fifth grade, and I started running track in seventh grade.
scrunners: As a senior, what kind of plans do you have for college and life?
barker: I am going to Furman next year. I\'m not really sure what I want to be yet, so I guess I\'ll just figure that out later. Right now I\'m majoring in business, but that could easily change.
scrunners: Have you thought about running in college?
barker: Yes, I\'m going to run for Furman.
scrunners: With a sister that runs, how has that helped and affected your training?
barker: I\'m really lucky that she runs because it gives me someone to run with on the weekends and in the off-season. I really hate running by myself, so I make Erin go with me. Plus, she always pushes me in speedwork at practice.
scrunner: Does or did any of your other family run? If so, where and when did they run?
barker: My dad ran for Furman from \'74 to \'78. He was really good, back in the day.
scrunners: When graduating from Easley in a few weeks, what will you remember most from your four years as a student-athlete?
barker: I will remember my friends the most. I met my best friends on the cross country and track teams. We have a really fun team.
scrunners: Did you play any sports prior to running?
barker: I used to be decent at tennis. I played in seventh grade instead of running cross country, and then I did both in eighth and ninth, but it got to be too much. I played soccer when I was like 10, but I was really awful at that.
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\"Before our race, the relay teams say the Lord\'s Prayer a lot. On the way home from away meets, all the girls sing every song you can think of. And when I say sing, I mean yell with a hint of melody.\" --Barker |
scrunners: How did the 2004 State Cross-Country race unfold for you?
barker: I ended up getting 17th. I did not have a good season at all. My times stayed mainly in the 20\'s, and I\'d been running in the 20\'s since ninth grade, so you think I would have improved by now. Considering how my season went, I was satisfied with my race.
scrunners: What were you feeling as you stepped to the line for your last high school cross-country race?
barker: I was excited. Surprisingly, I wasn\'t really that nervous because I wasn\'t ranked that well. I didn\'t really feel any pressure, so that was nice.
scrunners: How did you feel following the race, with a 17th-place finish?
barker: I wasn\'t extactic, but I was satisfied. I wish I\'d gotten top 15, but I wasn\'t too terribly upset.
scrunners: What has been your most challenging race? Explain.
barker: My most challenging race was the first race this cross country season. I felt like I had to go out and prove to my team that I was fit to be their captain. Also, our boys had been making fun of me because my sister had beaten me some the previous year, so I wanted to prove them wrong.
scrunners: How did you fare in this race?
barker: I did really badly, and my sister beat me.
scrunners: When a race strategy changes from how you planned, how do you react in this scenario? Explain, when this occurs and how the race concluded?
barker: I\'ve discovered that when I have a race strategy set out beforehand, I end up doing worse in the race. This is because I panic when things don\'t go as planned. My sophomore year at the state cross country race, I expected too much of myself, and I tried to go out with the lead girls. My plan was to stay in the top 20 until the last 800, then just turn it on. It didn\'t work out for me, and I got frustrated and tired. Now I wait for the back stretch of the first lap that I figure out how I want to run the race. A lot of strategy depends on the competition and the number of participants. If there are a lot of girls, I have to go out fast so I don\'t get boxed in, and then I try to stay with the girls I have a reasonable chance of hanging with.
scrunners: What kind of training did you do over this past summer?
barker: I started running toward the beginning of July. I did about 25 miles a week until I went to a distance camp at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. It was a really good program. After camp I tried to run about 30 miles a week.
scrunners: How does your training vary from the summer, to during the cross-country season, tapering for the end of cross-country and then preparing for track?
barker: During the summer, my runs are very relaxed and easy. During the season, our coach just told us to run for a certain amount of time, so I always felt like I had to push myself to get as many miles in as possible in the time given. I didn\'t really taper down that much for the state meet. I took a lot of the winter off, and I started back around Christmas time. I started back doing 35 mile weeks, generally with one or two eight mile runs. Occasionally I did some tempo runs.
scrunners: How are you currently training for the rest of the season?
barker: Right now we alternate between speed and easy days. The speed days are anything from 200\'s to 600\'s. The easy days, I generally run on my own outside of practice. I put in six to eight miles.
scrunners: What kind of goals have you set for the 2005 track season?
barker: My goal at the beginning of the season was to break 2:20, which I haven\'t done yet.
scrunners: Have you had to change these goals some throughout the season? Explain.
barker: I\'m still working on sub 2:20. I never really set a goal for place in state, so I had to adjust that. I hope I haven\'t set goals too high.
scrunners: What do you look for in a coach and what do you expect a coach to look for in you?
barker: I look for patience and a sense of humor. I need a coach who understands that there will be some bad days. But I also need somebody who knows when to tell me suck it up and fight the pain. I hope my coach looks at me as someone with potential that needs to be developed.
scrunners: Have you ever thought about coaching cross-country or track and field? barker: I love track and cross country, but I don\'t think I\'d make a very good coach. I\'m not very good at making people do things they do\'nt want to do. scrunners: What would you say is the most prestigious meet that you have participated in and how did you fare?
barker: The Taco Bell Invitational was a really good meet. There were some awesome girls there from all over. I ended up getting eighth in the 800, and it was a big confidence-booster.
scrunners: Have you ever met a professional runner? If so, what did you talk to he or she about?
barker: I don\'t think I\'ve ever met a professional.
scrunners: Does Easley have a team tradition prior to a meet? Explain. How did this tradition develop?
barker: Before our race, the relay teams say the Lord\'s Prayer a lot. On the way home from away meets, all the girls sing every song you can think of. And when I say sing, I mean yell with a hint of melody.
scrunners: Does Easley have any rivals?
barker: Our football rivals are Pickens, but we don\'t really have any rivals in track. Every distance I\'ve run against this year has been really nice, no matter what school they\'re from. Our 4x800 and 4x400 teams have had really good competition from Hanna this year, though.
scrunners: How did these rival develop?
barker: When does this rival become the most intense?
scrunners: If there is one thing in the world you can do what would it be and why?
barker: I\'ve always wanted to fly. I don\'t know why. Ever since I watched Peter Pan, I\'ve wished I could fly. It looks like fun.