Ready to Take the Next Step

By Scott Bush

Life after college can be quite the transition, even for the most successful of runners. For Juliet Bottorff, former NCAA champion at Duke, falling into a tremendous situation at the Boston Athletic Association has eased the difficulty of such transition, allowing her to focus on taking her running to the next level. 

As she prepares to make her half marathon debut in Houston at the USA Half Marathon Championships, we caught up with Bottorff, as she shared what life is like as a pro, her expectations for the year ahead and much more.

Scott Bush (SB): You are about ready to take on your first half marathon. How are you feeling heading into Houston?

Juliet Bottorff (JB): I’m excited! I think it will be a fun and challenging new distance. It’s not very often at this point that I get to race a distance for the first time, so no matter what, as long as I finish, I’ll get a PR! I’ve always been stronger at longer distances and high end aerobic training, so I think it was only a matter of time until I ran my first half marathon, and no matter what, this race will provide me with a great amount of experience for the future. 

SB: How has training changed up for you over the past few months preparing for the half compared to some of your track training of the past?

JB: I’m definitely training more than ever, and workouts have gotten longer. Also, I’m currently doing my first bit of altitude training in Mammoth, California, which has certainly been a new challenge, but it’s been really fun tackling it with my teammates, all living together in a log cabin in the mountains!

SB: You’ve really focused in on some road racing. Do you see yourself going back to the track much in 2015, especially with it being a World Championships year?

JB: Yes I definitely want to go back to the track this year. I’m still undecided whether I’ll do much indoor, but I am definitely planning on doing outdoor track. The 10k at USA’s will be a big focus for me this year, and hopefully track races past that as well. 

SB: You seem to really be enjoying your life as a professional runner. How is the BAA team and what's been your favorite part of being a pro?

JB: I am! Honestly this team and lifestyle is way more than I could have ever hoped for. I knew I wanted to at least give the professional running lifestyle a try, and that I would always regret it if I didn’t. However, I never could have expected such an amazing group of people to train, live, and learn with every day and such an amazingly supportive organization in the BAA. It was such a natural transition from college, and I couldn’t be more thankful to be a part of this team. 

I still have a lot to learn of course, but truly feel that I have the best coach, teammates, and support system to get the most out of my athletic career. I’d have to say my favorite part of being a pro is getting to travel and see so many new places and all of the incredible people I’ve met along the way and the relationships I’ve formed. The running community is such an inspiring, supportive, and really interesting group of people. 

SB: On the flip side, what's been the hardest part of life after college?

JB: It’s hard to say. Life is extremely different, with a whole new set of challenges, but I’ve really enjoyed getting to know a different lifestyle, with its pros and cons. I guess the hardest part is living in a city rather than a college campus, where everything you need is right in front of you before you even think to ask for it. You never fully appreciate it while you’re in college, but you just need to be more proactive about everything post-college. 

SB: What’s the support been like for you as a first-year pro with BAA? How's it been having someone like Jen Rhines to lean on a bit with all of her experience?

JB: The support with BAA has been incredible. I’m so lucky to have this opportunity to pursue running and have a job that I love so much. I didn’t even fully realize how much I’d appreciate the team atmosphere with BAA. You kind of take it for granted in college, and then afterwards, most pros really lose that, which is too bad. We are so lucky to have a supportive and fun group to train and live with every day, all representing a great organization, with such a long, impressive history. We push and motivate each other in practice and then get to race together and cheer each other on at the same time. 

Having Jen to look up to and learn from has been so helpful too. She has so much experience and has seen so much success, but has also had to work through set backs and frustrations just like everyone else. She shows us what it takes to be great on a daily basis, and inspires us to set our goals higher and believe in ourselves and our training as well. She’s also just so consistently positive and chill, she grounds our whole team and can lower everyone’s stress levels just by being around. 

SB: It’s a New Year...any fun non-running resolutions for 2015?

JB: No, I guess I’m pretty boring when it comes to resolutions. I never really set New Years Resolutions because I feel like if I want to do something better or make changes in my life, I should work on that regardless of the time of year. I guess I have been trying to be better about keeping in touch with people, especially now that I’m living in a new city and traveling a lot with high school and college friends scattered all over the country, and even across the world. It’s really cool to have friends all over the place doing so many different things, with so many different passions, but not so great since I don’t get to see them much.