Interview with Caroline Bierbaum

By Sabrina Tillman

When fast-women.com first featured Columbia University cross country runner Caroline Bierbaum in 2005, she had staged a comeback from a debilitating bout of anemia to place third in the 2004 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, thus earning the honor of the highest finish ever by a Columbia athlete at the time. Two years later, Bierbaum, 23, has established a balance between the rigors of a career in law with her love of running. She recently completed her first year of law school at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, and is completing a 10-week research assistantship this summer for a New York State Supreme Court judge. Despite a 9-5 work schedule, Bierbaum is training hard for her marathon debut in Chicago on October 7, where she hopes to qualify for the Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon next April in Boston. A regular at the start line of NYRR races, Bierbaum plans to compete in the upcoming NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE on Sunday, August 5. She’s viewing the race not just as preparation for Chicago, but also as a great opportunity for post-collegiate competition.

Fast-women.com: Let’s talk about your training for Chicago. How are you preparing for your marathon debut?

Caroline Bierbaum: I’m doing my long runs on Sunday; I’m up to 18 miles now. I do a mid-week long run of 13 to14 miles, including six to10 miles at marathon pace. Then I head to the track on Saturdays to do VO2 max workouts, or I do hill workouts, or short, fast repeats on the dirt track in Central Park. I tend to head to the track on the weekends because I don’t have time to get to a real track on weekdays.

FW: About how many miles per week are you averaging?

CB: I’m averaging 70 miles a week. I try to take a day off once a week or a day off every two weeks. I had a stress fracture for the first time in January, and I’m trying to be conscientious. I would rather train more cautiously, mileage wise, so I arrive at the start line healthy. I will stay in the 70s for my first marathon, and then probably up my mileage for future marathons.

If I qualify, my second marathon will be Boston in 2008. If I don’t, maybe I’ll do a low-key marathon in the spring—for sure, though, I want to run New York City in 2008. I’ve always wanted to run New York, but I figured for a first marathon, Chicago would be more user-friendly. If you’re going to go for a qualifying time, I’m told Chicago is a good course for it.

FW: Is this a departure at all from training you are accustomed to, or does it feel natural to you after all of your cross country experience?

CB: My body seems to handle the higher mileage pretty well. Compared to other elites, 70s are kind of conservative. I’ve been more conscientious about getting massages every two weeks or so. Once you’ve gotten injured once, you realize that you’re not invincible. When I take my days off, I crosstrain either on the elliptical, the bike, or I swim. I’ll usually do low-impact exercise. Maybe I’ll crosstrain once a week if I feel like it, but it’s not ingrained in my program. I lift weights once a week; I should lift twice a week, but I’m averaging about once a week right now.

When I finally got healthy again, that’s when I got my stress fracture. So I was never really able to until now. But, I ran a 20-mile race in high school once—I went to a private boarding school in Massachusetts, and they didn’t have a track team. I just ran with the boys to keep in shape. It was the Maratha’s Vineyard 20-miler. I ran that, and I enjoyed it, and as soon as I finished, I starting to think about the marathon distance.

FW: Speaking of health issues, do you still struggle with anemia, or is this something you feel you have pretty much under control?

CB: I really haven’t had problems with anemia lately. I take a supplement every day, and eat red meat once a week. I get my blood tested about once a year. Anemia seems to be the easiest setback to get over [as opposed to running-related injuries], as long as you’re on a consistent supplementation plan.

FW: Let’s talk about your hope to qualify for the Olympic Trials in your debut—a very unusual goal. How did this goal come about, and do you feel ready for the challenge?

CB: I think every serious [non-track] runner wants to get to the starting line of the Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston. It gives you something to work toward that you can remember for the rest of your life. It’s just something that you can have and it will never get taken away from you. As a post collegian, you don’t have as many goals in front of you. In college, the NCAAs are a part of the major goals.

FW: Are you running the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE as a “training” run for Chicago, or are you viewing this race as another kind of opportunity?

CB: I’ve never raced a real half-marathon before. I’ve done two before just as training runs. I do want to race it to see how fast I can go. I don’t want to be over-ambitious; it’s 13 miles in (probably) hot weather. But, I’d like to see if it’s possible to break 1:20. If I run an honest effort in a half, it would help as a gauge for a marathon.

FW: Is there anything in particular that is appealing to you about the NYC Half-Marathon: Time of year, course, the field, etc.?

CB: I live on Central Park South, so I can just warm up right there at the start. Last year, I wasn’t able to do the race because I was injured. I was bummed—the course seems fun and I’m just looking forward to being a part of it. I really like all the NYRR races, especially the ones that appeal to the elites because it makes it more exciting and appealing. Traveling, spending money on hotels, and having to plan to go to races away from home all the time can be a lot to deal with sometimes. It’s nice to have the opportunity to stay in my backyard.

FW: How do you feel about racing in New York? Do you feel like the running community and the number of road races supports your running goals well?

CB: I can pop in a race pretty much every weekend—a casual race—and it’s still administered in a professional manner. [In New York], no matter what, there’s going to be people that finish 10 minutes faster in a race than me. You have the really high-profile professional races that give you that more intense feeling, and you have the races that are lower key that you can use as a tempo or training run. So you really have the best of both worlds here.

The local NYRR prize money makes races appealing, and I like how the structure makes local runners feel included and a part of the elite field.

FW: How are you handling the transition from star collegiate runner to law school student with a full-time job?

CB: I’m a self-motivated person, so even if the weather is bad, I’ll still get myself out there and do a workout. I’m willing to do things on my own—it helps to have a coach [Bierbaum is coached by Andrey Baranov, who coaches the Warren Street Social and Athletic Club] watch you do something, but I’ll still do my workouts alone, even if someone doesn’t know my splits. The hardest thing was going through two injuries—I was really fast in college—and it’s hard to deal with entering these races and being beat by people who I would have beat a few years ago. But it motivates me to want to get faster and get back to the level that I used to be at.

FW: What are your plans after law school? Will you stay in New York?

CB: I’m definitely going to stay in New York after I graduate. Ideally I’d like to find a legal job that wouldn’t require 80 hours a week because running is still very important to me.

Interview conducted July 20, 2007, and posted July 26, 2007.