Amber Zimmerman
School: Webb School of Knoxville
Year in School: Junior
Event(s): cross country, 800, mile, 2 mile
Best Event Memory: Winning cross country state freshman year
Key Accomplishments: Winning State in Cross Country and the 2 mile and mile freshman year and winning junior olympics in the 3000 freshman year summer. Getting runner of the year.
Heroes: My Coaches and brothers
Favorite Work-out: 10x500 on the boulevard,
Major Competition Plans for 2009: State in track, summer track: U.S. Junior Nationals
Tell us a little about your self and when, where, and who got you started in running?
I started running in 3rd grade but I was a sprinter. I did the 50 meter dash in gym class and always won and then I did the one small meet they had each year. In 4th grade I moved to Virginia and started to run the 100 and 400 I got 2nd in the state in the 400 in the elementary school meet. I thought it was a pretty big deal. My brother and sister both ran and so did my dad. My brother was really good and helped me with my form and getting faster. He and my sister did cross country so I started that when I got to middle school. I started running 5k road races in 5th grade and won my age group in my first one so I thought I might be kinda good at distance running. I wasn't too good when I first started running cross country in middle school but by my 8th grade year I got much better and went from top 40 in every meet to 2nd in every meet. Now running is my favorite thing to do...besides eating and I do it almost everyday... except when I am injured (which seems to be a lot lately). I am hoping to run in college and run with the best some day.
Does or did anyone else in your family run? If so, where and when?
My dad ran in high school and my brother ran for Bearden High School several years ago and was one of the top runners on his team.
I see you have been competing in some indoor meets and making improvements. Can you give us some insight to your training?
I was working with my coach Mike and doing his workouts. I was doing about 45 miles a week when I ran my last indoor meet and PRed in the 2 mile. The high mileage seemed to help me and I felt better than ever until I got hurt several weeks ago. Some of the workouts I was doing were 5x 200-200-400, 3.5 mile tempo, and several long easy runs with an occasional fartlek. The workouts were never meant to be super hard but they always made me feel faster and refreshed. Now that I am hurt I have been cross training (biking, elliptical, and pool running) to try to stay in shape so I can come back strong to finish out the outdoor season.
Based on your performances last year and this indoor track & field season, what are you looking to achieve this season as it progresses?
I finally PRed in the 2 mile in my last indoor race so I am hoping to break that and get my mile and 800 times down quite a bit so that I will be ready for summer track.
Do you have a friendly rivalry in track and field, and how did this rival develop?
Most of my friends are from track so I have a lot of friendly rivals. The main one is between me and my "twin" Alex Newby from Farragut. She is an amazing competitor and friend and we always end up running the same times so we don't really care who wins we just cheer each other on and sometimes she beats me and sometimes I beat her. People always get us mixed up at races and sometimes people even call her Amber or me Alex so we figure we can share the wins.
What sport do you like best and why?
I like different things about both. I love xc because its not just running in circles and I like running on new courses, but I love track because it is so much more exciting and competitive and you have the crowd screaming for you every time you come around and you actually get to see your friends race and cheer for them unlike in xc.
Do you have a specific pre-meet tradition/ritual, individually or as a team?
I am very superstitious I have a lucky everything! I always eat pasta 2 days before my race and at track meets our team always eats our lucky fig newtons. We also always do some strange handshake/ dance moves before every race and usually get some strange looks but we do it anyway.
Any thoughts on college yet?
I want to go west...far far west...haha
Do you have a favorite running book or movie?
Prefontaine and Four Minutes
What advice would you give some one new to the sport of track and field?
Just run! Running is a great way to get away from stress and make new friends...and stay in shape! It doesn't matter if you can only run a mile a day just keep building on that and be confident because the main problem with my friends is that they tell themselves they can't do something...but if you just try you might surprise yourself.
What do you see happening with track and field in Tennessee in the future?
I am always surprised by the running community in Knoxville and by all the little kids that run. I love watching the really little kids race in the summer track program because a lot of them are pretty good. I think it is great that there are so many opportunities for kids to get involved in track and field because that means they will probably do it as they get older.
What is the key to keeping the sport growing?
I think that the best thing to keeping the sport growing is to get as many kids interested in it as possible.