The Victory Lap: Annie Frisbie🏆
This week we sat down with Wisconsin-native and Iowa State graduate, Annie Frisbie, to learn more about the secrets behind her recent. After graduating college she joined Minnesota Distance Elite, but has since lined up without a shoe sponsor. Entering this year’s New York City Marathon, her personal best for the half marathon was 1:15:48 — and on that day she came through in 1:12:43 and closed in 1:13:35 to finish off a wildly successful debut. Annie then bounced back ten days later to dominate the first leg at the Michigan Ekiden. This was a great interview with perspective about knowing oneself, but it’s also time the fans learn more about this new rising star.
You just ran 2:26, placed 7th overall, and were the 3rd American at the New York City Marathon. You were a one-time All-American in cross country in college just a couple years ago. Those two things don’t usually go together. What were you doing then? What was your relationship with running like while you were in college?
In college, I may have taken it a little bit too seriously, which is probably why I never really reached my full potential. It was a lot more intense training than what I was used to in high school. And so naturally, it was going to take some time to adapt. By my junior or senior year I really kind of found my groove within the team and found my groove within the training. But I I had this notion in my head that I needed to be super serious about it and never really let myself have fun.
I think I run best when I have a very well-balanced life. And I would say I have that a lot more now — going out, having fun and just doing those other things that make you a more well-balanced person. That's probably what was lacking for me in college.
But yeah, I was only a one time All-American in cross country, and I think part of it too is random things that would pop up that got in the way of me making nationals. (Who knows, maybe I wouldn't have made it anyway!) But I think the biggest blow during my senior year was that I had appendicitis. But then after college, I really figured out that when I have a lot of things going on in my life that I'm just a happier person. And when I'm happy, I run faster.
I think you just learn that with age — running isn’t everything and in college, I probably just put a lot of pressure on it, which made the losses really hard to take. The highs were great, but of course, in running — like any sport — you're going to have those lows, too. So I think just being able to have a better perspective on things now is probably what has helped me the most.
What did you plan on doing with running after you graduated?
After college, I was a little bit in no man's land. I got an internship in Minneapolis and then I also joined Team Minnesota Distance Elite in Minneapolis. I knew I wanted to pursue both graphic design and my professional running career.
I wasn't really sure what direction I would take running, but I did kind of have in the back of my mind that at some point I would like to do the marathon and preferably not wait until I'm in my late 20s, early 30s.
I always kind of thought that that would probably be a really suitable distance for me, but getting there and adjusting to [my coach] Chris Lundstrom's training and to the new team as well — that took time.
My first big race as a professional was the USATF 10 Mile Championships in Minneapolis in 2019, and it ended up going pretty well – I got fifth there. After that, I really saw what opportunities were possible, and what I could potentially do in the long run. It gave me a lot of confidence, and being able to compete with those bigger names made me feel like, Oh, I can be up there with that group and really try and compete for those top spots. After that, I set bigger goals for myself, but initially out of college, I wasn't really sure.
Talk about your training group a little bit. What does your week look like with your group and your coach? And how would you describe the identity?
I saw a tweet the other day that called us a blue collar group and I definitely resonated with that. A lot of us do have, you know, nine-to-fives or work some sort of other job as well.
But yeah, we meet three times a week: Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday for workout days and long run days. The rest of the easy days are just kind of on your own, which is great. It's just nice to run from your house in the morning or if you have a double.
It's a great setup because especially on the women's side, we're really focused on the longer distances right now. It's great to have training partners like Dakotah Lindwurm. She recently ran Boston and was third American. And she's just a great, great training partner and I definitely leaned on her for a lot of advice going into New York.
But there's a lot of other people on our team that have run marathons before and have a lot of experience, and will say things, Oh, I wish I knew this when I was running my first marathon, so make sure you don't make the same mistake.
It's just a great group to be a part of because there's so much knowledge within the longer distances — it's really helpful and you can avoid a lot of mistakes.
This year you’ve run the US 10k Champs, the Cooper River Bridge Run, US 10 Mile Champs, and the NYC Marathon, placing 3rd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th overall. I know you had that breakthrough race in 2019, but you’ve brought on a whole new level of consistency. Has anything changed for you or is this just a part of the process?
The mindset really did not change. The 2020 Michigan Pro Ekiden was our team's first real race. You know, with COVID and everything. And so at that race, I got first in my leg. And so I really felt that momentum building and I was like, All right, I'm going to have a great, consistent season.
Here we go! I’m feeling good. And then two weeks later, I broke one of my metatarsals — like, a complete fracture — out of nowhere. That’s why I didn't train or compete for so long and I really didn't get started running again until late April, and even May.
I still had the same goals, but I think the timing of it was pretty great because I actually started a new job literally the same week I found out my foot was broken, and so I was able to just immerse myself in that new job and just kind of treat that as a new competitive thing for me. But after I started running and doing some workouts again, it did take me a while to get fit.
We ended up doing a little local 5K in Minneapolis, and I felt pretty good, pretty rusty, but I ran a decent time. And then going into Peach Tree, I wasn't really sure what I could do. But I just was really in the moment during that race, and I could sense that I was really just happy to be back and ended up racing really well. That really set the tone for the rest of the season. I didn't look back after that. I had the confidence moving forward and I just raced with confidence every race after that too.
After those build up races, what were some of the goals you and your coach set your sights on?
My coach just wanted me to go into NYC and have a decent experience and want to come back to the marathon. I think if you have a bad experience, it's tough to do another one the same year or the following year with that bad memory or bad taste in your mouth. That was the plan: just have a good experience and I definitely had that, but also to race it conservatively.
Looking back, maybe I didn't necessarily follow that race plan, but it felt pretty conservative. The first goal was to just hit my appearance fee, which was 2:35. And in my mind, I was like, I was going to be bummed if I only ran 2:35.
I really wanted to break 2:30. I knew this was a tough course.. But again, I just went into it with confidence. I don't think my coach wanted to set a specific time for me because I think he knew that might not be good for my first marathon.
So you find yourself leading the entire race at the halfway point. What was going through your head? Were there any sort of check-ins with yourself and what was that like at the moment?
Yeah, I would check myself pretty often just to see how I was feeling — does this feel right? — and you know, throughout the race until probably like mile 16, 17, it felt hard, but okay and within my means.
The first half went by so fast for me because I was just focused on getting to the next fluid situation. And so that was a good distraction for me. I only saw my coach a couple of times. And of course, it's just so hard to be a spectator on that course. But I really just tried to stay in the moment and I never freaked out. There were a few times where I knew I was going faster than maybe what I initially planned in my mind. But I also told myself it feels fine. Stay with it, stay consistent, and hopefully it will work out.
Thank you for reading and supporting athletes via The Victory Lap. This initiative has now raised over $14,200 with all proceeds going to the elite athletes whose stories we have the privilege of sharing. Please consider sharing with friends/family/teammates who may enjoy reading these interviews!
I know it had to get tough at some point. Mentally and physically, how were the last 6 miles and what experience are you going to take with you moving forward?
It probably was the last six miles where it really started to get tough, and at that point, me and the other women around me were kind of yo-yoing. In those last few miles, although we were going back and forth, I think I mentally kind of didn't care anymore if someone passed me because I was so tired.
And so moving forward, that's something I need to work on, for any race, not even just the marathon. When it really gets tough those last few miles and when you're kind of in that dark place, be willing to sit in that pain a little bit more and still have that competitiveness.
I am a very competitive person. But I think at a certain point, I just got frustrated with how much it hurts, and I think I need to learn to get over that a little more. I hung on and thankfully I was able to finish strong. But I think the pain was probably more mental than physical at the end. Of course, my legs felt like bricks, but I think the mental aspect is really what gets you through those final few miles.
What do you have next on the schedule and what are you most looking forward to?
My coach and I are kind of figuring out what we want to do next. There's a few options and routes we could go, mostly focusing on the roads this spring.
I'm taking some time off now, but thankfully I’m feeling healthy and good, so hopefully I can have another consistent season coming up.
I would love to hit the U.S. road circuit, but then also there's a few half-marathons and probably a whole marathon next fall. But I don't think I'll do another spring marathon.
I think the thing that I'm looking forward to most in the next year is just building off of this consistent season. This New York race was probably the most confidence-boosting for me and opened a ton of doors for me as well. I'm really excited to see where that takes me, whether that's getting a sponsorship or having more successful races. I'm really excited about this next year.
My last question for you is what is the most exciting thing about running for you? Is it the training, competition or what other aspect of it?
I think recently it’s been competing. Training — sometimes — is also nice. It's very therapeutic and is a great way to blow off steam from work or whatever. But lately, competing really is the most fun part for me, road races, especially. They just treat you so well.
I don't know how it is in pro track, but I know road races. They just treat you like kings and queens. It is a fun experience and usually I'll have my boyfriend or another teammate travel with me. And so that makes the trip more fun to get to basically explore a city together or just do fun things. And like I said earlier, I come at it from a more well balanced approach now where I'm able to enjoy the racing part of it more. It doesn't really stress me out like it used to in college. And so it really is just like a celebration of fitness at that point. And I think that's probably what I enjoy the most of the whole running scene.
Thank you so much to Annie for taking time for this interview! Be sure to follow her on Instagram and Twitter!