Aliphine Tuliamuk did something that she hasn’t done since the start of the cross-country season. 

She took a day off. 

“I feel guilty a lot when I don’t run, but sometimes you just have to push those thoughts away and tell yourself you deserve a break,” Tuliamuk said. “When I want to eat I feel guilty. I feel like I don’t even deserve to because I didn’t run. My body feels so tired and weird.”

The reason for the break is simply to give her body a rest before Saturday, when Tuliamuk will compete at the 2012 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Ky. 

This will be the fourth time Tuliamuk has competed for a national championship. She did it twice at Iowa State, finishing 68th as a freshman and 13th as a sophomore. 

Tuliamuk transferred to Wichita State last season and has since broken numerous school records. She ended the season by running a 19:57.70 at the NCAA Championships for a 12th-place finish. 

Both of her top-40 finishes garnered her All-America status. 

Now a senior, Tuliamuk is considered a real contender to possibly win a national title. 

“This is a very important race for me, because I’m a senior and I won’t get another chance to go back and do college cross country,” Tuliamuk said. “I don’t even want to think about not doing good. It depresses me. So this is very important to me.”

A major advantage that Tuliamuk will have is not only her previous experience at nationals, but also the fact that she knows what to expect out of the course. 

Louisville’s Tom Sawyer State Park will host Saturday’s championships, the same course that hosted the Pre-Nationals on Oct. 13. Tuliamuk won the 6K event with a time of 19:43.9, breaking her own WSU record by nearly 14 seconds. 

“I have a lot of advantage over people who haven’t been to that course. Because I know how it feels when you race and when you are warming up,” Tuliamuk said. “I know this course and I know how it feels so I think I should be in a better position racing on it.”

Saturday’s 6,000-meter race will start at 11 a.m. Live stats can be found at www.ncaa.com.