Written by Jefferson Reese '15
SANTA CLARA, Calif.- Redshirt sophomore Matthew Burke (MB) took some time to speak with Santa Clara Broncos (SCB) about the upcoming track season.
SCB: How are you preparing for the upcoming track season?
MB: At this point in the season we are really focusing on building our strength. The track season stretches far into spring with some very tough races all the way through. To prepare for this, our team has been putting in a lot of miles off the track as well as a lot of hours in the weight room. We build strength now and then we will work on our speed later.
SCB: What are your goals for this season?
MB: When it comes to goals for track it can be easy to focus on running a specific time. Our coach puts an emphasis, however, on focusing on racing for place rather than time. Keeping that in mind, I want to focus on racing hard and running fast in this next season and I'll let the times work themselves out.
SCB: What drives you to do better over the course of the season?
MB: The team is a huge inspiration during the track season. With bigger meets it can be easy to miss somebody race, but we always are going crazy for our teammates. That kind of team spirit helps push me to continue to get better.
SCB: On the day of a race, how do you prepare?
MB: When it comes to race day preparation, I try not to over think it. I make sure to keep an eye on the watch, to time a warm up correctly and try not to eat too much. Other than that, I just make sure to stay relaxed and listen to Style by Taylor Swift as many times as possible to pump me up.
SCB: What's on your mind while you are competing?
MB: A lot of things are on my mind while I'm trying to keep the pain of racing out of it. It's easy to lose focus and find yourself slowing down. To keep myself focused, I try to think about where I am in the race and keep to my racing strategy. In long races its important to stay relaxed to keep energy consumption down. I try to do this as much as possible and prepare for the final kick to finish.