Going the Distance

Thomas Mackin

GTD: Thomas, this was your 1st summer training in Coach Braz's program. You were about to enter your senior year at Lynn Classical High School. What brought you to this summer's xc program?
Thomas: Yes it was my first year doing the summer training and the reason I decided to do it was because I heard a lot of great things about it and the improvements people were having and I just wanted to get better and it seemed like the right place to do that.

GTD: You continued to work with Coach Braz in the fall. Tell us about that.
Thomas: Continuing to work with Coach Braz this fall was a great decision, by working with him I was in the best shape I have ever been in.

GTD: Each onsite conditioning session this summer had phases, and each of the 18 sessions was a bit different. What drills did you look forward to? Were there ones you would like to forget about it?
Thomas: The drills we did were great! The ones that I looked forward to were the circuit ones. Also the hills were tough but I benefited from them a lot.

GTD: The last phase of each training session this past summer was devoted to core work, flexibility, and strength. Tell us about it. What did you like and didn't like? Did feelings about this phase change over the length of the program?
Thomas: The sessions at the end were amazing even though some were very tough. I had a love/ hate relationship with the around the world core because it was so hard. And no, the feelings didn't change.

GTD: When you race, do you have routines that you always do to prepare, leading right up to the start?
Thomas: Yes I do, I stretch then do some strides up and back then I kneel down for a second and get focused.

GTD: What were some of the highlights of your xc season? Anything you'd like to do over?
Thomas: Some of my highlights of this season were winning every conference meet, 6th in the NEC meet, and finishing 9th at Eastern Mass to qualify for All-States. Also there is nothing I would like to do over.

GTD: What are your winter/spring plans for running?
Thomas:. My winter/spring plans are to continue to work with Coach Braz and just try and compete and try and run some fast times.

GTD: College plans?
Thomas: I would love to run in college, so I'm just going to keep working hard and see where that can take me.