Summer Interview #3: Captain Shane Brookshire

For interview numero trois, WXCD got to know Shane Brookshire, 5th year senior from Collegeville, CA. He's the returning Captain of the men's team.

WXCD: Shane, how's your summer training going?

Shane: So far it's been ok. I don't have any food really. I'm poor right now so I'm rationing all my food. It's hard to do long runs and recover for the next day, so I'm doing mostly 7-9 mile runs.

WXCD: Where are doing most of your runs?

S: On the canal. The most glorious canal in the entire Western Hemisphere.

WXCD: Who are you living with right now?

S: With Mark Rivera and Amy, in the former Freyer apartment.

WXCD: What is Mark like as a roommate?

S: He's been pretty interesting. We stay up many early hours in the morning playing MLB 2K9. Till like 4 or 5 o'clock.

WXCD: Who wins most of these baseball battles?

S: Currently were doing a co-op franchise, I'm the A's and he's the Giants. Overrall I have a much better record, but head to head we are 1-1 in the Battle of the Bay series.

WXCD: How do you feel about the real Oakland A's performance this season?

S: They have exceeded my expectations. I didn't think we'd be 8 games out of first right now. All is not lost this season yet. We're a second half team that'll come alive in August and September. They're doing good, but they could be doing a lot better.

WXCD: Back to running, what are your goals for XC season?

S: It's my final season, so I hope to finally have a good season to where I can run in the 26's consistently. I want to help lead this team to a possible national birth. But I just want to run in the 26's and show that I still have it in me to run that fast, as fast as I did my sophomore year.

WXCD: Any predictions about the team?

S: I believe we'll be much better than the 10th at Regionals we got last year. We're bringing everyone back, and we're gonna surprise a lot of people. All the freshman are coming back, and they have more experience, so that'll help a lot. I think we'll get top 6 at regionals, easily. We'll be in the running for the third spot to Nationals. It will be Chico, Anchorage, then WOU, WWU, UCSD, Pomona, and us will be fighting for the number 3 spot.

WXCD: What are you looking forward to about camp this August?

S: Well, I just found out that Larry will be coming with us to camp.

WXCD: Hahahaha!

S: So Larry and I are going to continue our excellent adventures up in Soda Springs. And Coach John is coming too.

WXCD: You had a race earlier today, tell us about it?

S: It was the Turlock Summer 5k series, June edition. So it was a normal hot summer day in Turlock, and we were at Crane Park, located by Turlock HS. There weren't very many people that showed up. The top two were myself and a young high schooler. I ran 5:22 for the first mile, and I was hurting a little because it was my first hard summer workout. I lost the lead a little bit, but caught the kid with 500 meters to go, then he passed me and eased up, and I caught him and out kicked him in the end. Finished in a 17:17 for the first place. I felt kind of bad because the kid lead most of the race, but then I caught up to him and slowed down. I believe when you get tested in the final mile, you either have to pick it up or just give up, and this kid gave up.

Then I went on a spending spree at Runner's Feet. I got a book called American Miler about Glen Cunningham. I got a T-Shirt that says "Keep Running" and I got a pair of socks that says "Runner's Feet, Burlingame, CA," and a I heart Running coffee mug, and a book called "Training for Young Distance Runners," for 5 bucks.

WXCD: One final question: what is your secret identity?

S: See if I told you it wouldn't be a secret. But this is for the good of the blog. We can't let the Decepticons or the Joker find you. My secret identity is Lefty Butchka.

S: