This week, I'm back to interviews. I decided to sit down with track star Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor '10 and find out why anyone would want to continually punish himself with brutal running workouts every day. With flowing dreadlocks and a chiseled body, Shakoor is the definition of speed. If you take one glance at the man, you automatically assume he's faster than you. During the conversation, I secretly hoped that some of his speed would rub off on me and that I'd soon be able to run the 100-meter dash in under 10 seconds. It turns out that speed is nontransferable, however, and I would have to settle for a good conversation instead.
Why did you decide to start running competitively?MAS: I played a lot of sports that involved running. I started running track right after I played baseball because they started making me the pinch runner. I figured if they made me run and not hit, I might as well go run competitively. Ever since then, I've been running track and getting better and better and competing at higher levels.
Some people say normal track practices are pretty similar to the grueling conditioning workouts that other athletes dread. What do you have to say about this?MAS: It's funny, our team jokes about this a lot. For a track person, if you told us to run the track four times, we'd say, OK, no problem.' In football, you wouldn't run like this unless you were doing something wrong.
Of course you have to be fast to run track, but how much of the game is mental?MAS: As you get further into competing and get higher caliber running, you really have to be ready mentally. There are so many little technical things, especially in sprinting. If you're mentally not there, the gun will shoot off or you'll false start. There are so many things that go into running.
Do you ever talk a little trash before a race to get into your opponent's head?MAS: It depends where you are. If you don't know who you're racing, it's common courtesy not to talk. The only thing you'll probably ever do is say good luck' and shake their hand. In my head, there's no doubt. I look at everyone and say I'm going to beat this guy, who does this guy think he is?' At the same time, people are probably thinking the same about me. Because I'm a guy with dreadlocks, people are probably thinking he's slow, all that hair will slow him down.'
So you haven't heard any good insults in the blocks?MAS: Nope, it's nothing like football where we're always in each other's faces.
When you win a race, does it take any restraint to not turn around and gloat at the guys you just made look slow?MAS: No, because when you win a race, it's not always about who you beat. It's more about you beating yourself, like running your fastest time. If you beat everybody and you don't run as fast as you want to, there's still reason not to be happy. In sprints, no one really jumps around after wins.
How was the home-track advantage at indoor Heps this year?MAS: It was wonderful. There were so many people and the emotions were running high. Everyone prepared really hard and we had a lot of good people come support us. You could feel the emotion running through everyone and it was very easy to run hard and represent Dartmouth.
his year the track team welcomed the addition of a very talented freshman class, especially Connor Reilly '13. How does having someone so close to you in speed help you during the season?MAS: People refer to us as a dynamic duo. He has his couple races that he's good at and I have my couple races that I'm good at. Our races and times are similar so we just push each other and make each other better during practice. It's a wonderful thing when he beats me or when I beat him. I'm happy for him when he wins and he's happy for me when I win. It's really healthy competition between us.
Track is usually considered an individual sport. What is the importance of good team chemistry?MAS: It's partly individual because you're the master of your performance. If you put in hard work, you will see results. There's a team aspect like me and Connor going at it. If I don't have Connor at practice, sometimes I feel like I have to gauge myself differently to make sure I work hard. Then of course you have the relays too. You count on the other guy to show up and work as hard as you do because you want your team to win.
