Catch Him If You Can

Meet Trevor Kattenberg, a charming, star college athlete. Trevor is from Satellite Beach, Florida but currently lives on campus at the University of Tampa. He is a junior studying physics, and you will almost always find him running… If you can keep up. I was fortunate enough to get Trevor to stop running long enough to sit down with me for this interview.

When did you start running?

I started running in fifth grade in February at my future high school. I started running that summer, the summer between fifth and sixth grade because my older brother had been on the cross-country team, so I just went out and trained that summer. I then showed up every day from sixth grade, I went to the upper campus which is near my house and then I took the bus to the elementary school every day.

Do you think track is solely an individual sport or do you think teamwork does matter?

I think the cohesiveness of the team matters when you’re training because you have your team mates to push you during your workouts or make you get up on days you don’t want to get up or make you do that extra rep for weights. As for running wise, no, when you get on the line it’s completely individual. It’s nice when you’re running as a team for a goal. That’s when it matters more. So, running for a team championship you sort of run for your team mates more, but if you’re running professionally or something, you don’t run for a team.

Do you get mad when you don’t run your best?

Yeah, it’s frustrating when you start and your legs aren’t there, when you just don’t feel loose and you feel like you’re forcing yourself to hit a pace that you know you can run and it should feel easier but it feels hard. That gets you mad, but you just reset and get back to training and hope your legs feel better the next race.

Have you ever wanted to quit track all together?

I mean, senior year I was trying to get into Michigan, but I was thinking if I didn’t get into Michigan, I would just end up going to University of Florida and not run. But it’s more a thought than something that’s come to reality. I’ve never talked to any coach or anything, saying that I’m going to quit, so it’s more of a passing thought than an actual attempt at quitting.

Do you think that you train the hardest that you personally can, or do you think you slack off at times?

I never think I train as hard as I should but it’s just always harder said than done to actually train as hard as you can. I always think I can do better, so I’ll never actually get there.

I don’t think that’s necessarily that you’re not doing as hard as you can, it’s that you have goals to push yourself to keep getting better. And that’s a good thing.

I always think I can do better. Like I always think I can do more core or lunges or more miles.

Do you think you would be a better runner if you ate meat?

No, I don’t.

Do you think vegetarianism gives you an advantage on the track?

It makes me feel good. I mean, some of the guys eat really heavy meals before they run, and I think that’s a really dumb thing to do.

Like in The Office when Michael eats fettuccini alfredo before running the race for rabies.

*Laughs* Yeah, say we fly into South Carolina then we go to the hotel and we have a race the same day, some of the guys will eat a sub 3 hours before they run and I think that’s terrible because meat and bread are not something you digest well. It’s just bad before you run because you don’t get that fuel and it’s all just sitting in your stomach. It feels like a rock.

Interview has been edited for brevity, clarity, and style

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