Interview with Kate O'Neill

By Sabrina Tillman

In her marathon debut at the 2007 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, Kate O’Neill, 27, triumphed over the heat to finish third in 2:36:15. The time met the “A” standard for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon, which will be run this Sunday, April 20, in Boston. In January, O’Neill won the 2008 USA Half-Marathon Championships at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon; she secured her first national title and learned how to wear her hard-won cowgirl hat properly (after sporting it backwards at the awards ceremony). A seven-time NCAA All-American at Yale University, O’Neill held school records in the 3000, 5000, and 10,000 meters. She was named the 2003 NCAA Woman of the Year in Connecticut. After graduating in 2003, she was the top U.S. finisher at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships (she finished 15th).

O’Neill trains with Team Running USA in Mammoth Lakes, CA. The Trials race this weekend will be her second shot at Olympic glory: She finished 21st in the 10,000 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics and was the first Yale graduate since Frank Shorter to compete at this distance in the Games. O’Neill’s teammate Deena Kastor, who is the American marathon record-holder and the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon, claims that O’Neill will be one of her toughest competitors at the Trials. New York Road Runners caught up with O’Neill to find out how her Trials preparation is coming along.

New York Road Runners: Let’s start off by talking about the 2007 Chicago Marathon. You accomplished three huge milestones on the hottest day in that marathon’s history: you completed your first marathon, you qualified to run the Olympic Marathon Trials, and you placed third. Can you recall what you were feeling mentally and physically that day?

Kate O’Neill: Things turned out a little different than I thought they would. I was expecting to run faster than I did, but I ended up placing higher than I thought I would. It was a mixed bag in that way, but I couldn’t have asked for a better debut.
The heat definitely played a role. I think I was in shape to run a little under 2:30 if it weren’t so hot. Our coach [Terrence Mahon] trained us to grab bottles and drink while running during our training runs. We have water bottles every 5K in practice, and I’m really glad that he taught us to do that. I made a point of finishing every last drop [in Chicago], so that helped me in the end.

NYRR: Was there anything you did in your training to prepare you for finishing the marathon? In learning from your experience, will you apply a different mental strategy at the Trials to get you through hard times?

KO: The biggest thing I did to prepare was a frequent workout we do: A really long warm-up, about 10 miles at a slow pace, and then an 8-mile tempo run. We train our bodies to run hard after we have mileage on our legs. Unfortunately at the end in Chicago, I slowed down, but the effort and training were there.
For the Trials, I’ve been doing a lot of the same thing to prepare; it’s been the same philosophy. I’ve just been doing more mileage and more consistent workouts.

NYRR: You described the post-marathon experience vividly in your distance journal —the “feelings of contradictions”—being hot then having chills, being dehydrated but not wanting to drink water, and so on. What do you think about your first marathon, in retrospect? What are you thinking about, going into the Trials? Do you have a new set of expectations?

KO: Part of me thinks I run well in the heat, and hopefully if I make it to Beijing, I will be able to run well in the heat there too.

The marathon is not like any other event—anything can happen. You never know what’s going to happen on that day, so it makes it kind of exciting. You have to cover your bases going into it, and those bases are: extra mileage, more sleep, naps in the middle of the day, refueling after a run, consistent workouts, and patience because marathon workouts are a lot longer than track workouts. I’m really glad that I’ve done a marathon before, and, for the most part, it was an awesome experience. I haven’t been scared away from the distance. For the Trials, my top goal going in is finishing in the top three.

NYRR: Did it take a long time to recover from Chicago?

KO: It took a while, about two months, until I felt completely back to normal. I took two weeks completely off from running, and then started back every other day.

I think [the recovery] was mostly physical. For the first few weeks back, things just weren’t clicking. I felt kind of sluggish in workouts. I think I needed to allow myself time to recover and getting used to training again. It was right around the Christmas holidays that I started to feel back to normal and I started to get really excited to start training and get ready for the Trials. .

NYRR: You have remarked that you tend not to be a patient person—that you tend to get anxious at the start of races or workouts and can tend to go out too fast. Do you still feel this way, and how do you practice holding back?

KO: That’s something where the workouts with the long warm-up and tempo run have helped me. I try to preserve and keep something for the end. It goes against my nature a bit to relax and not go out too hard in the start of a race.

Even though I slowed down in the second half [in Chicago], I think it was good to have run it that fast. It was good to see the women ahead of me and still feel I was in the race.

NYRR: The Trials could be considered a homecoming of sorts for you—the course is close to your parents’ home in Milton, Massachusetts. Have you run along the course, and do you think this may give you an advantage?

KO: I’ve run on the course twice. I had a tour of it with two BAA reps and I went back over Christmas and ran on it with my boyfriend, and I think that will help. I always like to take the course tour the day before; it just helps me visualize things a little better.
I really like the course and I like that it’s really spectator friendly. Having watched the men’s Trials, which was also run on a loop course, you could see the runners more than once, and you felt more like you were a part of the race.

NYRR: I’m sure you’ll have a large cheering section at the Trials. What has been your family’s reaction to your success?

KO: I think they’re especially excited that [the Trials is] going to be at home and they’re all a little nervous too.

NYRR: You and your twin sister, Laura, both attended Yale. Does she (also an All-American) still compete?

KO: She doesn’t compete anymore, but she still runs. It’s good to have someone to talk to about running. She knows what it feels like to have a bad race, how to cope, and how to prepare for a race. Even though she’s not running competitively anymore, it’s nice that we can still share this bond.

NYRR: Let’s talk about your first big race of the year—the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon, where you won your first national championship. Tell us about this experience. What did you learn from it that you can apply to the marathon?

KO: It was a great way to start the year—I got off on a good foot, especially after struggling a little bit after Chicago. I raced against a lot of the same women who will be at the Trials. Any race experience helps, no matter what event you’re doing. The marathon is really different than any other race. The half-marathon doesn’t prepare you for hitting the wall. It’s a good experience, but it requires a different mindset and training.

NYRR: Who will be your biggest competition at the Trials?

KO: Deena Kastor is obviously a heavy favorite, Elva Dryer, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet—I know all of them are gunning for spots on the team.

NYRR: Have you done any tune-up races for the Trials?

KO: I did a half-marathon in Portugal [the Lisbon Half-Marathon] a month ago, and I was really excited to run a PR [15th in 1:13:48]. I didn’t recover very well or feel great going into the race because of jet lag. I wasn’t sure if I was going to race or not, but my training was going well and I thought I’d go for it to test my fitness. But, it didn’t turn out so well. I think if I’m going to travel that far for a race in the future, I’ll do it a little different next time. Coming from the West Coast was different than the East Coast. It’s hard to travel from Mammoth because the nearest airport is three hours away and we don’t have a lot of direct flights from that airport. I missed a couple nights sleep, and it affected me. I do like traveling, but I’m more of a routine person. I think I need to plan to get to a place a few days earlier so that I can get into a routine.

NYRR: How does this Olympic year compare with 2004?

KO: Two-thousand four was full of surprises for me—I wasn’t expecting for things to click in the way they did. I was able to get the international standard in the10K. That year had different types of pressure and required a different type of training than this year. I struggled coming back a little after the Olympics—I was a little hurt and it took a while to get back to the  high level I was training and competing at before the Olympics. Since then, I think I’ve become more relaxed.

NYRR: Have you and Terrence talked about you trying to qualify for the 10,000 meters again, or are you focused solely on the marathon for now?

KO: I’m focused on the marathon now. If I don’t make the team, I will try to qualify on the track, but we’ll see how the race goes.

NYRR: Have you made any other racing plans for this year?

KO: I’d love to come back to New York to run the [NYRR New York] Mini again—I really love that race. But, we’ll have to see what happens with at the Trials. I haven’t thought much at all beyond April.

Interview conducted April 4, 2008, and posted April 15, 2008.