Brendan O'Keefe's Journal

April 7, 2008 Entry (Posted April 9, 2008)

It’s been a while since I last wrote. The indoor season has come and gone. I’ve spent time, in Seattle, Boston, and Florida. Now I’m back in the mountains preparing for the main focus of the year; the outdoor season and the Olympic Trials.

My indoor season was fair, like my fall. Though they may have not lived up to expectations, I’m in a perfect place going into the outdoor season. I’ve had a lot of minor problems. I was unable to put in the string of training needed to race spectacularly. The good thing is that those two seasons didn’t really matter and this entire time I’ve stayed on my feet. I may have missed workouts here and there but I’ve missed very few days running. My base is better then ever before.

I say fair and was quite disappointed in the races this winter, but I still ran 4:02 for a mile and finished 10th at indoor nationals in 3:44. Two years ago these would have been phenomenal performances.

Outdoor, I would say has already started on a better note. My lingering bronchitis is gone and a recent chiropractor adjustment has done wonders for the tightness in my hips and hamstring. With these inline, I headed down to Raleigh last week for my first 5K in seven years.

The race was filled with athletes from very different backgrounds shooting for that semi-elusive 14-minute barrier. There was a pacer through 2K rolling even 67s. I stayed in second or third for two thirds of the race in a pack of 22 that was fairly tight. We reached 2 miles in 8:57. I felt incredible. I was already doing the math in my head as to what I would run if I dropped a 4:15 for the last mile. 200 meters went by and everything changed. A side stitch hit, a move was made and I fell apart. Looking back, experience was a big player. Things had been going so well and when it started to hurt I felt like I had forever to go. Really I just had to gut it out the next 800, latch onto someone’s jersey, then let the final 800 take care of itself. I slid to 69/70 pace for a few laps, then rallied with a 63 for a 43 second PR of 14:05.

Having trained through this race and really treated it like a tempo, I’m pleased. I think it shows my base is where it needs to be for a good 1500.

Yes, the magical season of the 3 and 3/4ths lapper is upon me. I have a 1500 this weekend in South Carolina, then the big push for the Trials A-standard in Oregon and Stanford. These are the races I’ve waited for all year. I can feel the excitement building as the weather warms.

It’s a time when I need to direct all my attention to running, drills, sleep, and eating right. I have a lot of other interests in the art and music world, but its all running right now. That and I need some serious work on my guitar hero skills if I’m ever going to duel Ryan on expert.

January 11, 2008 Entry (Posted January 14, 2008)

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I’m cruising down highway 58 with coach Pete Rea. We’ve got Depeche Mode cranked to the max as we make our way to Blacksburg, VA for a little 3K rust-buster to kick off the indoor season. I arrived in NC just a day ago, and made a quick turn around. After the race we’ll drive on down to Tallahassee—our winter getaway and home base for the indoor season.

I have to say I am ready for warm weather. I’ve been holed away in the depths of down east Maine for the last month. We live a mile down a dirt driveway, a cedar log cabin, currently buried in two feet of snow. I spent much of my break tromping around in snowshoes or x-country skis. The first two weeks never crept above 15 degrees. I ran, gingerly picking at the firmer ground, facial hair and eyelashes beaded with ice. That area of Maine is beautiful. We live right on the ocean and I’ve come to appreciate it more the longer I’ve been away. Windblown spruce cling to granite cliffs and border cobblestone peaches.

I did most of my runs on an 11-mile loop around Schoodic Peninsula, a portion of Acadia National Park. They may have been some of the harshest runs, but also the most beautiful. The contrast in color at sunset is incredible: pinks and yellows reflecting off the crests of waves. Sharp blue mountains, snow, white and blue, hanging heavy on black spruce bows and carpeting jagged boulders. I was also reminded of the difference in our lifestyle growing up. I grew up without TV or hot water. I listened to Sesame Street on the radio and spooned water warmed on the stove over my head for showers. We heated our house with wood and ran the lights with three solar panels on our roof. My parents have acquired a few amenities over the years: we have hot water now and just got a refrigerator. My dad’s on an ice cream craze; he can’t believe they can actually keep it in the house. Its unique and I appreciate growing up this way, but I must say I will enjoy using an indoor bathroom over the next couple months.

My last two races were a blast. First on December 9, we had club nationals and repeated as champions. I was dealing with a pulled calf and had to stop midway through the race to knuckle out a spasm. At two miles I was in 91st, but was able to get rolling for a bit over the next few miles. I finished as our fifth man in 26th. Ryan Warrrenburg ran an incredible race, winning by almost 10 seconds and leading our team to a victory over some solid groups. The Emerald Nuts midnight race was incredible. Ryan, Thomas, John and I worked our way to New York City from all over the country. We found ourselves on the starting line in front of thousands of uniquely clad and high-spirited runners. The air in Central Park was buzzing—packed with music and fireworks. The race went out quick. The field was strong. I spent the whole thing dueling with a college teammate of mine, Jeff Gaudette, nipping him by just a few seconds at the finish. 19:00 for four miles. I had taken a week off after clubs, so I was pleased with the outcome. The New York Road Runners did an incredible job with the race (and I’m not just saying that because this is on their site). I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking to end a string of anticlimactic New Years nights.

October 15, 2007 Entry (Posted October 16, 2007)

October is my favorite month, no question. Perhaps it always has been, but I just officially came to the realization like five minutes ago. In my mind it’s the fulcrum of the year. Kind of like a Sunday afternoon, where you take a long breath, look back at the fond memories of the past week and prepare for the joys and rigors of the week to come. It has weight. School is in full swing, the leaves are turning, pumpkins are ripe, the summer is done and the holidays are preparing their viscous onslaught.

In a runners mind however, it is all cross country. There is nothing like the feeling of standing on a wind-blown, dew slicked, intramural field awaiting the sound of a gun to send you hurtling forward through a mass of sharp elbows and knobby knees toward your own threshold of pain.

Nothing reminds me of aching muscles and laboring lungs like an XC starting line. Of course nothing else brings out such flickering nerves, excitement and roaring animal instinct. It is as pure as sport can be and way to much like an ancient battle line to not evoke some intense feeling.

All these thoughts and I didn’t even race this weekend. Yep, I stood on the sidelines, holding a dog, a cheerleader at the Blue Ridge Open. I was with an XC spectating novice. It was nice to see the light in her eyes as the race got rolling and we picked out the pre-race favorites and friends we both knew. Everyone loves a good race; they just need someone to root for. Our sports’ popularity would grow tenfold if your average sports fan knew just a bit about the major players, but this is a whole different subject and I could go on forever.

The race went very well for ZAP. Jon set the pace early on then Ryan pulled away to run an impressive 23:59 on what is typically a slow course. The Texas and Appalachian State teams looked strong and my brother PRed. It was great having the longhorns at ZAP. They and their coach Jason Vigilante are some of the friendliest fellas we’ve met all year (not bad ping pong players either). It was also good to catch up with one of my teammates from Brown (Owen Washburn) who is now running for them as a grad student.

All in all it was a great weekend. My parents came down from Maine bearing a box of 20 live lobsters. We set up a huge lobster feast, sipped wine and pumpkin beer; then my brother and the violinist from his band put on an acoustic show. The next day we went on a relaxed hike through rolling hills and red leafed maples.

As for my training; it’s been great. I took six weeks off for a metatarsal fracture then started up slowly. Over the last few weeks things have really progressed. It feels like the base I finally acquired last year was simply waiting like a dormant bear. I ran a rust-buster 5K two weeks ago and won by almost four minutes (tiny race). Next week I’m running an 8k shooting for the course record (23:29) and subsequent $500. I’m exited to see where my fitness is and where this season will take me. Being a distance guy, I see the fall as a new beginning. As a friend said recently, there is always that little part of a runner that hopes, as they begin their first workouts, that suddenly 4:10 pace will feel effortless. They will float above the muddy ground dispatching the world’s elite with swift and fluid strides. It may be unlikely, but it’s the possibilities that make this time of year special for me and for most of those trembling souls, standing at that white line on the grass, awaiting the sound of a gun.

Introductory Entry (Posted October 4, 2007)

Well, I guess I’ll let you all in on a bit of background info before I get into the training.  I grew up in a solar powered log cabin in the woods of Downeast, Maine.  My dad is a lobsterman, my mom is a gardener and my brother is also a state champion runner.  I had a great deal of success in high school and went off to college at Brown University with high expectations.  Unfortunately I started out my first season with an injury and I never was able to break the cycle. I had a great coach in John Gregoric, but I was a difficult case.  My legs are considerably bowed which leaves me prone to tibial stress fractures.  I had five fractures in college.  Coming back from these can be just as bad, injuries breed injuries.  I improved and had moderate success on a regional level, but upon graduating I knew I had a lot more to give.

Partway into the summer of 2004, I began to look for a place that would give me an opportunity to continue training seriously.  There were a number of post-collegiate training groups springing up at that time, but ZAP Fitness seemed to fit the bill.  Set in the mountains of North Carolina it was perfect for a nature lover like myself.  The people were great and the facility had a homelike feel.  I interviewed with Pete Rea (ZAP coach) and Zika Palmer (Manager). They offered me a spot as a regional athlete starting in September.
My first year was a rough one.  I came in with a knee injury and it took over 10 months to improve.  When my shins began to hurt again, Pete and I were fed up.  We realized I couldn’t keep butting my head against the wall trying to fit the training mold for a typical runner. 

During the year I had spoken to a number triatheletes who had once been serious runners yet set their 5K bests while training for the tri. Pete and I started discussing the idea of training like a triathlete just with a more specific focus on running.  He came up with a program where I would only run 4-5 days a week and fill in the rest with spinning on a stationary bike or lap swimming.  During my running days I would either have a fairly steady run (6:00 to 6:15 pace) or a workout.  The cross-training days would come on days when others on the team had easy aerobic runs.  I also added some bike sessions to my running days to increase overall volume.  I started this system in March (2006).  Within a few months I had dropped my 1500 best by 6 seconds and met the standard to become a fully funded athlete.  Over this past year I improved tremendously over every distance, experienced the European racing circuit and qualified for indoor and outdoor nationals for the first time. If someone had told me in college that I would improve as much as I have running four days a week I would have laughed.  Runners tend to feel they can only improve by running every day. I’ve found consistency is by far the most important player and if to stay consistent you have to mix it up than that’s the way to go.  I still train under the same theory as everyone at ZAP.  Lydiard based; strength and periodization.  My lungs just get their aerobic work from the bike and the pool, not easy distance runs.

This year is a big year for me.  We’ve added a lot more drills and upped the volume. After tasting what its like to be an elite runner, I no longer feel like I’m running just because I can’t let go.  Our group is more cohesive than ever, training is going well and it’s an Olympic year, it doesn’t get much better than that.