Standing on the beginning line on the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon as a member of Workforce USA is the second main accomplishment. The primary one comes roughly six months earlier than, when you must race to earn your spot.
On a scorching and humid morning in Orlando, Fiona O’Keeffe gained the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2:22:10. To name it a shocking debut marathon could be an enormous understatement. O’Keefe commanded the lead in a discipline of deeply-talented runners with a calm-yet-complete confidence, and gained by over 30 seconds.
O’Keeffe, 25, is in no way new to working. (She was a six-time All-American at Stanford College.) However she is new to the extreme highlight that Olympic success usually brings. Fortunately, the Workforce USA star excels at defending her peace.
“I’ve been with the PUMA Elite Working Workforce for the final month or so of my coaching buildup in Mammoth Lakes, California, which is one in all my favourite locations on the earth,” O’Keeffe says. “It’s so calming and delightful to simply spend time exterior right here—there are lovely alpine lakes and forests crammed with pines and aspens throughout us. I additionally discover it useful to have a pleasant group of teammates up right here, so I’m not continuously considering of solely my very own preparations.”
The soft-spoken, under-the-radar racer caught up with us forward of her Olympic debut to share a couple of wholesome habits that not solely maintain her stress in examine, however maintain her mentally and bodily on high of her sport.
1. She is aware of how you can bounce again
Restoration is a large a part of her precise job, particularly throughout a marathon coaching block. So this isn’t a spot that O’Keeffe skimps on. The truth is, she’s usually contemplating how you can maximize her restoration even whereas working.
“Coaching within the PUMA ForeverRun NITRO and Enlarge NITRO 2 footwear provides my legs just a little further love once they’re feeling drained,” she says. “I additionally get common sports activities massages—not all the time a calming expertise!—and use a foam curler and lacrosse ball to focus on tight spots most days.”
However the piece that makes the largest influence on how she ensures she’s being constructed up reasonably than crushed down by robust coaching? Prioritizing bedtime.
“Sleep is big for me,” O’Keeffe says. “I all the time have a pair of earplugs and a bodily ebook on my nightstand—I have to learn a bodily ebook at night time to go to sleep.”
2. She finds time to unwind
When she’s not working, there’s a superb probability you’ll discover O’Keeffe with a ebook–normally a bodily copy–in hand.
“My style in books is a bit in all places,” says the voracious reader. “I rotate between classics, enjoyable gentle reads, non-fiction, and memoirs. I not too long ago learn Emily Henry’s Seashore Learn in addition to Lindsey Vonn’s memoir, which was fairly inspirational. Presently, I’m working my means by Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls and a Paulo Coelho novel.”
She places her personal pen to paper, too.
“I do a superb quantity of journaling,” provides O’Keeffe. “I’d describe it as fairly unstructured. Writing has all the time been a pleasant outlet.”
“Sleep is big for me. I all the time have a pair of earplugs and a bodily ebook on my nightstand—I have to learn a bodily ebook at night time to go to sleep.” —Fiona O’Keeffe
3. She outlets sensible
O’Keeffe could be very obsessed with environmental points, and tries to stay extra sustainably and devour extra consciously.
“I positively use a reusable water bottle each day and all the time have it readily available to do my greatest to remain hydrated,” she says. “Nonetheless, I feel the largest means we will stay extra sustainably is to cut back our general consumption reasonably than specializing in particular merchandise. If there’s a selected fashionable merchandise on social media, I attempt to discern whether or not it might actually be one thing that holds up and that I’d use for a very long time. If not, I attempt to go on it.”
4. She retains it easy
O’Keeffe is a superb reminder that not sweating the small stuff is an energetic alternative. Her favourite non-running accent in the meanwhile? A pair of sun shades she picked up from the grocery retailer. “They only occurred to suit completely,” she stated. “You’d by no means guess!”
From how she retains her beautiful locks wholesome (“My hair care routine could be very easy—the largest factor is just not washing it too continuously and utilizing a superb conditioner on it,” she says) to her pre-race packing checklist (“I pack in a small black PUMA curler bag—so long as I’ve my uniform, trainers, and a ebook I’m good to go!”), O’Keeffe doesn’t waste vitality worrying about all of the little issues. And consequently, she has extra vitality to care in regards to the huge issues, like bringing her greatest 26.2 to the streets of Paris.
You may catch Fiona O’Keeffe competing within the girls’s marathon on August 11. NBCUniversal is the official U.S. broadcaster for the Paris 2024 Summer time Olympics, however you it’s also possible to watch O’Keeffe on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, USA Community, CNBC, and E!
