Track and Field Blogs - Brendan OKeefe

October is my favorite month, no question. Perhaps it always has been, but I just officially came to the realization like 5 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 virgin. 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. John 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 Appstate teams looked strong and my brother PR’d. 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 bear; 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 the 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 4 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 behind that white line awaiting the sound of a gun.