“Sometimes you have these workouts on paper that look pretty intimidating. To be able to get them done and feel strong towards the end of them is always an exciting feeling. Obviously you don’t always nail it, but doing things that maybe you haven’t done before or that you’re not quite sure if you can do is always exciting.”

My guest for today's episode is Fiona O'Keefe: the reigning U.S. Olympic Trials champion and now the fastest American woman ever on the New York City Marathon course. She's also someone who's showing us what it looks like to grow, stumble, and come back stronger.

In 2024, Fiona burst onto the scene in Orlando with a 2:22:12 performance, the fastest debut marathon in American history. But after the high of that performance came the hardest stretch of her career: an injury that forced her to drop out of the Olympic marathon in Paris after just one mile.

It could have been a moment that derailed everything. Instead, it became a lesson that shaped her next chapter. She took her time and returned to the marathon in New York to prove that patience pays off, running 2:22:49 and finishing 4th against one of the deepest fields in race history.

She beat the Olympic champion, hung tough with some of the present legends in the marathon, and reminded everyone why she's built for this distance. We talk about what it means to find herself after the Olympic heartbreak and why she really feels at home in the marathon distance. Fiona O'Keefe announced herself as America's next marathon star in Orlando and reminded people that she's at a high level again in New York.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Fiona O’Keeffe | @fiona_okeeffe on Instagram 

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

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