Westly Keating Runs

2010-02-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

A few very positive things have happend in the last months.

First in:
San Antonio R&R Half Marathon
SPI Longest Causeway Run (10k)
Austin 3M Half Marathon

Some might say that he is lucky, but I'm not sure thats true.
Perhaps waking up daily at 4:30am to train is what truly makes the difference.

Check out the photos and video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-R3v9BJer8

2009-12-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

Westly Keating is back on the road. Stomping, grinding, and tearing it up. If every thing stays good, we are looking at one of his best years running. 2010 will hopefully be his best.
The R&R San Antonio half marathon win was a pretty good indicator of future performances.

Best times by american runners 08

2008-04-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

These are the fastest times of american 10k runners.
There may still be some shuffling and new additions as another big week at the University of Stanford approaches Westly currently sits in the 19th spot.

Truck on Little Champion

Stanford...Accomplished!

2008-04-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

A late evening race with a very competitive field proved to be good and bad for Westly.

Good: The objective of an Olympic standard was achieved

Bad: The time was not as good as expected.

A 9th place with a PR of 28:23.09 was just enough to place Westly at the 19th spot of 24 who will qualify for the Olympic trials.

Could Westly have done better? Of course! If the problem leg would have cooperated a litle.

Still, a successful experience.

Truck on Little Champion!

Off to Stanford

2008-04-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today, at 10:40am Westly took the first of two planes en route to Stanford.

He landed at approximately 10:45pm in San Jose, Ca. and checked in his hotel room one hour later.

He called me and told me that the weather was very cold and dry.

Cold and dry is what we need! Westly is always a better racer in cold conditions.

In less then 48 hours from the time I am posting, we will know if he has the Olympic Standard or the A-Standard!

I will post more regularly as the time nears.

In the mean time...

Truck on Little Champion!

Stanford Invitational - Heat I

2008-03-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

The following is the group of athletes that will run in Westly's heat a the Stanford Invitational.
It's a strong field and it will most definitely help push the pace.

I have hilighted the stronger athletes and have added every runners known PRs.

Name	School – Team - Unattached	PR. Race
Keating, Westly	Unattached UT- Pan American (former)	10000 28:24.08

Araia, Neftalem	Sr. Stanford	10000 28:27.43
Braden, Forest	Brooks Team	10000 29:17.32
Briney, Trent	McMillan Elite	10000 29:14
Cheboiywo, Boaz	N.O. Project	10000 28:32.10
Dobson, Ian	Nike	10000 28:17.49
Driscoll, Joseph	McMillan Elite	?
Gotcher, Brett	McMillan Elite	10000 28:59.27
Hanlon, Mike	McMillan Elite	5000 13:55
Kanyaruhuru, Daniel	Jr. Queens	5000 14:12.85
Kilburg, Michael	Sr. Portland	10000 29:36.44
Klotz, Kenny	So. Oregon	10000 29:50.26
Koborsi, Rod	Unattached	10000 28:32.49
Korir, Jacob	Sr. Eastern Kentucky	5000 13:48.13
Kosgei, Peter	Sr. Arkansas	10000 28:08.97
MacPherson, Scott	Jr. Arkansas	10000 29:16.74
Diego Mercado	Fr. Oregon	10000 31:36.35
Mix, Hari	Jr. Stanford	10000 28:58.90
Morgan, Thomas	Zap Fitness	5000 13:40.55
Olinger, Chris	Team XO	8000 24:51
Powers, Jeff	Brooks Team	5000 14:03.92
Quigley, Sean	SR. La Salle	10000 28:53.84
Rodriguez, Celedonio	Unattached	10000 28:43
Sheeks, Matt	Unattached	10000 29:39.51
Simpson, Josh	NYAC	?
Songok, Shadrack	SR. TAMUCC	10000 28:16.47
Sundell, Steve	NYAC	5000 14:14
Withrow, Matt	Jr. U of Wisconsin	10000 29:50.7

Texas Invitational (3k - 8:03)

2008-03-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Hard work payed off once again for Westly this weekend at the Texas Invitational.

Westly chose to run a 3k race at a fast pace hoping that the popularity of the UT meet would allow for some good competition, a fun race, and a good workout.

The field had an interesting makeup. A few unattached runners, including Chris Layman - the fastest runner in San Antonio-, 3 Kenyans from Lamar University, a few UTexas, San Angelo, Texas State and UTPA runners.

Soon after the gun had been fired, and only after the first 200 meters, the race had been decided. Westly opened a 20 meter gap between him and the 3 Lamar University Kenyans. This gap would stretch and stretch to about 200 meters.

Westly finished in a time of 8:03. Only 5 seconds off his PR. Second place was clocked at 8:31.

The race included the "lapping" of more then half a dozen runners.

As Westly crossed the finish line, the announcers informed the crowd that "We will surly see more of this incredible runner during this Olympic year". I hope he is right.

While a nagging muscle on the inside quad has been a constant for the past few weeks, most everything else is in good order.

Stanford is right around the corner. A few more strength workouts should allow Westly to be sharper then ever.

Truck on Little Champion!

City of Pharr St. Patrick's Run (5k - 13:59)

2008-03-15T10:50:00.001-07:00

Westly posted another good time (13:59) in a 5k road race hosted by the city of Pharr. After a week off speed work, due to a tender quad, he was able to step on the accelerator to cruise for 5k of lonely running.

While a few of the usual faces showed up, they never appeared to be interested in contesting the first place. Right off the gun Westly was 30 paces ahead of the pack and before the first mile marker he had opened a gap of about 100 yards.

The rest of the race was easy and uneventful. Finishing a full 2:30 minutes ahead of second place.

Cutting the tape without company has become quite common for Westly. And while running alongside other contenders helps push the pace, sometimes it feels good to smash the competition.

Truck on Little Champion!

What it takes

2008-03-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

It takes a lot more then simply training to qualify for the Olympic Trials. When talking to people about Westly's progress, they often seem to be clueless to what it takes to make it at the highest level. It's obvious that they have no idea how hard it is to be successful and many times they underestimate the incredible effort one must make (many times alone) to be considered an Olympic athlete.

In this post I will attempt to shed light on some of the "behind the scenes" in the life of a training athlete.

No time for a girlfriend. If one is available she better be very patient, supportive and understanding (this also goes for a wife).
Very little time and/or energy to work. This means living on a very small budget and if any work is done, it is simply to share the water bill with a roommate and if possible cover the cheapest cell phone plan.
Regular visits to the chiropractor and massage therapist. This appears to be fun but it is not! Particularly when your visit includes separating muscles that have gotten stuck.
9:30 bed time and 5:30 wake up. I don't need to add anything to this point.
Constantly at the verge of an emotional or physical breakdown. Most times the emotional follows the physical.
Many hours spent on the road traveling to find a quality race that will contribute in fine tuning the body.
Looking for sponsors/financial help. Few long distance runners with Olympic hopes have sponsors and those that don't struggle to make ends meet.

There are certainly many other details that one could add to this list.

Now consider this point:

Even if an athlete is fine tuned during training and his body appears to be ready for competition, a fraction of a second, a popping and clicking of a knee or one slow day could mean that he is simply a mere runner and not an Olympic athlete.

Westly has delt with many of these points in one way or another. Training has certainly taken its toll on his body, mind, and spirit yet he continues working, getting better, faster, stronger.

Truck on little champion!

Easy Win at UTSA - (5k 14:02)

2008-03-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

On Friday, February 29, Westly and I headed up to San Antonio to run the UTSA Diplomadash 5k race.

The incentive was an interesting $350.00 prize money, $100.00 bonus for breaking the course record, a free AA ticket to any part of the North American Continent, and free shoes from Roger Solers Sports. And of course the obvious...an opportunity to compete with a fairly high level field.

We drove up on Friday, rested overnight at Roger's place (A beautiful house in the hilly San Antonio Ranch subdivision...thanks Roger!).

On Saturday (race day), Westly was cool, calm, and relaxed. Confident that his training and injury free season would pay off this year.

A three easy miles served as a warmup and a chance to survey the first stretch of the course. This was followed by a stretch session and then a brisk walk up the shoot to find a spot on the front line.

At the starting line he saw Marcos Muñoz, (ex TAMUCC), Joe Thorne and Owen Washburn (respected ex-UT), 2006 winner Kibet Cherop (who out kicked Westly at the Causeway Run at SPI), and Chris Layman (ex Chico State) and a few other fairly high level runners.

Well, the race went as expected. A strong start, a couple of surges in the first mile and an easy cruise towards the finish line.

A few hundred bucks in the bank later, new shoes, and the chance to see old faces and let them know that Westly Keating, my runner friends, is back!

Oh, and that AA ticket. Well I think Westly deserves a week of altitude training in Toluca right about next week.

Truck on Little Champion!

Training highlights

2008-02-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Previous to my first post, more than a few significant "Westly Keating Runs" events had taken place. The following are the most salient:

2nd place at the SPI Causeway Run (10k 30:36)

lead the entire way and got outkicked at the end by a Kenian

6th place at the City of Edinburg 10K (29:27)

Lead up to the end. Got outkicked in the las 100 yards by a group of Kenians

Pace 1000m workout

Averaged 2:45. One minute rest

Mile repeats w/full recovery.

4:21, 4:27, 4:23, 4:25, 4:21. Not so good. A windy day and little rest!

University Houston Bayou City Classic

1 mile race. First. 4:13 Nobody to push the pace.

As a detail, and important to notice, is that Westly did not participate in these events with the intention to win (no question that winning would have been great), but more importantly the objective was to workout at a higher intensity and to measure progress.

Today Westly had a great workout. Tempo run. 5k at 14:20 and 4 miles at 18:19...projected 10k...28:40

There is no question that Westly is still a bit off the mark, yet, he is ahead in terms of training and well on his way to the Olympic A Standard.

Look out for the Stanford Invitational. April 3-4. That's when it happens.

Truck on little champion!

The Little Champion

2008-02-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

I've had an appreciation for the sport of running for as long as I can remember. As evidence of my love for it, I have piles of runners world six feet high many times sitting in my garage. I have stored so many shoes it's become hard to remember which are my favorite pair. And I've got journals documents, and detailed descriptions of my fives, tens and twentysixes. I've also got that which is less tangeble and, to me, more meaningful: I've got the pounding of streets, golf courses, tracks, and yes... treadmills. I've got hours of training doing latters, fartlek, lsd's, repeaters and tempos.

Yet, and despite it all, I have only been a mere participant in running events. Never a competitor. I could blame a knee surgery on this, a bad set of genes, perhaps I haven't been as committed as other runners, or even maybe, I'm naturally lazy. Well, whatever it is, it hasn't taken away from my passion, appreciateion, or my love for the sport of running.

I know this intro doesn't make me at all special (as a matter of fact it shouldn't) What is special and brings me to the blogs and forces me to share with others, is that Westly Keating, 5 time NCAA I All American, has asked me to help him in preparation for the Olympic trials. And I couldn't be happier. Suddenly I understand what it is to be a father living a dream through his child.

So this blog is not, I repeat IS NOT, about me. This blog is about Westly Keating and his preparation for the Olympic 10K. His pain, his joys and frustrations. His 90 mile weeks, 17 mile easy runs, 6 mile fartleks, 4:13 mile repeaters, and his 58 second spilts. There is a good chance that nobody else will be tracking Westly's progress. If they only knew!

I invite you to join me in following Westly as he prepares to compete at the highest level. Perhaps you can enjoy the experience, as I have, of running with Westly.

Truck on Little Champion