Deena Kastor Quotations

I think it's important to keep mantras fresh (sometimes the same verse can get stale). That being said, I love this powerful statement: 'Define yourself.' I rehearsed it a million times during the 2005 Chicago Marathon [her first win].

One step at a time, I get to make positive choices to fulfill my dreams.

I felt my throat start to close up, and I didn't think I was getting enough oxygen. I was scared, and I thought about quitting. But you don't want to quit when you've trained so hard and long for one race.

I simply adore the exhaustion that comes with training hard.

The beauty of running is its simplicity; the beauty of runners is that we all have a similar drive to improve. We are either trying to run a personal best, or toeing the line for the first time, which will snowball into a future of trying to run personal bests. We road racers are a tight community of mileage-happy, limit-pushing athletes.

Marathons are extraordinarily difficult, but if you've got the training under your belt, and if you can run smart, the races take care of themselves. When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.

As athletes, we have ups and downs. Unfortunately, you can't pick the days they come on.

I love challenges and hurdles because they are opportunities.

Running in the morning has me appreciate all the choices that come later in the day. The choices I make after running seem healthier, wiser and kinder.

I've always taken the philosophy that you have to dream a little in this sport. If you stay in your comfort zone, you're not going to do anything special.

Run in places you love with people you like. Enjoying your surroundings and training partners will strengthen your commitment to running and bring out the best in you.

Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most, define us.

We all know that if you run, you are pretty much choosing a life of success because of it.

When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.

A goal is just an awesome way to force growth on yourself.

The fact that I won makes it a little sweeter.

My preparations leading up to this weekend have been fantastic. I feel the most confident I have ever been going into a marathon.

London has such a star field. I'm going there to concentrate on the racing and if all goes well, the (fast) time will come.

I will take a couple of weeks to reflect on my next goal - I haven't discussed what's next for me yet.

My coach thought I was feeling so good that I was just going to forgo my water bottle, but I actually didn't see it until the last minute.

There's nothing I can think of that parallels what that feels like,

All of my preparation has been about running in control and doing a negative split.

It's definitely one of my goals to be part of that elite group of sub-2:20 women, ... I am going to run an aggressive race.

It was one of my expectations as my training has been going so well. I did want to run faster but I wasn't feeling it early on. I managed to hold on to go under 2:20 which was my main goal.

It was great to win and great to break 2:20, those were my goals coming here this weekend the last three months of preparation have been with this moment in mind. I'm really happy with the race.

After that, I have been trying to make the best of what was left,

I kept looking over my shoulder after I had broken away from her, ... Just then, I started unraveling and falling apart, and I know that when a marathon starts to go bad, you do gain significant seconds onto your mile pace.

I had the fear of Chicago creeping back as the miles ticked on. My last three miles being horrendously slow.

I chose London because of the great field. I thrive and love running against the best. I assume the other athletes will run more tactically now, but I understand that some of them also want a fast time.