Deena Kastor..My New Marathon Hero

Those of you who know me well know that I've been on a fitness-excercise-triathlon-running kick for the last couple of years. I guess it's fair to say that it's no longer a phase that I'm going through; rather, it's a lifestyle that I choose to live. Few things in life give me the same kind of satisfaction as going for an amazing trail run with rolling hills and beautiful greenery (or brownery/ reddery/ yellowery during AZ summers)or a 60 miler ride on The Beast (my bike) exploring the city. Not to mention the thrill of racing and accomplishing things that you thought were previously insurmountable. I love it all.

Regardless of how much I enjoy leading an active lifestyle, training and racing does take its tolls on you. When your glutes-thighs-feet-back-knees-shins are constantly in some degree of pain and you're upping your intensity week after week, day after day trying to get better, faster, moremoremore, rinse and repeat, you sometimes forget why you started doing all of this in the first place.

Well, last thursday, I watched a movie called Spirit of the Marathon which captures the stories of six different runners, all training for the Chicago Marathon. From the 70 year old man who wants to complete his 6th marathon with his daughter, to the Kenyan world class runner Daniel Njenga who wants to provide a better life for his family, each runner has a truly amazing and poignant story to share. I definitely shed a few tears of empathy in the movie theatre...not gonna lie.

Anyway, coming back to the title of the post, one of the runners whose marathon story unfolds in the movie is Deena Kastor, the 2004 olympic bronze medalist who is hoping to win her first marathon ever. As I watched her going through the training, running 140 mi a week (I don't even bike that much a week!), getting injured, facing set backs but steadily over coming them and staying positive no matter what, I guess I found a new motivation. Things don't always go according to plan and things aren't always easy, but to be truly great, and to achieve true excellence, you have to learn to cope with things and find a way around your obstacles with a smile on your face and a "bring it on" attitude.

I went to Deena's website last night to check her out and guess what! Her favorite running shoe is the same as my favorite running shoe: The super lightweight Aasics DS trainer! So I guess that makes us solemates haha. I was pretty stoked to make that discovery and now I'm even more in love with my new DS trainers than I was before.
My Asics DS Trainers :)
Deena Kastor and Paula Radcliffe, the winner of the NY marathon just 9 months after having a baby, are my Marathon Heros and I guess having the same trainers as one of them makes me one step closers to being like them :)