35 Quotes by Deena Kastor

I'm alone, but I'm not lonely. I like who I am. I like who I'm becoming.

You don't run with your feet- you run with your heart.

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.