As an everyday gym rat who's constantly striving to become a little bit faster, a little bit fitter and a little bit stronger, I'm totally in awe of professional athletes. They have unfathomably ridiculous raw talent, unwavering dedication to their sport, and, sheer guts: Every ounce of their being fuels their courageous ability to race hard, fast and past the brink of pain. Which is why my heart broke for one of the female athletes I most admire, Deena Kastor, when she suffered a broken foot during the marathon at the Beijing games. Injuries are devastating for any active person, but for an athlete who's entire career revolves around a sport, I can't imagine how insufferable it must be--mentally, physically and emotionally.When I met Deena (so cool!!) at an ASICS-press event a couple days before the NYC Marathon, she'd just been cleared to start running again. Riding her bike next to editors doing their pre-marathon tune-up run, she was smiling and chatting and brimming with good spirits. But it must have been terribly hard to endure cycling part of the marathon course that she wouldn't be able to run--a race that she may very well have won had she been healthy and able to train. Still, she had an awesome attitude about her injury, and it was really moving to hear her speak so passionately about how excited she was to get back to running.
And now she really is back. In Chicago! She'll run the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday with 32,500 other runners (including Kate, go Kate!). I'll be rooting for Deena to win it all. I hope she crosses the finish line glowing with the joy of running the race of her dreams. To check out an interview I did with Deena on her comeback journey, click on over to TOC. That's Deena and me at Tavern on the Green before NYC! Posted by Liz
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