Where dreams and running collide

Deena Kastor's Web site features this nice little Deenaism: "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."

Deena broke her foot in the early miles of the Beijing Olympic marathon and had to drop out of the race. She has since been recovering from that injury. Her site features the news that she has been actively recovering and should start running again in December. At that time, she will have been running-free for about 6 months. 

An Olympian. Elite. Runner. NOT RUNNING. 6 months. Deena has a much healthier attitude than do most of us in the sport -- "Oh, it hurts... I'll just squeeze in a few more miles." "Doc said I could do a little bit of physical activity -- surely that meant a 5k race is okay." 

And yet, this Olympian -- who knows she has to push beyond her comfort zone in order to compete -- knows when to rest. Is it just me, or is there a lesson here? And perhaps one that extends beyond running into "real life." 

Pushing harder -- in running or life -- isn't the only thing outside our comfort. Sometimes resting is even less comforting. And sometimes that rest makes all the difference. 

Broken dreams... or bones.

It shouldn't be too hard to believe that the Olympic event I was most interested in was the Women's Marathon. My main interest? Deena Kastor. I love Deena Kastor. My laptop's wallpaper is a photo of Deena during a tempo run. I find her both incredibly intriguing and motivating. 

The recent documentary "Spirit of the Marathon" included her in it's feature on the Chicago Marathon. She was warm, friendly and funny -- the sort of person you want to be friends with. At the same time, she is this elite distance runner with an insanely demanding training schedule. 

When I first saw the film, (in the beginning stages of training for my first half) I laughed as a massage therapist stretched her out after one of her training runs. "Oh, those silly elites," I thought, "won't even bother stretching on their own..." NOW, I get it. Reaching your toes becomes nearly impossible after long runs -- and I'm sure that goes double with the kind of training folks like Deena face.

ANYWAY, back to the Olympics... I wasn't able to watch. I was busy practically all day Saturday. Sunday morning, I started bugging everyone I saw. 

"Did Deena medal?" 

"Who?"

"Deena Kastor -- she's American."

"Uh, no, I don't think so..."

And then I started hearing sad reports.

"Yeah, one American had to drop out."

"It wasn't Deena Kastor, was it?"

"I don't know... might have been..."

It was. She apparently broke her foot. The report from her coach, Terrence Mahon (according to Runner's World): "Deena suffered a broken bone in the distal head of the 3rd metatarsal in her right foot. It is a clean break all the way through. The doctors did not have to set the bone since the X ray showed that it was lined up where it should be. They have immobilized her foot and she is now on crutches. We will do further tests when she returns home to the U.S."

The Runner's World report of the marathon mentioned that Deena limped away, wiping tears from her face. I wonder how many of those were pain related and how many were from dashed dreams at Beijing. To have trained so hard to end up injured around the 5k mark... 

May you have a quick recovery, Deena. The running community is cheering you on!