With the New York Half marathon behind me, I am now focusing on the Virgin London Marathon. I have two more weeks until I leave for the UK and another week of tapering in the beautiful city hosting the event. With the confidence of a couple more long runs, tempo runs and interval sessions behind me, I am hoping to perform well there.

Here at home in Mammoth Lakes, California, I am hoping this is the last storm of the winter season that is making the roof sound like it will give at any moment. The wind is coming in fierce and strong with the prediction of multiple days of snow. The only thing that gets me through a windy evening run is my MP3 player. Once I put it on, I block out the 45 mile per hour gusts that veer me off the road, and ignore the fact that my jacket is like a parachute slowing me to a stand-still and keeping me from making it home in time for the gym. It helped that I downloaded a new playlist before heading out today and the truth is, we can all stand for a little more Rock 'n' Roll. It is amazing how refreshing a few new tunes can be. Try some of the songs that moved me today: "Beautiful Things” by Andain or "Liberation" by Matt Darey both have beautiful lyrics and a strong beat. I feel light on my feet and get carried away with the music in "Brazil" by Deadmau5. I have a few non-electronic songs in the shuffle. "Trinity" by Paper Tongues has great lyrics when the singer passionately sings, "Unbelief get out of my head. You can’t win 'cause I'm not dead." This song has the ability to reach in a get a few more hard miles out of my tired legs. Madonna is always on my playlist. In "Beat Goes On" she sings with Kanye West about seizing opportunity. "The time is right now, you’ve got to decide. Stand in the back or be the star." So, download some new music and be refreshed on your next run.

I was sitting in front of the fireplace making a s’more and reflecting on how exciting the World Championships were. It inspired a blog. Watching the last few days of event finals taking place half a world away have brought so much motivation as I ready myself for the New York City Half Marathon.

Our Mammoth Track Club does hurdle work at the gym to loosen up our hips. If only I could make it look as smooth as Lolo Jones did to capture the Gold Medal in Doha. I’m not asking to completely dominate a field of the world’s best hurdlers like she did, just to make it look as graceful.

Then there is Fabrice Lapierre who won Gold in the awesome Long Jump competition. My standing long jump has never impressed Coach Mahon in our weight room tests, but I’ll visualize myself having a similar mid-air float that seemed to carry Fabrice the extra inches to win Gold in Qatar.

These two athletes were sound in mind and body to completely dominate the world in their events. As I get excited for the New York City Half Marathon this weekend, I can’t help but feel sound in mind and body for putting in so many weeks of great training. There is great comfort in knowing you have done the work, and done it well. The intervals. The miles. Conquering hills. Going the distance. Shortening the rest. Extending past previous limitations. When you feel your body gaining strides week after week, it is hard not to feel a certain high.

There is a rich feeling when you make progress toward your goal and a giddy elation from feeling you’ve timed it perfectly, ready when it counts the most. Lolo and Fabrice were on top of their game when the World Championships rolled around. How awesome. I look forward to riding the same momentum through the NYC Half and into April where I am focused on the Virgin London Marathon. The grace and fluidness of Lolo and Fabrice will continue to inspire a few more miles of training.

Only 10 days to go until the Chicago Marathon and I am thrilled with the way my training has gone in the last 2 months.  Today marked my last tempo run and the official beginning of tapering for the race.  Although I still have a couple quality workouts to do, my mileage will reduce considerably.  I have been running about 115 miles a week and will reduce to about 80 the week leading up to the race.  Tapering is when we expect to feel exuberant with energy, but our bodies have something else in mind.  Tapering never feels as good as we want it to.  My week usually consists of restless night’s sleep (from not taxing myself in training), a mild headache (endorphin withdrawals) and a sudden feeling of loosing fitness (a five mile run doesn’t feel as easy as it should).  But our bodies have a self-preserving mechanism when it comes to marathon preparation.  We train for months to condition ourselves and then taper to store energy.  Race day arrives and we have all the tools to accomplish the distance.  When you add the buzz and enthusiasm of 45,000 people on the starting line, I consider this the special ingredient, the added boost that drives us.  Tomorrow is my last day at altitude before heading to sea-level to rest. 

I’ll be lounging in Southern California for a few days before heading east. We call these interim days “Camp Oxnard” since the sea-side town calls for a leisure existence.   I look forward to arriving in Chicago next week.  If you are there, please visit the ASICS booth at the Marathon Expo on Friday, October 9th from 1:30-2:30.  I’ll be there to visit with runners and running fans, sign autographs and enjoy the camaraderie of so many fit people on a 26.2 mile mission.  I look forward to sharing the experience with all of you.

I just came home from the gym which means I am “clocked out” for the day.  Although I still need to make dinner, I can’t help but get my blog out on the computer.  With the marathon quickly approaching, I guess I was feeling a little sentimental as I went for my second run through the meadow Andrew and I got married in and through a grove of changing Aspen trees.  The leaves on the wind sounded like rushing water and their color was magnificent in yellows and oranges.  On the run I reflected on this morning’s tempo run.  It was my fastest 10 mile tempo in about four years which, given my leap of fitness every week, has me excited and confident for the Chicago marathon just two weeks away.  I was excited during this tempo because I dug down for something greater when I needed to.  This run was important and I gave myself a little pep talk half-way through the workout.  I needed to find some form of strength right then or I would not have the tools to persevere during the marathon.  Although I was beginning to fatigue, I knew there was something greater inside of me.  Andrew was shouting encouragement from the van.  My teammates Mike McKeeman and Josh Cox had shorter tempos runs because of their half-marathon races in Philadelphia last week.  That is where my answer came.  Although it was going to be my strongest tempo in some years, Mike and Josh jumped out of the team van and ran my last mile with me.  They pushed me.  Hard.  I have never been able to close a run with my fastest mile but my teammates brought the best out of me.  They were the strength I was searching for.  I have always been grateful for my teammates, but this morning moved me.  Literally and figuratively.  This morning will be imbedded in my mind when the going gets tough in Chicago.  At the 20-mile mark, I expect to pull out the image of Mike and Josh and let them help me the last 6.2 miles of the race.  There is strength in numbers and there is nothing like a team when you are trying to accomplish a difficult task. 

 Another great week of workouts under my belt and another week closer to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.  With the announcement of more elite runners joining the starting line, I get more excited for the race.  I love the thrill of competition so much that I tried to break away from Andrew, who was  riding the bike, during a 12 mile tempo run this week…what was I thinking?  In my pursuit, I ran my fastest 12 mile tempo run, so I guess it worked out even though I couldn’t shake him going up the last hill.  As I think of the marathon coming up and the 45,000 people I’ll be sharing the starting line with, I can’t help but think that the October 11 race day may be a little extra special for all of us.  Why? Because the 2016 Olympic bid will be announced 9 days prior.  On October 2, the International Olympic Committee will announce which city will host the 2016 Games.  If Chicago wins the bid, there will be extra electricity in the air.  Besides fully supporting Chicago’s bid, I think the timing of the announcement will elevate this year’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon.  Chicago and its people are great hosts to the world I learned when reading Devil in the White City.  The city pulled together for a great World’s Fair, and being a sport fanatical town seems a perfect host for the 2016 Games.  I have always loved running and racing in Chicago because of the sport-friendly fans that line the lake front.  Whenever I run there, I always receive encouragement from runners and cyclists getting in their morning workouts.  Now, we wait to hear if this great city will be hosting the world in the Olympic Games.  There will be quite a celebration on Marathon weekend if that is the case.  I’ll toast to that!

Deena Kastor's September 2009 Playlist that helps motivate and inspire her training prior to the Chicago Marathon.

Where's mama bear?

Only one month to go and I am excited about how my training is progressing. This week I "nailed" three key workouts in a 22 mile long run, 6 X mile repeat, and an 8 mile tempo run. Each of these workouts was superior to anything I've done this season. More than ever, I appreciate the flow of a good streak when it comes. They say things come in threes, but I'm hoping that my groove continues. My main focus on this marathon buildup has been on rest and recovery. I am eating well, sleeping hard and icing in the creek to aid in recovery. All of it seems to be paying off as my mileage continues to climb and my workouts get better. I am currently reading Born to Run (thanks to Santa Monica High School Cross Country team) and it is feeding me with the simple joys of running. I normally don't read about running since most of my day is consumed in it anyway, but this book has been a witty and motivating force of words. The book is filled with great quotes and I've been dog-earing the pages when a great saying comes up. On our chalkboard right now is a saying from the Tarahumara runners: When you run on the earth and run with the earth, you can run forever. As I buzzed through the trees and over trails yesterday, I repeated this during the course of my 90 minute run and it made the run go by so quickly. The saying is perfect when you're an endurance runner and your office is an immense forest.

Yesterday our team had an easy run up at the lakes basin. As we were leaving we saw two baby cubs. It just so happens that ASICS was in town visiting and photographer John Barnhart captured a great photo of the cubs playing. While he was inching closer to get his photo, I was on the lookout for bear number 3, Mama bear. She wasn't anywhere in sight. We enjoyed watching the cubs wrestle with each other before scampering off into the trees. I am ready to scamper off to bed, read a chapter of Born to Run and rest up for tomorrow's training session.

Deena's husband, Andrew Kastor passing water off during her long run yesterday.

Deena taking an ice bath in the river...looks like her husband could only get his toes in