Top 15 Quotes & Sayings by Deena Kastor

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.

As athletes, we have ups and downs. Unfortunately, you can't pick the days they come on.

Run in places you love with people you like. Enjoying your surroundings and training partners will strengthen your commitment to running and bring out the best in you.

I love challenges and hurdles because they are opportunities.

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.

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].

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.

I simply adore the exhaustion that comes with training hard.

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.

Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most, define us.

We all know that if you run, you are pretty much choosing a life of success because of it.

When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.

One step at a time, I get to make positive choices to fulfill my dreams.

Running in the morning has me appreciate all the choices that come later in the day. The choices I make after running seem healthier, wiser and kinder.

A goal is just an awesome way to force growth on yourself.