Deena Kastor and Jim Ryun answer your questions about their career right here on LRC

Darunner37 wrote:

HI, Deena! I'm a huge fan of yours. I'm a freshman in high school and am super passionate about this sport. What is the best way I might get in contact with you?

Email works best. Its my first and last name, no spaces or punctuation. gmail.com

I'm so glad you found reasons to keep training. We have the ability to talk ourselves into and out of so many dilemmas. Those who succeed do better with the former. And OF COURSE I have internal arguments and days where I lack motivation. What works every time: DEFINE YOURSELF. Its easy to bag a run for more sleep or a justified recovery day. But when I make it about the character traits I want to be more habitual, then its a non-negotiable to get out the door. Consistency and grit come to mind. I also remind myself that no matter the many reasons keeping me inside, getting out for a run ALWAYS makes me feel better.

Jim. Is it true one of your regular workouts in HS was 20x440 ? Also, The Jim Ryun Story changed everyone’s training in1969. Thanks

SlowHSRunner wrote:

I'd like to thank both Deena and Jim for agreeing to do this! Very good idea.

For both - what is the biggest hurdle you've had to overcome in your running career (if you don't mind sharing), and how did you manage to overcome that hurdle?

Eek. So many. Most of them mental. The biggest was graduating college and choosing between running professionally (for which I didn't think myself good enough) or continue baking and opening a cafe. I knew the choice was a critical fork in the road of my life. It came down to "I can open a cafe at any age. I'll give running a four year cycle and see how good I can be." So, I got to work deciding the next best choices: altitude, coach/ team. Then the next steps: making a living (waitressing in a local cafe), finding a place to live. Then the next choices: I believe in this program, but how can I better drive success? This is what launched me into decades of figuring the mind/body connection and ways to draw out better in myself. The upside to this quest is that it has resulted in performances I can be proud of, but more importantly a very fulfilling life.

Deena, I know the running thing worked out pretty well, but it's not too late to be a baker/cafe owner! :)

Sincere thanks to both GOATs for their participation here!

And what a pleasure it is to work through a thread that's almost entirely civil. Maybe there *is* something to this required-registration business...

Thanks for the thread, it is fun to see the responses from these two great runners.

I was 15 watching the 1972 Olympic Trials 1500 men's final. It was really suspenseful and exciting. Ryun covered the final 400 in 51 point, outkicking Dave Wottle and Rich Wolhuter.

I’m at hospital waiting for my wife to deliver baby #1 and am loving this thread.

Deena’s responses and enthusiasm are great. Some of my favorite stuff on letsrun in a while.

Thank you Deena!

Has running taught you anything about being a good parent? Or is it the other way around and you just take the good person you are and apply that to parenting and running other areas of your life?

Maybe I should just say being a good parent and member of society is more important than being a good runner. You seem very good at both. Got any parenting tips?

wejo wrote:

I’m at hospital waiting for my wife to deliver baby #1 and am loving this thread.

Deena’s responses and enthusiasm are great. Some of my favorite stuff on letsrun in a while.

Thank you Deena!

Has running taught you anything about being a good parent? Or is it the other way around and you just take the good person you are and apply that to parenting and running other areas of your life?

Maybe I should just say being a good parent and member of society is more important than being a good runner. You seem very good at both. Got any parenting tips?

Weldon, How exciting! I've been thinking of you and your wife! Can't wait to hear the good news.

Running has taught me EVERYTHING about being a good parent. Patience, consistency, and joy to name a few. The challenges are also moments to reflect on our ideals and ways we can grow.

I also know now that getting in a run is ESSENTIAL to perspective and for putting "our best foot forward." Being a home-school teacher during this time, I've noticed how critical it is to get out and run before I sit and teach my daughter. A run helps put so much of life into a better perspective, so make sure to squeeze it in even when you're tired or busy. I am currently writing a Mother's Day piece for Women's Running. And I remember a specific detail of my childhood asking my dad why he didn't fly to Boston with my mom to adopt me. He said he was home having a panic attack. All his friends mournfully said, "Your life is going to change." "Your life is never going to be the same." He didn't realize until holding me, that life did change immediately, but in a big and beautiful way. When your life is good, it only makes sense to be excited to share it with a child. Enjoy the many ways your life is about to be lifted.

Big Red wrote:

Thanks for the thread, it is fun to see the responses from these two great runners.

Agreed. Much appreciated!

Especially Deena who keeps responding and responding - great stuff!

Question to both athletes:

Is there any other sport or event of T&F that you were always curious about trying at some point?

Thanks for answering!

For Jim: There is a famous quote on the internet that has been attributed to you. It is "Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." Did you actually say this? If so, do you remember the circumstances around saying it?

Deena, thank you so much for participating in this ongoing conversation. I have really enjoyed reading your responses on such a wide range of topics. I'd like to know if you plan to continue competing as a Masters runner? If so, what will be your training strategy as compared to your earlier years? Also, how has your body held up from all that you've put it through?

A question for Jim. You rose to the top of the sport at the remarkably young age of 19, and for two years you rewrote the record books and were unbeatable. For those who followed your career - as I did as a schoolboy from the other side of the world - it later seemed that you had peaked by the age of 20; I dont recall that you ever quite hit that level again. Why do you think that was? Were injuries part of it or did the sheer intensity of your early training take a later toll?

One other question, if I may. When you utterly destroyed the 1500m world record at the Coloseum Relays in July '67, had you any thought, either before the race or during it, that you might take the record, or was your goal that day simply to beat Keino? (I have to say, I dont think I have ever seen such a devastating final 250m as you poured on that day - it seemed as though Keino was stationary behind you.)

C/M Runner wrote:

Question to both athletes:

Is there any other sport or event of T&F that you were always curious about trying at some point?

Thanks for answering!

Short answer, no. Broader though is having an intrigue to learn from athletes and hobbyists who have mastered an aspect of their craft.

Grassrunner wrote:

Deena, thank you so much for participating in this ongoing conversation. I have really enjoyed reading your responses on such a wide range of topics. I'd like to know if you plan to continue competing as a Masters runner? If so, what will be your training strategy as compared to your earlier years? Also, how has your body held up from all that you've put it through?

Yes, I still plan on running and racing. I've changed a lot in my training since becoming a parent and running beyond 40 years old. First, I don't demand 100+ weeks, but hover between 60-80 in marathon training. Then I give myself a window of about a month to hit 100 miles if I feel my schedule and energy levels will allow it. Because of the mileage being lowered, Andrew (my husband and coach of the Mammoth Track Club) clusters hard efforts. So, maybe I will run a hard tempo run Saturday and go into my Sunday long run a bit fatigued. It is a tactic we learned by looking at the ultra marathon world and how they prepare.

[And next question this might spawn is whether I'll race any ultras. No thanks. I love running long, but don't want to race. My favorite experience was running from home in Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite. Its was 28 miles on the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trail, but I stopped to eat a sandwich I packed, sterilize lake water in my water bottle, took pictures with my phone, and stopped to appreciate the views I climbed to.]

Deena:

I will use results for two age groups in one marathon to ask the question.

In the 2019 New York Marathon. 1,945 people age 30 to 34 took more than 5 Hours to finish.

With their poor performance at such a young age, should those people be running marathons ?

356 people age 25 to 29 took more than 6 Hours.

I am almost 60 and I could walk a marathon in 12 Hours, but that would be absurd.

What did you eat for dinner the night before London '06