Women's Health - UK (2019-07)

Photography | HOLLY ANDRES JULY 2019 | 69

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Deena

Kastor

WH talks grit, wanderlust and the joyful challenge

of raising a daughter with Olympian and America’s

fastest female marathon runner

PROTECT

I’ve battled skin

cancer multiple times,

so I take skincare

very seriously. I use

an organic SPF50

sunscreen that’s

formulated for athletes

by a brand called

Coola – and a finer

spray on my body

that I can still sweat

through. I also swear

by natural brand

Andalou’s argan oil

to nourish my

dryness-prone skin.

SCROLL

On Instagram, I’d

rather lose myself in

beautiful pictures

posted on travel

accounts than keep

tabs on fitness people,

because although

I do get to travel, I’m

always on a track. My

daughter and I love

laughing at animal

videos, too. Recent

highlights include

baby pandas wrestling

and curious llamas –

you know, serious stuff.

WIND DOWN

Cooking is a bit of a

ritual for me. I’ll have

a glass of wine and,

while I’m chopping,

I’ll take a deep breath

and think about a

positive intention that

I want my family to

feel while they’re

eating. Whether the

day has been fabulous

or there were lots of

things we wish had

gone differently,

I like to have

this pause before

family time.

NURTURE

I want my eight-year-

old daughter Piper

to grow up proud of

her intelligence and

kindness. I don’t really

talk about body image,

but I’ve started to

notice that moments

of self-criticism have

begun to creep in

for her. Since reading

in [US positive

psychology author]

Shawn Achor’s

book The Happiness

Advantage that it

takes three positive

contradictions to

balance out a negative

thought, I’ll now ask

her to say three things

she’s proud of.

RESET

Running is much more

than simply a sport

to me. It’s a tool that

has enabled me to

cope better and move

forward when life gets

challenging. Every run

gives me what I need

in that moment; it’s

meditative when my

head needs clearing,

but then on the days

when I need time

to work through a

problem, it gives me

space to do so. The

effect of movement on

my mental functioning

lets me think more

clearly, too.

Deena Kastor is an

Asics ambassador

ADAPT

Conditions won’t

always be perfect. The

run-up to the 2019

Tokyo marathon was

rocky. The heavy snow

made training difficult.

When I reached the

finish line, having not

reached my goal time,

I gave myself time to

feel upset, but then

I got past it. I want to

show Piper that the joy

is in the journey.

CHALLENGE

I live in the mountains

in California’s Sierra

Nevada, 8,000ft up.

But my husband and

coach Andrew and

I will climb 9,000ft

up for the extra

altitude challenge to

do two-mile repeats

[where you run hard

for two miles, recover

and repeat]. It hurts

so badly that I know

I must be progressing

• and that’s my
  favourite feeling.
  I need a shoe that’s
  going to work as
  hard as I do, and I’ve
  found that with the
  Asics DS or Cumulus.

FUEL

I’ll always make sure

I’ve got a good balance

of protein with plenty

of vegetables and the

carbohydrates my

training regime

requires. Breakfast

is toast topped with

smashed avocado, a

fried egg and smoked

salmon; lunch, a

vegetable soup with

meat or beans for

protein; and dinner is

typically a sustainably

sourced piece of meat

or fish with vegetables.

Celebrations, however,

call for multiple

courses at an Italian

restaurant, washed

down with a crisp

glass of white wine.

STATS

Age: 46

Occupation: Long-

distance runner

Workout MO:

Running (obvs)

Wind-down secret:

Mindful cooking

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