Deena Kastor certainly cooked up a way to pass the time while she was on the mend. Unable to run after fracturing her foot five kilometres into the Olympic Marathon at Beijing, she turned to her other love."I used that time wisely to get some recipes and measure some things, which I never do. I was out there with my best measuring spoons and getting the proper ingredients to finish a cook book," Kastor said Friday.
She's even signed with a literary agent and hopes to get the book on the shelves soon. First, though, she's got some running to do, starting Sunday with the Chicago Marathon.
The women's field also includes Germany's Irina Mikitenko, who has won three marathons, including London for the second time in April in two hours 22 minutes 11 seconds. In August, she pulled out of the world championship marathon in Germany because she hadn't trained sufficiently after the death of her father.
"Obviously it's a tough topic for me to talk about. It was a tragic loss for me," she said. "He was the most important person in my life. We had a very good relationship and he was always proud of what I was doing. So I want to show him I can run good, just for him."
For the 36-year-old Kastor, a bronze medallist at the Athens Olympics in 2004, seven months off may have extended her career. At least for another two years.
"The fact that my Olympic dream was basically broken is keeping me in the sport until London in 2012," she said. "I'll try to fulfil a brighter medal than a bronze. In that way it has kept me in the sport."
After her foot flared up this June and she had to scale back, Kastor returned for a tuneup race at the New York half-marathon in August. It didn't go well, but the experience made her put even more into her workouts at her Mammoth Lakes, Calif., home.
"I do get the best out of myself when I can stay at home with uninterrupted training and get into the work," she said. "I wasn't sure if my body could handle this anymore. The fact I was able to put together this training over the past few months. ... It has me looking forward to Sunday knowing I can be a top contender again."
It also helps when your physical therapist happens to be her husband. Andrew Kastor, an avid runner himself, really got into shape while his wife was recovering and here's why:
"I think Andrew got the brunt of my non-running tensions and he became very fit," she said. "He added some extra miles when I couldn't go out and enjoyed it and escaped me in my kitchen madness. ...He was wonderful in keeping me bright and optimistic during my injury."
On the men's side, Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru, who is just 22, is one of the favourites in making his first trip to the United States. After winning in Beijing, the Kenyan also captured the London Marathon in 2:05:10 in April.
Wanjiru will be competing in just his fifth marathon. He's won three of the previous four he's entered and finished second in the other.
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