I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards.
If you want to achieve a high goal, you’re going to have to take some chances.
I’d rather run a gutsy race, pushing all the way and lose, than run a conservative race only for a win.
Early in my career I was accused of being overconfident and even cocky, but I really was confident that I had done the training and didn’t see any other reason to say otherwise.
An athlete who tells you the training is always easy and always fun simply hasn’t been there. Goals can be elusive which makes the difficult journey all the more rewarding.
I’ve run a lot of miles over the years, some fast and some not so fast. I’ve won some big races and I’ve had some big disappointments, but I enjoy the freedom of running and the challenge of training and competition as much now as when I first started back in high school.
Whatever we accomplish in life, if it’s solely for our own good, then it doesn’t mean that much. The things you do that affect others in a positive way are the ones that count. Whatever facet of life you’re in, God has given you a gift; do the best you can with that gift.
There are a lot of guys out there now who know they are not working as hard as other people. I can’t fathom how they think.
You have to change things in order to get to where you want to go. And things might get worse. But if you’re not getting where you want to be, already, in a sense, it’s as bad as it can get.
I can’t tell you why a particular athlete would leave a certain coach, but I can tell you there could be many reasons. They could have personality conflicts. They could have misunderstandings. Lots of stuff can happen.
The marathon is like a bullfight.
I didn’t give myself enough breaks during the training year to recover. I didn’t understand the power of periodization.
With my runners now, they get two month-long breaks during the year.
Trust me, my runners aren’t going to run one event while looking past it to the second event. When they get on the line for the 10K, that’s a do-or-die situation for them.
You learn to run like a sprinter, you’ll be a great distance runner.
I’ve never enjoyed my running more. I also do 200 sit-ups a day, 60 push-ups, and a lot of stretching. I’ve had some back issues. I think the stretching helps with that.
I’ve found that my athletes run their best races after about 10 weeks of intense training.
I’m interested in Dathan Ritzenhein’s future in the marathon, and I believe that’s where we need to address some issues he seems to have. He’s had good marathon coaches – both Brad Hudson and me. He’s figured out the fueling. He’s got this incredible aerobic engine. But something’s still wrong.
I’m doing great heart-wise. I get a complete stress test once a year, and those have gone well. I have stents in two arteries, and they are holding up. My other arteries haven’t shown any additional clogging.
I run four miles most days, at about 8:00 to 8:15 pace. It’s totally relaxed.